What makes a good language learner?

1. What makes a good language learner? Hu Wenzhong(胡文仲) Beijing Foreign Studies University

2. Nature of this talk • This is not a commercial promotion. • There are no grand promises. • What we’re interested in is the plain truth: how students should learn.

3. Outline of the talk • What contributes to the outcome of learning a FL • What are learning strategies • Research on learning strategies • A checklist for good language learners • Conclusion

4. Teaching FL Learner Learning Outcome Environment (Adapted from Naiman et al.)

5. The learner Age, personality, motivation, attitude, intelligence, language aptitude, past language experience

6. Teaching Syllabus, Teaching material, Teaching method, Activities, Teacher qualifications

7. Environment Opportunities for second language contacts and use

8. Learning Unconscious learning Conscious use of learning strategies

9. Syllabus, Teaching material, Teaching method, Activities Teacher qualifications TEACHING LEARNER Age, personality, motivation, attitude, intelligence, language aptitude, past language experience LEARNING OUTCOME Unconscious processes Conscious use of learning strategies Proficiency in the use of the language Opportunities for second language contacts and use ENVIRONMENT (Adapted from Naiman et al.)

10. Studies have shown that… • other things being equal, learning strategies play a significant role in determining the outcome of learning.

11. What are learning strategies(学习策略) • Learning strategies are “learning processes which are consciously selected by the learner.” (Cohen 1990) • “The techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge.” (Rubin 1975) • Measures taken by the learner for effective study (Wen )

12. In learning vocabulary you could 1.read a dictionary from cover to cover 2.learn vocab through copying word lists 3.learn vocab through memorizing texts 4.learn vocab through extensive reading

13. Which method do you think is the best?

14. So this is a talk on learning how to learn

15. Background against which learning strategies studies started: • The focus of research has shifted from teaching to learning, from teaching methodology to learning strategy.

16. How learning strategies studies started • Started in the mid-70s of the last century • J. Rubin: “What ‘the good language learner’ can teach us” published in TESOL Quarterly in 1975 • N. Naiman et al.:The Good Language Learner published in 1978 • Learning strategies have now become an important part of second language acquisition research. • Research in China

17. Naiman et al’s research • The Adult Interview Study: 34 successful and 2 unsuccessful learners selected for study • The Main Classroom Study: 72 students from 12 classes of Grades 8,10 and 12 of schools in Toronto and other areas; methods used include classroom observation and interview

18. Final outcome: research report N. Naiman et al.: The Good Language Learner published by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1978

20. Naiman and his colleagues’ conclusion • “The study has shown that some of the existing stereotypes do not apply. For example, some people believe that a good language learner has to be musical, or have a high language aptitude or an exceptionally good memory. The Adult Interview Study indicated that these qualities may not be essential.” (p. 103)

21. 3 case studies conducted by Naiman’s team • In the age group 26-35 • Two are females and one male • All three are successful language learners. • They learned and maintained from 5 to 19 languages including Latin, German, French, Swedish, Polish, Italian, Hebrew,Rumanian, Icelandic, Spanish, Albanian, Greek, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Mohawk, Swahili, Gaelic, Hungarian, Hittite, Japanese and Lithunian.

22. Ms A’s story • Born in Virginia, USA. • Studied German and French at school. • Went to France and stayed there for 3 years. • Married a French linguist, who was bilingual in French and German. • Spent a total of 2 years in Sweden. • Went to Poland for 1 year. • Settled in Quebec and spoke French at home.

23. Ms A’s French learning experience • Saw French movies every day. • Read French newspapers and magazines. • Monitored her own pronunciation and tried hard to perfect it.

24. Ms A recalled: • “…whatever you pick up, whether it’s one word or two words…use it…even if it is wrong, try it out, it doesn’t matter.”

25. Ms B’s background • Born in Nova Scotia of Canada • Languages spoken at home: English and Yiddish • Languages she studied at school: German and French • Went to Italy for teacher training

26. Ms B recalled: • “I wasn’t afraid anymore, I generated sentences…if they weren’t correct, people around me told me how to say it. I was on the look-out for clues.”

