The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) [Oxford, R.L. 1990. Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. Boston: Heinle and Heinle] has been a widely used instrument for self-assessing the frequency of language learning strategy use across cultures and levels of education for some 30 years. Despite the fact that its…

This study of vocabulary comprehension strategies (VCS) is framed by the debate on L2-only instruction in the second or foreign language (L2) classroom where the teacher shares the first language (L1) of the students. Research has shown that some teachers switch to the L1 to explain lexical items while others try to explain them through L2…

This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of different languages in England completing Asset Languages reading tasks at levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments across languages at the same level of proficiency were designed to a common specification and at…

In an increasingly multilingual world, the question of how to improve foreign language speaking skills of pupils in British schools is of paramount importance to language teachers and policy-makers today. This paper examines how an explicit focus on metacognitive strategy use within secondary school foreign language lessons impacts pupils'…

Language learner strategies (LLS) have long been viewed as a variable of individual differences, or as cognitive skills. This study, focusing as it does on the data taken from a series of focus groups with 47 senior secondary students in mainland China, seeks a new interpretation of strategy development and use from a sociocultural perspective.…

Cross-study comparison of the impact of strategy instruction (SI) is problematic because of differences in learning settings, the periods of time over which it is undertaken and the nature of the SI itself. Few studies indicate how the choice of skill areas and strategies has been tailored to meet the learners' age, stage and proficiency level,…

Focuses on the connection between students' learning styles and preferences and draws a distinction between learning and cognitive style. Six major styles are outlined: deep/surface/strategic approach, holist/serialist, converger/diverger, concrete/abstract/, reflective/active, and solitary/social. Further research is recommended. (23 references)…

Describes a learning project designed to encourage students to focus on their own learning strategies and to collect data about these strategies as well as those they had not yet acquired. A consideration of learner strategies is central to any initiative undertaken to encourage student autonomy within the context of the implementation of the…

Evaluates strategies undertaken to improve students' foreign language reading competence. The article focuses on the ability of pupils to cope with reading texts containing unknown vocabulary, students' motivation to overcome difficulties in comprehension, the best methods to attain a permanent vocabulary gain from reading, and the transfer of…

British researchers investigated learning strategies employed by secondary students who were good language learners. Students completed language learning tasks and semistructured interviews to determine cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and teachers completed interviews about their ideas on language learning strategies. Results indicated…