Lesson 5

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Lesson 5, learning strategies 
Ao final desta aula, você será capaz de:
1. Identificar diferentes tipos de estratégias de aprendizagem de línguas;
2. reconhecer a importância dessas estratégias para a aprendizagem eficiente;
3. relacionar as estratégias diretas com as indiretas.
Learning Strategies
• Have you ever considered what learning strategies are and what is their importance in language learning? 
• Have you ever made use of any language learning strategy?
A significant change has taken place within the field of language teaching over the last few decades. Due to this shift, a lot more emphasis has been placed in learners and learning, instead of in teachers and teaching. Consequently, there has been a focus on the use of language learning strategies in language teaching, resulting in a greater emphasis on the process and characteristics of these strategies.
A number of definitions have been advanced by applied linguists. We are going to consider two of them. Nunan (1999) defines learning strategies as mental and communicative procedures used by students in order to learn and use a foreign language effectively. Oxford (1990), on the other hand, offers a more detailed definition which she later expanded:
“...language learning strategies (are) specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques that students (often intentionally) use to improve their progress in developing L2 skills. These strategies can facilitate the internalization, storage, retrieval, or use of the new language. Strategies are tools for the self-directed involvement necessary for developing communicative ability.” (Oxford, 1992/1993, p. 18)
However, Nunan (1999) argues that most students are not aware of the strategies that underlie the learning tasks they are engaged in, even though recent research on language learning suggests that the more aware students are of the process which underlies their learning, the more efficient this learning will be.
Oxford (1990) argues that the use of strategies is extremely important in language learning and students should be aware of that. She gives us two reasons to support her claim. These are:
1- They are tools that help students to get more actively involved in their own learning.
2- Students who develop learning strategies learn more easily and are more self-confident.
Indeed, the development and use of learning strategies have been helping many students to develop communicative competence and become more autonomous (that is, of enabling them to take responsibility for their own learning), as well as better language learners.
For your information:
 
Communicative competence → it is the ability to use a linguistic system adequately in everyday situations, taking into account the functions and varieties of language as well as the sociocultural situation they are engaged in.
Ellis (2003) argues that learning strategies can be behavioral (e.g. repeating words or expressions aloud in order to remember them) or mental (e.g. inferring meaning of a new word or expression from the linguistic or situational context). The author also explains that these strategies are usually problem-oriented. In other words, students use them whenever they are faced with a problem, such as remembering a new word or phrase.
According to Oxford (1990), language learning strategies can be grouped into two classes – direct and indirect strategies. Each of them is further subdivided into three groups. Observe the table below:
	Direct Strategies
	Indirect Strategies
	Memory strategies:
- laying things out in order 
- making associations
- reviewing
	Metacognitive strategies:
- centering your learning
- arranging and planning your learning
- evaluating your learning
	Cognitive strategies:
- practicing
- receiving and sending messages
- analyzing and reasoning
- creating structure for input and output
	Affective strategies:
- emotion
- attitude
- motivation
- values
	Compensation strategies:
- guessing
	Social strategies:
- asking questions
- cooperating with others
- empathizing with others
Direct Strategies
As the name suggests, direct strategies are the ones used directly in dealing with a new language. They help students store and retrieve information. Besides, by using these strategies, students are able to produce language even when there is a gap in knowledge. They also allow students to understand new language. Direct strategies are subdivided into three groups:
1 – Memory strategies → these strategies are based on making association and reviewing. Whenever a student is faced with a challenge of vocabulary learning, s/he can associate the new word(s) or expression(s) with visual images. They can be stored and later retrieved for use. However, not only images can be used. Some students find it easier to connect new words and expressions with motion, sound and/or even touch.
 
E.g. a German speaker, who is learning English, when coming across the word 'plate', might notice how similar this word is in sound and spelling to the German word 'Platte' (which means record/LP). S/he may form a mental image containing 'plate', but also some aspect of 'Platte': e.g. a plate revolving on the turntable of an old record player. Retrieving this visual image will remind him/her that the word s/he is seeking is in some way similar to the sound of the German 'Platte'.
(Bull, S. & Ma, Y., 2013)
2 – Cognitive strategies → these strategies seem to be favored by most students, according to Samida (2013). They allow students to manipulate or transform the target language. Students do so by repeating, summarizing and/or transforming the language.
 
E.g. the student might present the main ideas of a text in the form of a map. S/he might also highlight the main points in a text and make a summary or translate this text into another language.
3 – Compensation strategies → these strategies allow students to comprehend the target language when their knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of this language is not good enough. Students might infer meaning from context during a reading or listening comprehension activity, and/or use gestures or pauses to convey a message.
 
E.g. Students might use his/her previous knowledge of the language to learn something new.
Indirect Strategies
The indirect language learning strategies are used to support and manage learning indirectly by helping learners to regulate the learning process. Indirect strategies are also subdivided into three groups:
1 – Metacognitive strategies → these strategies allow students to plan language learning effectively by identifying the best way of learning, and also by identifying their own learning needs, planning an assignment, collecting and organizing materials, establishing time and place for studying, monitoring mistakes and evaluating his/her success in performing an activity.
 
E.g. a student might make a list of effective ways of learning.
2 – Affective strategies → Affective factors can influence learning in an important way. Some affective strategies concern the learner being able to identify his/her level of anxiety, talk about his/her feelings, and reward him/herself for a positive result in performance, among others.
 
E.g. A student might listen to his/her favorite song before practicing the target language.
3 – Social strategies → some social strategies include asking for clarification, asking for help, exploring social and cultural norms, among others. They help learners to understand the assignment at hand better as well as motivate group work. Group work is important because communication occurs between people and also because it promotes cooperation among learners. Cooperation between learners is more effective than competition because it focusses on group union, instead of on adversary parts.
 
E.g. Students might work in small groups to read a text and complete a table about it.
Teaching Language
Learning strategies - Directand indirect strategies are not supposed to be used independently. In fact, they complement each other and should be interconnected. Those students who are able to use both types of strategies in combination are usually more effective learners.
Unfortunately, teachers do not usually spend time teaching language learning strategies in class. Of course, they are usually pressed for time and there is so much to do, after all. However, it is the teacher’s job to introduce this topic into language classes in order to help learners to learn the target language faster, more easily and more effectively.
It is also important to note that the use of language learning strategies not only improves language learning, but it also improves teaching. Indeed, in order to train his/her students to use these strategies to become better learners, the teacher must also be aware of learning/teaching theories and know how to use them in his/her practice, which leads to reflective teaching.
It also must be clear to both learners and teachers that learning is ultimately the students’ responsibility. Therefore, motivation is the key word here. If students learn how to use learning strategies and become motivated enough, the chances for success are very high. 
In this lesson we talked about language learning strategies and how important they are in the process of learning a foreign language. Next class we are going to review all the topics we have studied so far, in order to consolidate this knowledge.
See you then!
Activity
Now it’s time to practice a little about what you studied in this class. For this, discuss the following statement:
Suppose you are at a hotel and you have to complain about your room to the manager in English. Explain what specific learning strategies you might use to accomplish this task and justify your choice.
Nesta aula, você:
Identificou diferentes tipos de estratégias de aprendizagem de línguas;
reconheceu a importância dessas estratégias para a aprendizagem eficiente;
relacionou as estratégias diretas com as indiretas.
 Na próxima aula, você vai estudar:
Revisão das aulas anteriores.