Language Learning Strategies and Learning Styles
One of the advantages adults have over younger language learners is the ability to use abstract thinking skills to reflect on their language learning process, and consciously engage and structure their learning to their best advantage. All theories of second language acquisition (SLA) aside, there is considerable variation in how individuals learn a second language (L2) (Ellis 1997). Adults have the ability to reflect on their personalities, personal learning styles, motivations, and assess what strategies are most effective for their learning.
Motivation is critical to commitment to L2 learning, but because learning their heritage language is so closely tied to indigenous identity, expectations about language learning are fraught with pitfalls for many indigenous people. Cantoni (1999) contends that reluctance among language learners to use their indigenous language may be due “not only to the pressure of an English-speaking society, but also to unreasonable expectations of correctness and accuracy,” (p. 56). According to Hinton (2001), criticism discourages participation and learning, frequently the criticism may cause them to give up on speaking the language altogether. “Our expectations of immediate accuracy and mastery are not supported by the tenets of any theory,” Schulz (1991) reminds us.
Motivational factors can be influential in nature and frequency with which L2 learners make use of language learning strategies (Ellis 1997). Language learning strategies (LLSs) are the steps or actions learners take to improve the learning or use of a language (Cohen 1996). Oxford (1989) outlines seven types of LLS: cognitive strategies, memory strategies, comprehension strategies, communication strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies.
Ellis (1997) compresses those types of LLSs and describes three categories of language learning strategies: cognitive strategies, those involved in the analysis, synthesis or transformation of learning materials; metacognitive strategies, those involved in planning, monitoring and evaluating learning; and social/affective strategies, those involved in the ways learners interact with other speakers.
Much of the research around LLSs has focused on the role that these strategies play in L2 acquisition, and many studies have focused on identifying the strategies used by successful language learners.
Successful second language learners, according to Ellis (1997), are active in using strategies, show an awareness of the learning process and of their own learning style. An increase in use of strategies was found to be correlated to improvement on language tasks (Cohen 1996), and successful learners use more strategies than unsuccessful learners (Ellis 1997).
Learning strategies are directly tied to a learner’s underlying learning style – their general approach to learning – and personality variables (Cohen 1996). Oxford (2003) explores several aspects of learning styles including: sensory preferences, personality types, desired degree of generality and biological factors, all of which occur on a continuum or multiple, intersecting continua.
It is important, therefore to match the use of language learning strategies to the learner’s language learning style. Learners resisted learning and using strategies that were completely opposed to the their learning preferences (Oxford and Crookall 1989).
Because many learners are unaware of the strategies they use, and therefore do not take full advantage of the available strategies (Oxford and Crookall 1989), it is advisable to teach learning strategies directly to adults who are striving to learn a second language.
Strategy-based instruction refers to the explicit instruction of learners in how identify and use strategies for language learning (Cohen 1996). According to Oxford (2003) “The most effective strategy instruction appears to include demonstrating when a given strategy might be useful, as well as how to use and evaluate it, and how to transfer it to other related tasks and situations.” Sometimes these methods are called learning-to-learn. Research suggests that training students to use LLS can help them become better learners, and acquire material more quickly (Lessard-Clouston 1997).
Implications for Program Design and Instructional Methods
Clearly there is a need for consideration of language learning strategies and learner styles among language teachers, curriculum developers and learners themselves. Language learning strategy training can take the form of a separate course or instruction that focuses on the language learning process itself, or the training can be integrated into the actual language environment where the skills are taught in tandem with the language (Lessard-Clouston 1997).
The key for instructors and curricular material developers in attempting to address a group of learners with varied styles and LLS, is to provide a greater variety of activities that cater to different learning styles (Oxford 2003). In appealing to different learning styles and trying to stimulate and motivate learners, Mellow (2000) has developed a two-dimensional model of approaches to language teaching (see Figure 1) that classifies different approaches to language teaching along the axis of formal to functional and construction to emergence.
Figure 1: Melow’s Two-Dimensional Model of Approaches to Language Learning
Grammar practice Skills-based, Phonics |
Total Physical Repsonse Functional-notional |
| |
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Natural Approach Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Universal Grammar (UG) |
Communication-Based Immersion Whole Language, Emergent Literacy |
Mellow (2000) posits that the model is a starting place for examining the “underlying assumptions and properties of traditional, indigenous approaches to language use, transmission and acquistion,” and advocates the use of an eclectic method that borrows from all areas to maximize language learning.
The focus on learning styles, language learning strategies and teaching methods allows for the individuation of program design for threatened indigenous languages, tuning the program to the needs of the community in what Hornberger (1998) calls the “language planning from the bottom up.”
Affirming the essential ingredient of community involvement, Mellow (2000) concludes: “Local decisions are essential because only expert native speakers will fully appreciate the uniqueness and complexity of their language, allowing for effective and appropriate choices about the language content to be taught.”
Resources for Learning Styles and Strategies
- LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES by Felder and Soloman
- Online Learning Styles Site includes a survey
- The Role of Styles and Strategies in Second Language Learning
- Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences, includes a survey of your learning style
- Exploring your learning style, from Study Guides and Strategies
- Language Learning Strategies: An Overview for L2 Teachers by Michael Lessard-Clouston
- Preparing for Language Learning from SIL