Topic : In your opinion, and taking into account the different scholars that you have

studied, what learning strategies are most effective with the following age groups?

- How would you foster learning strategies with the group you have chosen? Give
Examples and ideas.

In relation to the group you have chosen, In which cases do you think that teaching learning
strategies should be explicit? In which cases do you think that teaching learning strategies
should be implicit?

What is your opinion about working and discovering with your students their learning
styles

These are my thoughts on the first part of the task: In your opinion, and taking into
account the different scholars that you have studied, what learning strategies are most
effective with the following age groups?

As we have studied there are different authors who have made research on this area: Rubin
(1975), Naiman et.al (1978), O’Malley and Chamot (1990) and Oxford (1990) among
others. There are as a consequence different definitions of “learning strategies”. After
reading all the definitions, the one that called my attention because of its clarity was
Oxford’s “ … “Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make
learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more
transferrable to new situations” (1990). According to my personal experience, the use of
strategies in the classroom do have these effects on the learners’ acquisition of the L2. After
being trained in the use of some strategies (the ones which as a teacher I considered
appropriate for their age and learning level) students become more independent and are
able to understand the new language better.

There are also different taxonomies with which to classify the strategies. In this case I
chose Oxford’s taxonomy, too because as the subject Learning Strategies says, it is one of
the best known among language teachers and also to contrast with Estefanía’s chosen
author so as to have some variety. With my students, who are 10 years old, there is only a
number of strategies which I see as the ones they can fully understand and handle. Within
the “Direct Strategies” proposed by Oxford (1990) we have MEMORY, COGNITIVE
AND COMPENSATION STRATEGIES. In the first group, they are trained to use imagery
and to do semantic maps, mainly when learning new vocabulary and doing reading
comprehension practice. In the second group, they are encouraged to take down notes,
highlight and summarize but also to repeat new words, to practice pronunciation and when
the content being taught allows for it, to compare the L1 with the L2 structures. As regards
“Indirect Structures” which are METACOGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE AND SOCIAL
STRUCTURES we work a lot on helping them to plan and organize their learning. A lot of
activities or techniques are used to do that for example helping them to understand the task
independently, self-monitoring their performances and setting and predicting goals for a
task. Not many Affective strategies are used in our class, laughter is; however, certainly
one of them because we have lots of fun in our classes.
Valeria Perez

Hello everyone!

I agree with Valeria’s opinion that Oxford’s (1990) definition and taxonomy of learning strategies
seem to be the most complete and coherent. I also like the definition provided by O’Malley and
Chamot (1990), which states that learning strategies are ‘the special thoughts or behaviours that
individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information.’ Among Oxford’s
(1990:9-13) general features of LS, I would like to highlight the ones I consider the most important:
‘They contribute to achieve communicative competence’; ‘they allow learners to become more self-
oriented’ ; ‘they are specific actions taken by the learner’; ‘they are not always observable’ (though)
‘they are conscious’, ‘flexible’ and ‘can be taught’.

In relation to the last general feature mentioned, I consider that teaching LS to students is vital to
foster language acquisition and learner’s autonomy. However, in order to do so, teachers must take
into account learner’s individual factors or differences, which can be cognitive, affective, physical
and psychological (as we studied in the subject Individual Factors in the Learner’s Development).
For example, it is important to consider students’ different learning styles (Reid: 1987), multiple
intelligences (Gardner: 1985) or the fact that according to Piaget’s this group of students are in the
concrete operational stage. That means students are beginning to think logically about concrete
events, they have the ability to develop logical thought about an object, if they are able to
manipulate that object. Besides, according to Penfield and Roberts (1959), this age group is highly
motivated but it also depends on the influence from the context, the teacher or the materials used.
Nine to eleven year old students are considered to be in their best age for second language
acquisition because they still have the plasticity of their brains, so they are more receptive to
language learning. These differences will influence the strategies that students will be able to
develop as well as the ones teachers should choose to teach. In my next post I am going to explain
in detail the learning strategies I consider the most effective with this age group.

-Ball, P.; Gassó, E.; Palacios, I. (n.d.). Individual Factors in the Learner’s Development. Spain:
Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana FUNIBER.

-Gardner, R. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and
Motivation. Newbury House. Rowley , Mass.

-O’Malley J. M. & Chamot A. U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.

Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

-Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House.
New York.

-Penfield, W. & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Atheneum Press. New York.

-Piaget, J. (1950). The psychology of intelligence. London: Routledge.

