Unit3_section1 Focus on Learner

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©International House London and the British Council

Focus on the Learner The Distance Delta

©International House London and the British Council

The Distance Delta

Unit 2 Section 3 ©International House London and the British Council

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Focus on the Learner

Summary

In this section we will spend time considering some of the characteristics of learners that may affect their success in language learning. Some of these features are related to their cultural background or to the context in which they are learning. Others relate very much to the individual him or herself. We will consider learner beliefs, motivation, and learning styles, which are all very important factors affecting learning. We will then look at learning strategies, things that learners can be trained to do to help themselves learn. We then look briefly at intelligence, personality and aptitude, and finally consider if it is possible to describe the characteristics of a good language learner.

Objectives

By the end of this section you will be able to:

Demonstrate some knowledge of the different attitudes and aspirations with which speakers of other languages approach the learning of English.

Notice and describe differences between adult learners in terms of their belief systems, motivation, learning styles and preferences, and so on.

Find ways of enhancing the motivation and learning opportunities for your learners taking account of their cognitive and affective needs.

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Contents

1. Introduction

2. Learner Belief Systems

3. Motivation

4. Learning Styles

5. Learning Strategies

6. Personality

7. Intelligence

8. Aptitude

9. The Good Language Learner

10. Conclusion

Reading

Appendices

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1. Introduction

There are a large number of potential factors which might affect an individual’s success in learning a language. Some of these might relate to the individual learner, some to the learning context (including institutional, methodological and affective factors) and some to the language being learnt.

If we consider the language being learnt, factors come into play such as:

Similarity to /difference to L1 (form, lexis, pronunciation, script etc.)

Opportunities for and types of exposure

Relationships/attitudes among speakers of L1 and L2 towards each other

Learners’ beliefs about the language e.g. ‘the grammar is difficult’

If we consider the learning context, we raise issues such as:

The role of the target language and culture in the learner’s own culture

Whether the learner is learning the language as a second language i.e. to use in that country or as a foreign language

Number of years of study, method of study, amount and type of exposure to the language

Teaching methods and how they match with individuals’ learning styles

Affective factors such as attitudes and relationships to teachers, peers and speakers of the target language, self-esteem, perceived relevance of what is learnt, etc.

Lightbown and Spada (How Languages are Learned 2013) mention intelligence, aptitude, personality, motivation and attitudes, learner preferences, learner beliefs and age.

In this section we will explore some of these factors in a little more in depth:

2. Learner Belief Systems

Lightbown and Spada restrict their discussion of learner beliefs to beliefs about teaching methods. However, it can include more than that:

’Learners’ beliefs are influenced by the social context of learning and can influence both their attitudes towards the language itself as well as towards language learning in general (Tumposky 1991). Learners’ belief systems cover a wide range of issues and can influence learners’ motivation to learn, their expectations about language learning, their perceptions about what is easy or difficult about a language as well as the kind of learning strategies they favour.

Richards, J. C. & Lockhart, C. J. 1994 Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms Cambridge University Press p52

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3. Motivation

Motivation is generally identified as a crucial factor in the learning process and most studies report a high correlation between motivation and achievement. Whether motivation leads to success or success leads to motivation is less clear but it seems the two are closely linked.

Defining motivation is a complex issue:

It is important to emphasise that motivation involves more than simply arousing interest; it also involves making a decision to act, sustaining the interest, and deciding how much effort to put in.

Williams, M. 1999 Motivation in Language Learning ETP Issue 13

Traditionally a distinction has been made between integrative and instrumental motivation (Gardner and Lambert).

If a learner is instrumentally motivated, it means that they have a practical goal in their language learning, in terms of their study or work. Perhaps they have to take an exam in the foreign language or they need to use it in their job. If, on the other hand, a learner is integratively motivated it means that they want to learn for reasons of personal growth or cultural enrichment. Perhaps they are lovers of that language and culture, they like to visit the country where it is spoken and/or they have friends there.