27. Ms B’s experience • Ms B pointed out that the immersion into an Italian environment, and therefore the motivation for having to learn to speak the language, were the most significant factors.

28. Is there something we can learn from Ms A and Ms B?

29. Perhaps we could learn from them • Their interest in foreign languages • Their perseverance • Their initiative • Their use of the environment • Their outgoing personality

30. Professor Wen’s case study of two of her students • Wang Hong • Li Hua

31. Professor Wen Qiufang’s research findings

32. Wang Hong: • “I’m very active in class because I think this is a good chance to practice speaking. I like to talk with my fellow students and my teachers in English. I also like to talk to myself in English. Sometimes when I work in the kitchen I speak English to myself. “

33. Li Hua: “I don’t like to answer questions in class. Sometimes even when I do know the answer, I still feel reluctant to speak. I do not practise outside class because there isn’t such an environment. Occasionally I talk to myself. When I cannot remember an English word I use gestures or simply do not speak at all.”

34. Wang Hong: • Wang Hong likes to reflect on the strategies she has used. She evaluates her learning. When she could not answer the teacher’s questions fluently or got an unsatisfactory score, she would try to find out why before she went to bed.

35. Li Hua: • “I’m not clear what strategies I’ve used. I just preview, review, do my homework and memorize new words. That’s all. There’s no strategy to speak of.”

36. Professor Wen’s book

38. 俞弘： “如果说学习外语和婴儿学话有所不同的话，那就在于我们缺乏语言环境。这一缺陷需要靠广泛的阅读来弥补。普通中学或非英语院系一般没有大量的阅读课，这要求大家在课外增加英语阅读的数量。” “我想，阅读的材料从简单的入手，从自己的熟悉的课题入手，在于‘泛’而不在于‘精’，在于数量而不在于质量。”

39. 吴珺： “那末这种语感如何培养呢？那就得靠平时多花功夫，大量阅读课外书。从二年级开始，我一直不间断地广泛阅读课外书籍，几乎一大半英文名著我都看过，还有许多科幻体裁的通俗作品，另外我也喜欢看《读者文摘》和《时代周刊》。”

40. What is common to the GLLs • A strong interest in the foreign language • Hard work • Constantly checking on one’s own progress and the strategies used

41. O’Malley and Chamot’s classification Learning strategies metacognitive meta cognitive social/affective

42. Metacognitive strategies(元认知策略) • Advance organizers • Directed attention • Selective attention • Self- management • Advance preparation • Self-monitoring • Delayed production • Self-evaluation

43. Be a good manager of your studies • You need to be a good planner. • You need to use your attention wisely. • You need to make preparations beforehand. • You need to monitor your studies. • You need to evaluate the methods you used.

44. Cognitve strategies(认知策略) • Repetition • Resourcing • Translation • Grouping • Note-taking • Deduction • Recombination

45. Cognitive strategies(认知策略) • Imagery • Auditory representation • Key word • Contextualization • Elaboration • Transfer • Inferencing

46. Social/affective strategies(社会/情感策略) • Cooperation • Question for clarification

47. Rebecca Oxford’s classification • Direct strategies • Memory strategies • Cognitive strategies • Compensation strategies • Indirect strategies • Metacognitive strategies • Affective strategies • Social strategies

48. Research findings by Li Jiongying: • “The learning strategies Chinese students most commonly use are memory strategies, cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Next are compensation strategies. The least commonly used strategies are social/affective strategies.” (Li 2003)

49. A study of the differences between English majors and non-English majors • Subjects:515 non-English majors and 317 English majors at a university in Shandong • Questionnaire consists of two parts: personal information and 47 questions based on Oxford’s questionnaire. • Conducted in May 2002. • Scores of each student for the six strategies and the mean score of English majors and non-English majors worked out.

50. Differences between English majors and non-English majors