-Reid, J. (1987). The Learning Style Preferences of ESL Students. TESOL Quarterly 21/1: 86-103.
I have to say I read all your posts with great interest and I agree with you all that before
thinking of using LS in our classes we have to consider learners’ individual factors such as
their personalities, learning styles and age among other considerations (Palacios et.al., n.d.).
It is as Oxford and Leaver put it: “Strategy instruction involves active learning and growth
on the part of each individual student. It does not involve helping all students to use the
very same strategy…..Strategy instruction involves helping students know more about
themselves, so they can try out, test and become expert in using the strategies that help
them the most” (1996: 228). We, as teachers may use instruments such as questionnaires or
even games to find out about our students’ learning styles and preferences and on that basis
we can decide which the most suitable strategies are for them.

Now, is it possible to make such a detailed or personalized selection when we have large
classes and only a few hours a week to be with them? I ask this to you because when I read
the theory I sometimes feel frustrated. I feel I cannot cope with all of my students’
necessities and I only do my best to cater for a wide range of LS which may become useful
for them at this particular age and at this particular learning stage.

I’d like to know how you manage to put this into practice and whether you share my
feelings or not.

Looking forward to reading you!

As teachers and according to what we have read, learning strategies are expected to be used
consciously by learners. According to my experience I see that proficient students tend to use
some learning strategies over others. They can even monitor their own learning process
(metacognitive) and reach a kind of independence since they have already established some
techniques for approaching specific tasks. In contrast, the learner with low levels of proficiency
demonstrate lack of use of effective metacognitive skills, therefore they fall into the same
mistakes in fields such as spelling, grammar, and others. In some cases, those difficulties are not
mainly cognitive or related to the subject itself, but also related with their attention patterns. For
this reason, according to the taxonomy brought by Oxford (1990) in the Indirect strategies, in the
item “pay attention” I would extend this concept by fostering in learners how to deal with
distractors. Culturally, the teacher is seen as responsible for maintaining the attention of learners,
so he must control learners’ interventions, avoid interruptions, and try to keep them attentive
through different tasks bearing in mind their different learning skills. However, either visual,
auditory, hand-on, or any learning style, attention must be mainly managed by the learner, so
difficulties to deal with it must be managed by the learner too.

Page 10-11

Hi everyone!

After reading your posts I would like to add my own opinions. What Leidy mentioned about the
difference between proficient and low level students as regards making learning strategies
conscious is related to the concept of ‘conscious awareness.’ (Madrid & Ball, n.d. p. 10). That is, for
a L2 learner ‘achieving proficiency, in a skills model of learning, basically involves automising
language forms, thus developing procedural knowledge, and relying less on declarative
knowledge’ while learners in early stages are consciously aware of the formal rules of the foreign
language; they rely heavily on declarative knowledge instead of procedural knowledge. So, what
Leidy described is the ‘natural’ way in which students become aware of their learning strategies.
However, there are ways in which we can help students become aware of learning strategies from
early stages. Rubin’s (1975) mentions in her LS taxonomy some strategies that affect learning
which can be used consciously with our age group of students, such as memorization and
practice, taking into account their stage of cognitive development. We can help students be aware
of taking notes of new items, pronouncing and repeating words and sentences out loud, finding
mnemonics to help them remember, writing items repeatedly, experimenting with new sounds
and listening carefully to imitate are strategies that nine to eleven year old children can easily
develop. (Rupbin as cited in Madrid and Ball n.d. p. 28).

-Ball, P. & Madrid, D. (n.d.). Learning Strategies. Spain: Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana
FUNIBER.

-Rubin, J. (1975). What the ‘Good Language Learner’ can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9/1: 41-51).

Valeria’s question about whether it is possible to make such a detailed or personalized selection
when we have large classes and only a few hours a week to be with students is so difficult to
answer that we would need to write a book to do so if we were to give it a proper answer. I Think
it all depends on the context, the cultural beliefs held by society, the teacher’s beliefs, the policies
on education taken by the government, etc, etc,.

When you mention that you feel frustrated when you read the theory you have to remember that
it is just that, THEORY. Do you remember the first reading we had to analyse before starting with
the subjects? It made a statement between the difference of theory and practice and how difficult
it is to apply theory in contexts that are so different from the ones where the theory was
developed. In my opinion, that is the key. It is important to learn new theories in order to try new
ways of teaching better but we must be aware that they do not always work in our context. For
example, we have been taught that CLT (in their weak or strong form) is the best way to teach so
far, but some authors explain that CLT in Asian Cultures is difficult to implement because students
are not accustomed to express themselves so openly or interact as they are supposed to do.
‘Given the current English teaching circumstances in Asian countries, researchers have
argued that implementing fully a CLT approach in non-English-speaking countries is almost
impossible. They have also pointed out that certain barriers need to be overcome for the
effective implementation of CLT in Asian countries (Burnaby & Sun, 1989; Ellis, 1996; Li,
1998; Rao,2002 (retrieved from
http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/2317/Hongkham%20Vongxey.
pdf?sequence=)
Another example of a theory that is wrongly applied is MI. Garder (1998) wrote that ‘there is no
point in assuming that every subject can be effectively approached in at least seven ways, and it is
a waste of time and effort to attempt to do this.’ He also states that he sees ‘little point in grading
individuals in terms of how “linguistic” or how “bodily-kinesthetic” they are.’ ‘Direct evaluation or
even the grading of intelligences (has no point) without regard to the context.’