Research suggests that integratively motivated learners tend to do better than those who are instrumentally motivated. This may well depend on the context, however. Learners who are living in the target language culture may do better if they are integratively motivated, but in other situations where the target language is being learnt as a foreign language, instrumental motivation may be more important.

Another distinction, perhaps more useful, is made by cognitive psychologists between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation leads you to do something because of some external pressure such as a reward or punishment of some kind, whereas if you are intrinsically motivated you carry out the task for its own sake. Research seems to indicate that while extrinsic motivation may be useful as well, it is intrinsic motivation that leads better to long-term learning.

Motivation, however, is really much more complex than either of these dichotomies suggest. It is most certainly influenced by a range of factors, both internal and external to the learner, and it is also not a static thing as the instrumental/integrative labelling might suggest. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation could work together rather than be seen as opposite ends of a continuum.

Williams and Burden also point out the importance of the perceived value of the activity as a crucial factor affecting motivation:

The greater the value that individuals attach to the accomplishment of or involvement in an activity, the more highly motivated they will be both to engage in it initially, and later to put sustained effort into succeeding in the activity. This would appear to be true whether they are influenced by intrinsic or extrinsic reasons.

Williams, M. & Burden, R. L. 1997 Psychology for Language Teachers Cambridge University Press p125

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Task 1: Brainstorming Factors Affecting Motivation (30-45mins)

What do you think are the different factors that may affect a learner’s motivation? Think about a learner who is learning in a classroom situation. For example:

The learner’s relationship with his or her classmates

The level of material (if the learner thinks it is too easy or too difficult or just right)

Make a list of the factors you come up with. Is it possible for you as the teacher to influence any of these things? How?

For example, the teacher can try to ensure a good relationship among learners by personalising, by encouraging students to use each other’s names, by getting students to work with each other etc.

See Appendix 1.

For more about motivation see:

Nunan, D. & Lamb, C. 1996 The Self Directed Teacher Cambridge University Press chapter 7

Richards, J C 1980 Motivation. English Teaching Perspectives. Longman pp75-77

Williams, M. October 1999 Motivation in Language Learning ETP Issue 13

Williams, M. & Burden, R. L. 1997 Psychology for Language Teachers Cambridge University Press chapter 6

4. Learning Styles

Another important aspect of individual differences is in learning style. A lot has been written about this in recent years. You may have heard the terms VAK, VAKOG or multiple intelligences for example.

Learners have clear preferences for how they go about learning new material. The term ‘learning style’ has been used to describe an individual’s natural, habitual and preferred way of absorbing processing and retaining new information and skills (Reid 1995).

Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. op cit p58

Exactly how many different kinds of learning style there are is another debatable issue, although attempts have been made to categorise learners into types.

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Task 2 (Optional): Reading and Note-making (20mins)

Read Wingate, J. 1996 Multiple Intelligences ETP Issue 1 and/or the introduction to Puchta,H. Rinvolucri, M. 2007 Multiple Intelligences in EFL CUP

Then answer these questions:

1. Which ‘intelligences’ does he list?

2. Which ones are traditionally valued and tested in school learning situations?

3. What kind of learning tasks in an ELT context might suit each kind of learner?

See Appendix 2.

Some ELT practitioners influenced by Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) have talked about different sensory styles (VAK refers to visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and –OG to olfactory and gustatory).

The systems we use to experience the world are called our primary representational systems. Depending to some extent on context, most people naturally tend to use one system more than the other two, or one system before the others, either when noticing things around them or when learning something new.

Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1997 In Your Hands Saffire Press p31

A quiz about sensory styles appears in that book on page 29 (see appendix 5) and you can read more on VAKOG there if you are interested. It is very appealing in theory and has attractively practical relevance for the teacher. However, it is important not to make rash judgements about your learners on limited evidence. For example, if a learner says she likes using pictures in class, it may be tempting to label her as a visual learner. However, it would be difficult to find learners who do not find pictures helpful.

