Learning Strategy Training

1. Learning Strategy Training

2. Background • 1975, Rubin: good language learners facilitate their learning. • Good language learners: - willing and accurate guessers who have a strong desire to communicate, even appear fool. -attend to both meaning and form of their message. -practice and monitor their own speech as well as others.

3. Background (cont.) • In order to maximise (good) language learners potential and contribute to their autonomy, they need training in learning strategies. • Learning strategy training: training students in the use of learning strategies in order to improve their learning effectiveness.

4. Example in the textbook (Larsen-Freeman, D.,2000,p.160) 1.T reads Ss’ learning journals- finds Ss’ learning problems. 2. T decides to have Ss to work on the strategy of advance organisation. 3.T models the use of the strategy.

5. Example in the textbook (Larsen-Freeman, D.,2000,p.160) 4. Ss practice the new learning strategy (‘hand-on’ experience). 5. Ss evaluate their own success in learning the strategy and modify it to meet their own learning needs (self-regulated, self-assessment).

6. Principles • Teacher’s job is not only to teach lang. but learning. • Strategies should not be taught in isolation, but rather as part of the content-area or language curriculum. • Help learners to continue to learn after completing formal study of the target language.

7. Meta cognitive strategies • Use to plan, monitor and evaluate a learning task. • Arrange the conditions that help one to learn. • Set long and short-term goals. • Check Ss’ comprehension during listening or reading.

8. Cognitive Strategies • Learners interact and manipulate what is to be learned. e.g.: replaying a word or phrase mentally to ‘listen’ to it again. learn a new word by associating with a familiar word by creating a visual image.

9. Social/ affective strategies • Learners interact with other persons or ‘use affective control to assist learning. e.g.: create situations to practice the target lang. use self-talk to think positively and talk oneself through a difficult task, and cooperate/ work with others to share info, obtain feedback and complete a task.