However, as I mention before, theory is important to learn so we try, at least, to change old habits.
My answer to your question is that you should try to apply them as hard as you can, being aware
of your context. Personally, I’ve found that ICT helped me a lot in order to try to cater for as many
differences as I can find in a classroom but I think it is not possible to do it in the desired
personalized way. I try to select general learning strategies to develop, mainly those that can be
applied in other subjects and students’ everyday lives, mainly reading and writing strategies. I
believe students in Argentina do need them because they do not tend to develop LS in their
mother tongue.

-Gardner, H. (1998). Reflections on Multiple Intelligences: Myths and Messages. Phi Delta Kappan,
v77 n3 p200-03,206-09 Nov 1995 (retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ514718 or
https://learnweb.harvard.edu/WIDE/courses/files/Reflections.pdf)

Regarding the indirect strategies, I think that the most used strategies are using music (the benefits
of music are immeasurable) and cooperate with peers to clarify meaning (I think that ‘negotiation
of meaning’ is basic to learn a foreign language).

The affective strategies are excellent, helping students reaching responsibility in their work, and
acquiring a correct emotional management and self encouragement.

Lara María mentioned that, according to Oxford (1990) the most used indirect strategies are using
music and cooperating with peers to clarify meaning. I completely agree with her but I also consider
other indirect strategies play a vital role in second language acquisition.

Estefanía mentioned Valcárcel et al. (1996, cited in ) theory that includes a cognitive element related
to the ability to develop automatization through language use and form hypotheses through
reception of new L2 knowledge and its production. Even though I agree with her that the theory is
a very good one, when formation of hypothesis is mentioned, I wonder if our group of students can
be aware of developing hypotheses considering their cognitive stage. Of course students have to be
encouraged to draw conclusions and form hypotheses but teachers must be conscious that this
group of students would need help to do it, or to be conscious of the process. For example, following
Valcárcel et al. taxonomy, I think these students would find it hard to work alone with planning,
comprehension, and self-assessment processes and the strategies and techniques involved in those
processes. However, they would find it easier to work with the affective, social, retention, transfer
and language use for communication processes, because as Bryant mentioned ‘they are beginning
to become either self-aware or self-conscious’, so these processes become very important for their
language learning as well as their personality development. The affective and social strategies
mentioned by these authors are very similar to Oxford’s (1990) and I personally consider they are
very important for good language learners if they are to acquire the foreign language. As Krashen
(1982) mentioned in his Affective Filter Hypothesis, lowering students’ anxiety and stress during the
learning process fosters language acquisition. Oxford’s affective strategies (1990) such as using
progressive relaxation, deep breathing or meditation as well as music, making positive statements
and rewarding yourself are related to the principles of NLP (Bandler & Grinder cited in Revell: 2000)
so if teachers implement NLP in their classrooms, they will also be fostering Oxford’s indirect
strategies.

-Ball, P. & Madrid, D. (n.d.). Learning Strategies. Spain: Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana
FUNIBER.

-Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Pergamon Press.
California

-Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House.
New York.

-Revell, Jane and Norman, S. (1997). In Your Hands. NLP for teaching and learning. Saffire Press.
London.

-Valcárcel, M.; Coyle, Y. & Verdu, M. (1996). Learning Foreign Languages: Learner Strategies, in
McLaren, N. and Madrid, D.

Hello again!
Now I’m going to give my ideas about working and discovering with my students their learning
styles.
Well, I consider it is very important to help students discover their learning styles during their foreign
language learning process because they can discover, learn and apply learning strategies related to
their leaning styles in other subjects and everyday situations . Taking into account different learning
styles while teaching the foreign language makes the learning process easier for students and the
teacher. Recognising students’ differences by choosing different tasks and ways of teaching
enhances rapport (Hamer: 1998) and students’ commitment to their learning. I consider students
are responsible for their learning and they have to be taught how to cope with it so that they can
become autonomous. That is why, at the beginning of the school year, I give students a multiple
choice test to know which are the predominant learner styles and intelligences in order to select
tasks and activities that may help them learn better. In order to try to include as many learning styles
and intelligences, I work with online exercise, videos with explanations, specific tasks or activities
and games which I includ in a blog designed for my students to work in class and outside it. This is
one of the best ways I have found so far to cater for diversity in my class. It is also important that
teachers know their own learning. In my case, I am a visual learner so I tend to use lots of flashcards
and videos with pictures to anchor vocabulary. I find it very difficult to work with songs in the class,
even though I know they are a source of motivation and meaningful learning. The fact is, according
to a MI Test I did, I have 5% of Musical Intelligence, so it is no wonder I do not particularly like using
songs. In my experience, our own learning styles affect the way we teach, don’t you think so?