See Revell and Norman’s Handing Over for more classroom ideas.

Elsewhere, based on Knowles’ categories and referred to in books by Willing, Richards and Lockhart, and Skehan, other distinctions have been made in terms of learning style, or cognitive style, and the following types identified:

Concrete learning style

Analytical learning style

Communicative learning style

Authority-oriented learning style

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Learners with a concrete learning style use active and direct means of taking in and processing information. They are interested in information that has immediate value. They are curious, spontaneous and willing to take risks. They like variety and a constant change of pace. They dislike routine learning and written work, and prefer verbal or visual experiences. They like to be entertained and like to be physically involved in learning.

Learners with an analytical style are independent, like to solve problems and enjoy tracking down ideas and developing principles on their own. Such learners prefer a logical, systematic presentation of new learning material with opportunities for learners to follow up on their own. Analytical learners are serious, push themselves hard, and are vulnerable to failure.

Learners with a communicative learning style prefer a social approach to learning. They need personal feedback and interaction, and learn well from discussion and group activities. They thrive in a democratically run class.

Learners with an authority-oriented style are said to be responsible and dependable. They like and need structure and sequential progression. They relate well to a traditional classroom. They prefer the teacher as an authority figure. They like to have clear instructions and to know exactly what they are doing; they are not comfortable with consensus-building discussion.

Richards, J. C & Lockhart, C. Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms chapter 3 p60

Task 3: Reflecting on Learning Styles (20mins)

Think about one of your groups of learners.

1. From your observations of the class at work, can you identify any of the types of learner described above?

2. Are there any predominant types of styles within your group?

3. Do these descriptions reflect reality in your opinion?

From reading the descriptions above it is clear that learning style will affect a learner’s preferences for particular activities or approaches in the classroom. For example, authority-oriented style learners will probably like teacher-led activities and lots of teacher explanation. Analytical learners on the other hand may like working things out for themselves e.g. working out grammar rules from examples.

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Task 4(optional): Classroom Research

Devise an activity to find out about your learners’ learning preferences, that is, what they like doing and consider useful in class. For ideas you could look at:

Willing Teaching how to learn

Richards & Lockhart Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms

Nunan & Lamb The Self-directed Teacher chapter 7

Porter-Ladousse Language Issues pages 4 & 5

Ellis & Sinclair Learning to learn English pages 8 & 9

Hadfield Classroom Dynamics Chapter 2

1. Are there any general preferences?

2. Do you think you cater for these adequately?

3. How do you or could you cater for individual preferences?

Another distinction that has often been referred to when talking about learning style is that of field dependence and field independence.

This refers to whether an individual tends to separate details from the general background or to see things more holistically.

Lightbown P. & Spada, N. 1999 How Languages are Learned OUP p58

However, this is a rather more difficult factor to analyse with any degree of certainty. Williams and Burden in Psychology for Language Teachers point out many of the problems of designing tests to measure factors such as this.

It is important to remember that all these different learning styles are labels that have been ‘invented’ to apply to the ‘reality’ of how different people learn, or prefer to learn. They cannot therefore be absolutely clearly defined categories. We should avoid accepting them as black and white distinctions between types of learners; rather they may represent tendencies. For you as a language teacher, it is interesting to notice, and find out about, such tendencies in your learners since it may help you see why learners respond as they do to certain types of activities. It should also help you in consciously extending your repertoire of teaching techniques and approaches to try and ensure you cater for all types of learner. There can be a tendency for us to teach in the way that we favour ourselves as learners.

On this topic Willing writes:

There is not much doubt that teachers’ styles of teaching are greatly influenced by their own individual learning styles. For one thing there is always the

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temptation to do in class those sorts of activities which one personally enjoys (and indeed why not?). So the analytical teacher is naturally more interested in structure; formal correctness, getting at rules by deduction or discovery and in pointedly organised class procedures. The concrete teacher is more sensitive to social interaction, and tends to favour activities in which learners are given plenty of exposure to the language in communicative contexts (e.g. in roleplays, group projects, practice and discussion).

