All appropriate language learning strategies are oriented towards the broad goal of

communicative competence. Development of communicative competence requires

realistic interaction among learners using meaningful and contextualized language.
Learning strategies help learners participate actively in such authentic communication
and to operate in both general and specific ways to encourage their development of
communicative competence.

It is easy to see how language learning strategies stimulate the growth of communicative
competence in general. For instance, metacognitive strategies help learners to regulate
their own cognition and to focus, plan, and evaluate their progress as they move toward
communicative competence. Whereas, affective strategies develop the self-confidence
and perseverance needed for learners to involve themselves actively in language
learning, a requirement for attaining communicative competence.

Certain cognitive strategies, such as analyzing, and particular memory strategies, like the
keyword technique, are highly useful for understanding and recalling new information-
important functions in the process of becoming competent in using the new language.
Compensation strategies aid learners in overcoming knowledge gaps and continuing to
communicate authentically; thus, these strategies help communicative competence to
blossom.

As the learner's competence grows, strategies can act in specific ways to foster particular
aspects of that competence: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic
elements. For instance, memory strategies, such as using imagery and structured review,
and cognitive strategies, such as reasoning deductively and using contrastive analysis,
strengthen grammatical accuracy. Social strategies-asking questions, cooperating with
native speakers, cooperating with peers, and becoming culturally aware powerfully aid
sociolinguistic competence. Strategies related to communication in a natural setting and
with social involvement also foster the development of sociolinguistic competence.
Many, kinds of strategies, compensation strategies, including using contextual clues for
guessing, social strategies, such as cooperating and asking questions, and cognitive
strategies, like recombination and use of common routines-encourage greater amounts
of authentic communication and thus enhance discourse competence. Compensation
strategies-guessing when the meaning is not known, or using synonyms or gestures to
express meaning of an unknown word or expression-are the heart of strategic
competence.

Language learning strategies encourage greater overall self-direction for learners. Self-
direction is particularly important for language learners, because they will not always have
the teacher around to guide them as they use the language outside the classroom.
Moreover, self-direction is essential to the active development of ability in a new language.
Owing to conditioning by the culture and the educational system, however, many language
students (even adults) are passive and accustomed to being spoon-fed. They like to be told
what to do, and they do only what is clearly essential to get a good grade-even if they fail to
develop useful skills in the process. Attitudes and behaviors like these make learning more
difficult and must be changed, or else any effort to train learners to rely more on themselves
and use better strategies is bound to fail. Just teaching new strategies to students will
accomplish very little unless students begin to want greater responsibility for their own
learning.
Learner self-direction is not an "all or nothing" concept; it is often a gradually increasing
phenomenon, growing as learners become more comfortable with the idea of their own
responsibility. Self-directed students gradually gain greater confidence, involvement, and
proficiency.