Learning

Process
 Difference between learning styles
and strategies
The phrase ‘learning style’ refers to a person’s general approach
to learning and is dependent upon that person’s cognitive,
affective and behavioral characteristics(Oxford, “The Role of
Styles and Strategies in Second Language Learning”, 1989).
The phrase ‘learning strategies’ refers to the actions and
behaviors a person uses to learn (Oxford, 1989.) All learners use
strategies to help them succeed, but not all are aware of the
strategies they use. As Rebecca Oxford states: “…the most
successful learners tend to use learning strategies that are
appropriate to the material, to the task, and to their own goals,
needs, and stage of learning,” (Oxford, 1989).
 Learning Strategies
are the mental and communicative
procedures learners use in order to
learn and use the language.
Underlying every learning task is at
least one strategy.
Learning Strategies
Brown (1980) talked about learning strategies as
processes that may contribute directly to learning.

Chanot (1987) defines learning strategies as

processes, techniques, approaches, and actions
that students take to facilitate the learning and
recall both linguistics and content areas of
information.
 Learning Strategies
Oxford (1990) defines learning strategies as
“specific actions taken by the learner to make
learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-
directed, more effective, and more transferable to
new situations.
Rebecca Oxford, one of the leading
teachers and researchers in the language
learning strategies field, argues that
strategies are important for two reasons.
01 Strategies “are tools for active and self-
directed involvement, in which is essential
for developing communicative
competence”.

02 Learners who have developed appropriate

learning strategies have greater self-
confidence and learn more effectively.
 Importance of Strategies to
Learning Process
Knowledge of strategies is important,
because the greater the awareness you
have of what you are doing, if you are
conscious of the processes underlying the
learning that you are involved in, then
learning will be more effective.
Direct Strategies
Direct strategies include such things as
memorizing, analyzing and reasoning, and
guessing intelligently. As the name
suggests, these are specific procedures
that learners can use to internalize the
language.
Indirect Strategies
Indirect strategies include such things as
evaluating one’s learning, and cooperating
with others.
Based on the extensive research on learning strategies (Challot -
O'Malley 1994 Rubin) successful second language learners use
some common learning strategies effectively. The high school
second language learner has much in common with the "good"
language learners described by Rubin (1975), i.e. they
1. are willing guessers
2. are accurate guessers
3. have a strong drive to communicate
4. look for patterns in the language
5. try to classify language
6. analyze language
7. take advantage of all practice opportunities
8. monitor their own speech
9. pay attention to meaning
Many students use learning strategies automatically
without any awareness of them. The role of teachers here
is to:
 recognize their students’ learning strategies,

 make them explicit to students, bring them to their

attention and talk about them.
 encourage students to use them in the classroom

 make them more effective to the learning process,

 base teaching process and techniques on these

strategies.
Students use the following learning strategies most often
when learning a language:

1. Cognitive strategies which enable the learner to

manipulate the language material in direct ways, e.g.
through reasoning, analysis, note-taking, and synthesizing

2. Metacognitive strategies which are used to manage

the learning process overall, e.g. identifying preferences
and the need for planning, monitoring mistakes, and
evaluating task success.
3. Memory-related strategies which help learners link
one item or concept with another but do not necessarily
involve deep understanding, e.g. using acronyms, sound
similarities, images, key words.

4. Compensatory strategies which help make up for

missing knowledge, e.g. using gestures, miming or
guessing the meaning from the context.
5. Affective strategies which help learners manage their
emotions, such as identifying one’s mood and anxiety
level, talking about feelings, rewarding oneself, and using
deep breathing or positive self-talk.

6. Social strategies which enable the learner to learn via

interaction with others and understand the target culture,
e.g. asking questions, asking for clarification, asking for
conversation help, talking with a native-speaking partner,
and exploring cultural and social norms.
COGNITIVE • Discriminating
• Classifying • Diagramming
• Predicting • Interpersonal
• Inducing • Cooperating
• Taking Notes • Role-Playing
• Concept Mapping
• Inferencing
LINGUISTIC • Skimming
• Conversational

Patterns
• Practicing

• Using Context

• Summarizing

• Selective Listening
AFFECTIVE
•Personalizing
•Self-evaluating
•Reflecting
Encouraging Learner Independence
Goal setting
Self-assessment and Evaluation
Learner Choice