Willing, K. Teaching How to Learn (A Teachers Guide) National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University, Sydney 1989

Task 5: Reflecting on Your Learning / Teaching Style (45mins-1hr)

Think about the following:

How would you describe yourself as a learner? Think about recent experiences you’ve had in the classroom, perhaps learning a language, etc.

As a teacher, what kind of classroom activities do you like doing best? Are there any you dislike or feel less comfortable doing, or maybe you do not do them?

Does your teaching approach reflect your learning style? Are there activities which you do a lot because you like them rather than the students? Conversely, are there any that you avoid because you do not like them which could benefit your students who have different learning styles?

Optional activity: In addition to your reflection, look at Wingate’s quiz in Multiple Intelligences and then read Multiple Intelligences and Lesson Planning.

Write a brief summary of your thoughts on the Discussion Forum on the website (not more than 200 words): write a short response to questions 1 and 2, then the conclusion that you reached in 3. Mention any action you would like to take to change your current practice.

5. Learning Strategies

Strategies can be defined as procedures that learners use in relation to the task of learning a foreign language. They are things that can be learnt or changed unlike learning style which is normally considered a relatively stable characteristic.

They include:

Memory strategies, which help students to store and retrieve information.

Cognitive strategies, which enable learners to understand and produce new language.

Compensation strategies, which allow learners to communicate despite deficiencies in their language knowledge.

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Metacognitive strategies, which allow learners to control their own learning through organising, planning and evaluating.

Affective strategies, which help learners gain control over their emotions, attitudes, motivations and values.

Social strategies, which help learners interact with other people.

[Based on Oxford, R. 1990 Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know New York: Newbury House, quoted in Richards and Lockhart Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, p63 - 65]

Note that other writers use different categories: once again, these are labels applied to ‘reality’ and so interpretations can vary.

Task 6 (Optional): Classifying Learning Strategies (25mins)

Read Richards & Lockhart Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, p63 to 65(available in eLibrary).

Here are some examples of learning strategies. Can you classify them according to the above six types of learning strategies?

1. Labelling things in your room with post-its so that every time you go there, you can read the labels.

2. Filling in a learning checklist, saying how confident you feel in each area.

3. Seeking out native speakers of the language to talk to.

4. Paraphrasing when you don’t know the word you want when speaking.

5. Playing a positive role in groupwork tasks.

6. Ignoring unknown lexical items when you are reading.

7. Setting goals and time aside for language learning.

8. Looking at notes taken in class and rewriting them.

9. Reading signs and notices in public places and trying to work out what they mean.

10. Making notes before carrying out a writing task.

11. Getting to know your classmates.

12. Relaxing by listening to songs in the target language.

See Appendix 3.

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Learners who have not been in a learning situation for some time or who were not ‘good’ learners at school may in particular benefit from some work on learning strategies. This means raising awareness of different ways of learning and suggesting useful strategies. People learn in different ways and therefore you really should not be too authoritarian about how they should go about it. If learners have a range of strategies available, though, they can choose what suits them. Some learners may already have very clear ideas about what learning a language entails and the kind of activities that should be done in the process. For example a lot of students want to be corrected more than a lot of native speaker teachers actually do, or they want to write everything down (or not write anything down) even if you have a different idea about the nature of the activity. You may therefore find it useful to discuss the rationale behind certain procedures and activities that you use and bear you learners’ feedback in mind.

Task 7: Helping Learners to Adopt Useful Learning Strategies (20 mins)

Look at the materials in Appendix 4. What kind of learning strategies do they aim to promote?

The suggested answers also appear in the key to Appendix 4.

If you are interested in reading more about learning strategies, read Williams and Burden, Psychology for the Language Teacher, chapter 7.