-Harmer, J. (1998). How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of English Language
Teaching. Harlow: Longman. Print.

Hello everyone!!

Lara, you are right about the film Inside Out. When I read Anderson’s definition about STM and LTM
I also remembered that those terms were explained in the film using different colour balls stored in
different places. It is interesting to remember that Riley, the main character, belongs to our age
group because she is an 11-year-old girl. This film gives us an insight of all the changes related to
feelings and personality changes that this group of students may undergo. Knowing this, teachers
may help students cope with their emotions during this process, mainly by using affective and social
strategies mentioned by Varcárcel et al. (1996) and Oxford (1990).
To answer the questions ‘In which cases do you think that teaching learning strategies should be
explicit? In which cases do you think that teaching learning strategies should be implicit?’, I would
like to follow Oxford’s taxonomy (1990) by working explicitly with his direct strategies (memory,
cognitive, compensation strategies) as well as with the indirect metacognitive strategies. Oxford’s
social and affective strategies should be taught in an implicit way. By using Oxford’s indirect
strategies, (Oxford: 1990) such as lowering students’ anxiety, encouraging themselves, taking their
emotional temperature, cooperating with others and empathizing with others, we are dealing with
students’ emotions. Consequently, it would be better to work with these strategies in a way
students are not aware of them, at the beginning at least, to avoid the risk of making them feel
uncomfortable. Once students become acquainted with them, we can make those strategies explicit
by explaining their importance in the learning process. As Lara explained, using Task-Based Learning
in the classroom can help students develop the strategies mentioned. However, I advocate
Kumaravadivelu’s ideas (1994) that explain there is no point in trying to find “the best method”
because the method concept limits teachers and learners potentials. In other words, “the quest for
a better method has been or should be abandoned in favor of the identification of practices or
strategies of teaching designed to reflect local needs and experiences”( Savignon, 2007, p. 207). In
the context of our subject, that is exactly what we are doing in this forum.

-Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). “The post-method condition: Emerging strategies for second/foreign

language teaching”. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 27-48.
-Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House.
New York.

-Savignon, S.J. (2007). Beyond communicative language teaching: What's ahead? Journal of
Pragmatics, 39 (1), 207-220.
-Valcárcel, M.; Coyle, Y. & Verdu, M. (1996). Learning Foreign Languages: Learner Strategies, in
McLaren, N. and Madrid, D.

As regards the question How would you foster learning strategies with the group you have
chosen?, I think I have already answer it in my previous posts when I described the way I use ICT in
the classroom to work with students’ different learning styles and develop different strategies
following Oxford’s taxonomy (1990).
I agree with Valeria about Ball and Madrid’s concern (n.d.:46) that a new set of strategies should
be defined for the use of ICT. I also think a new way of assessment should be developed if ICT is
involved in the learning process. What I would like to repeat is that we should teach strategies
explicitly to enhance learner’s autonomy, mainly those that can be used in other subjects or in
everyday life, so that students can link what they learn to their world. This may sound obvious, but
in reality, I can see that students do not know simple reading, writing or listening strategies because
they do not work with them in other subjects in their mother tongue. At least that is what happens
in my country, Argentina. Universities consider include a subject called ‘Reading Comprehension’ or
‘Developing writing’ in the first year because many students fail their subjects due to the lack of
basic strategies such as the metacognitive, cognitive and social and affective strategies mentioned
by O’Malley and Chamot (1990), Oxford’s direct and indirect strategies or Varcárcel, Coyle and
Verdú’s classification (1996) of processes, strategies and techniques grouped under the headings of
sensitivization, acquisition, automatization and evaluation.

-Ball, P. & Madrid, D. (n.d.). Learning Strategies. Spain: Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana
FUNIBER.

-O’Maley, J. M. and Chamot, A.U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.
Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

-Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House.
New York.

-Valcárcel, M.; Coyle, Y. & Verdu, M. (1996). Learning Foreign Languages: Learner Strategies, in
McLaren, N. and Madrid, D.