6. Personality

Various attempts have been made to link certain personality types with success (or lack of it) in language learning. For example, it has been claimed that extroverts and risk takers are better language learners. However, there are difficulties in measuring these factors and it also would seem to depend on what aspect of language learning is being focussed on. Even intuitively there does not seem to be any reason why being an extrovert would help you learn grammar rules or write an essay although it may mean you are more willing to practise speaking in front of others. It may therefore not be a very useful factor to consider for most teachers, beyond making sensitive judgements about personality and learning preferences e.g. you know that Susana is shy so you do not ask her to stand up in front of the class and be the first student to act out a roleplay activity.

7. Intelligence

Measuring intelligence raises problems since it is unclear what exactly it is we are measuring. IQ tests measure one type of intelligence but, although there may be some link between this and success in language learning in traditional classrooms e.g. with the

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learning of grammar rules, reading, vocabulary it may not be linked to the development of communication and interaction skills, such as speaking.

As Lightbown and Spada point out:

It is important to keep in mind that intelligence is complex and that individuals have many kinds of abilities and strengths, not all of which are measured by traditional IQ tests. In our experience, many students whose academic performance has been weak have experienced considerable success in language learning.

Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. 1999 How Languages are learned Oxford University Press p53

It may be more useful to think in terms of multiple intelligences, which you read about in the Wingate article and in Puchta,H. Rinvolucri, M. Multiple Intelligences in EFL (see Task 3 above).

8. Aptitude

Some people seem to have a ‘gift’ for languages. This means that they have exceptional aptitude for language learning. You may have met people like this who at least appear to learn pretty effortlessly and manage to reach a very high level of proficiency - including excellent pronunciation, perfect grammar and a wide range of entirely appropriate lexis - in a relatively short time.

Psychologists have devised language aptitude tests. These can be used to find out the language learning abilities of an individual or group of individuals, usually to see to what extent they would benefit from a language course. This may be particularly useful where potential students have no previous foreign language learning experience, or where a company for instance wishes to send the employees who will benefit most from an intensive course.

The best known of these tests are the Modern Language Aptitude Test and the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery, developed in the 1950s.

Both tests are based on the view that aptitude is composed of different types of abilities:

The ability to identify and memorise new sounds.

The ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences.

The ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples; and

Memory for new words.

Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. op cit p53

Early research showed that there was a link between these factors and success in language learning, at least when learners were instructed via a grammar translation or audio-lingual method. Whether these same factors would lead to success under other circumstances, e.g. in informal settings (not in classrooms) or in communicative, task based classrooms, it is less clear. You might like to think about this.

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9. The Good Language Learner

Other researchers have tried to draw up a profile of a ‘Good Language Learner’ which includes a wider range of factors, some relating to aptitude, some to personality and some to learning strategies. For example:

Good language learners are willing and accurate guessers.

Good language learners have a strong drive to communicate, or to learn from communication. They are willing to do many things to get their message across.

Good language learners are often not inhibited. They are willing to make mistakes in order to learn and to communicate. They are willing to live with a certain amount of vagueness.

In addition to focussing on communication, good language learners are prepared to attend to form. Good language learners are constantly looking for patterns in the language.

Good language learners practise.

Good language learners monitor their own and the speech of others. That is they are constantly paying attention to how well their speech is being received and whether their performance meets the standards they have learnt.

Good language learners attend to meaning. They know that in order to understand the message, it is not sufficient to pay attention to the grammar of the language or to the surface form of the speech.

(Adapted from Rubin 1975)

From Willing, K. Teaching How to Learn (A Teachers Guide) op cit p11.

Task 8: Reflecting on the Good Language Learner (20mins)

Think about someone you know well: yourself or another person. Do you consider this person to be a good language learner? Why or why not? Do any of the above factors seem to be important or not?

Can you draw up your own list of characteristics of the good language learner?

10. Conclusion

Every student who comes to your language classes is different and experience will have shown you that different learners learn different things, at different rates and in different ways. It is worth taking the time to find out about learners as individuals and thinking about how you can cater for them best as individuals, because it is likely then that the whole group learning situation will also be enhanced.

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Reading:

If you would like to explore this area further:

Suggested Reading

Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. 2013 How Languages are Learned Oxford University Press

Nunan, D. & Lamb, C. 1996 The Self Directed Teacher Cambridge University Press chapter 7

Puchta,H. Rinvolucri, M. 2007 Multiple Intelligences in EFL Cambridge University Press Introduction

Richards, J. C. & Lockhart, C. 1994 Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms Cambridge University Press chapter 3

Williams, M. October 1999 Motivation in Language Learning ETP Issue 13

Wingate, J. October 1996 Multiple Intelligences ETP Issue 1

Additional Reading

Ellis, G. & Sinclair, B. 1989 Learning to Learn English Cambridge University Press

Hadfield, J. 1992 Classroom Dynamics Oxford University Press

Porter-Ladousse, G. 1993 Language Issues Longman

Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1997 In Your Hands Saffire Press

Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1999 Handing Over Saffire Press

Soars, J. & L. 1996 Headway Advanced Oxford University Press

Vouillemin, D. 1994 VAK Again PET

Williams, M. & Burden, R. 1997 Psychology for Language Teachers Cambridge University Press

Willing, K. 1989 Teaching How to Learn (A Teachers Guide) National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University, Sydney

Wingate, J. January 1997 Multiple Intelligences and Lesson Planning ETP Issue 2

Wingate, J. 2000 Learning Preferences. ETP Issue 17

Zhu, Huimin. 2006. Teaching Quieter Students ETP Issue 42

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Brainstorming Factors Affecting Motivation

1. Reasons for learning need for the language

2. Progress made, feedback gained, achievement

3. Attitudes towards the target language and culture

4. Attitude towards/relationship with the teacher

5. Attitudes towards/relationship with peers

6. Attitudes towards the learning materials and tasks, perceived relevance

7. Perception of self as a language learner

8. Enjoyment of the learning process

9. Events in their lives, feelings, tiredness, etc.

Some of these relate to long-term states or attitudes, others may be transitory, related to a particular class or learning activity.

How the teacher can help (numbers refer to the numbers above):

1. Encourage students to set goals in their learning, preferably related to the real world or at least to the course syllabus, create a need for the language in the classroom, choose materials that will interest the students, be aware of their needs and interests, provide opportunities for individualisation.

2. Try to make the work you do success oriented – ensure your learners experience success e.g. procedures to help ‘weaker learners’, ensure students get feedback on their learning, through counselling, marking; give praise where it is due; remember the value of positive feedback as well as constructive criticism.

3. Some of these things may be deep-rooted and difficult to affect. The teacher can try to dispel any negative stereotypes, and s/he should be aware of her/his role as a ‘real example’ of someone from that culture. Find out what the learners’ view on the language is, what they perceive to be easy/difficult.

4. Find out about students’ expectations, some students may have quite different ideas from yours about what the teacher’s role is, what constitutes good teaching, they may also be very reluctant to criticise the teacher in any way. In some cases it may be good to be friendly with your students but be careful you do not step over any cultural boundaries. Bear in mind that:

Learners from different cultures may have different beliefs about what constitutes good teaching.

Richards, J. C. & Lockhart, C. Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms op cit p55

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5. Try to create a good relationship between students: getting to know each other’s names, something about each other, working with different people but ultimately respecting their preferences.

6. Find out about the students’ needs; let them have a say in the work you cover; find out about their learning preferences; cater for everyone not just the most vociferous members of the group; get feedback from them on what they’ve liked, found useful, not liked, not found useful and so on.

7. This is also something deep rooted, people may have decided a long time ago that they were no good at languages, for example. Positive feedback from you (where deserved), catering for different types of learner, or rather, mixed ability may help increase self-esteem. You may also have the opposite problem of people who think they are better than they are. Raise awareness of different types of intelligence (see Puchta,H. Rinvolucri, M. 2007 Multiple Intelligences in EFL Cambridge University).

8. A lot of adult learners spend their free time and a lot of money studying in language classes. If it can become a pleasure rather than a chore, that’s good! What constitutes a pleasure? Humour, (but not all the time), variety, interesting content and (authentic?) materials, the right amount of challenge, the sense that spending the time there was really worthwhile and something was learned, the sense of involvement and progress. Find out what your learners want, like and need.

9. Taking a (tactful) interest in students as people, i.e. the maxim ‘A problem shared is a ...’, providing a variety of activities, including short activities when learners are tired, getting them to move around (mingles, standing up role-plays), being flexible enough to respond to their ‘mood’.

Return to text.

Appendix 2: Reading and Note Making

1. Wingate and Puchta list seven intelligences:

Linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal

2. Linguistic intelligence and logical-mathematical intelligence.

There are various possible answers here but here are some suggestions:

Linguistic- written exercises, word games, reading, writing etc.

Logical-mathematical – grammar by guided discovery, problem solving activities

Spatial – video, project work

Bodily - kinaesthetic – roleplay, drama, mime

Musical – listening to and singing songs, beating the stress

Interpersonal – brainstorming in groups, discussions in groups

Intrapersonal – visualisation activities, selecting own learning activities

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Return to text.

Appendix 3: Classifying Learning Strategies

Memory

Labelling things in your room with post-its so that every time you go in, you can read the labels.

Looking at notes taken in class and rewriting them.

Cognitive

Reading signs and notices in public places and trying to work out what they mean.

Making notes before carrying out a writing task.

Compensation

Paraphrasing when you don’t know the word you want when speaking.

Ignoring unknown lexical items when you are reading.

Metacognitive

Filling in a learning checklist, saying how confident you feel in each area.

Setting goals and time aside for language learning.

Affective

Relaxing by listening to songs in the target language.

Getting to know your classmates.

Social

Seeking out native speakers of the language to talk to.

Co-operating with classmates in groupwork tasks.

Return to text.

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Appendix 4: Helping Learners to Adopt Useful Strategies

Excerpt 1

‘I like it when’ from Hadfield, J. 1992 Classroom Dynamics Oxford University Press chapter 10 p 87

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Excerpt 2

From Porter-Ladousse, G. 1993 Language Issues Longman unit 7 p54 Learning Grammar ex 1

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Excerpt 3

‘How to Learn Vocabulary’ from Soars, J and L 1991 Headway Pre-intermediate Oxford University Press Unit 5, page 37

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Excerpt 4

‘Have I got what I wanted?’ from Hadfield, J. 1992 Classroom Dynamics Oxford University Press Chapter 16 ex 5

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Key to Appendix 4:

Excerpt 1

This activity encourages learners to share their positive impressions of the target language or learning the language.

Hadfield writes:

A positive attitude towards oneself as a learner, towards the learning process, and towards the language and culture being studied are obviously essential if any progress is to be made. If you have little faith in your own ability to learn, little enjoyment of or feeling for the language, and feel alienated by and resentful of the culture you will not be highly motivated to learn.

Hadfield, J. 1992 Classroom Dynamics Oxford University Press p86

This activity concerns affective strategies.

Excerpt 2

The aim here is that students learn grammar rules by looking at correct and incorrect examples of the language, discussing them with a partner and reading about the rule. The activity therefore focuses on developing appropriate cognitive strategies.

Excerpt 3

This activity encourages learners to think about the strategies they can adopt to help themselves learn and remember lexis. It therefore concerns developing appropriate memory strategies.

Excerpt 4

This activity encourages learners to reflect on their learning in terms of their learning goals and whether they have achieved them. It therefore concerns metacognitive strategies.

Return to text.

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Appendix 5

From Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1997 In Your Hands Saffire Press

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Key to Appendix 5

From Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1997 In Your Hands Saffire Press

Unit3_section1 Focus on Learner

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