Learner Autonomy and Learning Strategies in EFL Learning

郭 薇

Abstract:Autonomy is one of the goals of EFL teaching. And strategy training is an important approach to developing autonomy. This paper briefly reviews the theories and researches on learning strategies, including the definitions, classifications of the learning strategies, and how to prepare for and implement strategy training.

Key words:autonomy learning strategy strategy training

ⅠAutonomy in language learning

The research on autonomy has long been conducted in various fields like psychology, education reform, and political philosophy etc. Modern research and practice on autonomy in the field of language education began with the establishment of Centre de Recherches et d'Applications en Langues (CRAPEL) at the University of Nancy, France, which aimed initially to advocate lifelong learning for adults. Holec (1981: 3), a leading figure within this field, defines autonomy as the ability to take charge of one's own learning. Focusing on the characteristics of autonomous language learners, Gardner and Miller define autonomous language learners as those whoinitiate the planning and implementation of their own learning program' (Gardner and Miller 1999: 6). Phil Benson (2001: 47) states that autonomy is a multidimensional capacity that will take different forms for different individuals, and even for the same individual in different contexts or at different times. Nevertheless, the key idea emerging from these definitions is learner's control over the whole learning process. As an attribute and capacity of the learner, autonomy is not only reflected in learning behaviors, but also represents learners' belief of independence. They should be freed from the complete dependence on teachers and educational institutions. They need to develop the capacity of making decisions and taking actions concerning language learning. To reach the goal of autonomy, they need to be provided with the knowledge and the opportunities of practices on how to learn, how to exercise self-control, and how to develop their learning potentials.

Ⅱ Learning strategies

1. Definitions

Various approaches have been adopted and researched to foster learner autonomy and help learners become better language learners. Benson (2001) makes a summary of approaches to the development of autonomy including resource, technology, learner, classroom, curriculum and teacher-based approaches. Learner-based approaches focus directly on the production of behavioral and psychological changes that will enable learners to take greater control over their learning (Benson, 2001: 142).They mainly consist of learning strategies and strategy training. Wenden (1991) researches the relationship between learning strategies and autonomy. He believes that learners who have acquired the learning strategies, the knowledge about learning, and the attitudes that enable them to use these skills and knowledge confidently, flexibly, appropriately and independently of a teacher, are autonomous (Wenden, 1991: 15).

Researchers have defined learner strategy from different perspectives. For example Oxford (1990: 8) defines learning strategies as specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, and more transferable to new situations. Her definition focuses on the outcomes of learning process. Willing's (1988:7) definitions centers on specific procedures, stating that learning strategy is a specific mental procedure for gathering, processing, associating, categorizing, rehearsing and retrieving information of patterned skills. Cohen (1990: 5) defines learning strategies as learning processes which are consciously selected by the learner, drawing attention to the learner's choice in learning process. The common characteristic of different ways of defining learner strategy is that the higher efficiency of language learning and using process is emphasized.

2.Classifications of learning strategies

In terms of strategy classification, since researchers have different understandings of language learning process, different schemes have been proposed. O'malley and Chamot (1985) first divided learning strategies into three categories of metacognitive, cognitive, and social. This classification has been widely adopted by other researchers such as Oxford(1990) and Cohen (1998).

Metacognitive strategies mainly concern the knowledge about learning, for example how to make plans, set and adjust learning goals, monitor language input and output process, and evaluate and reflect on learning performance.

Cognitive strategies are adopted by learners to deal with specific learning activities, which include how to identify, retain, retrieve and use the necessary language material (e.g. concentrating on learning tasks, guessing the meaning of unfamiliar word by way of context, using visual imagery for better understanding of language material, and using inductive and deductive reasoning).

Affective strategies will help learners view themselves positively. With these strategies, learners can regulate their emotions, motivations, and attitudes. They can as well reduce anxiety and become self-encouraged. (e.g. building confidence in learning a foreign language, avoiding shyness and anxiety in learning process, and offering help to other learners).

Social strategies help learners manage the relationship with other learners, teachers and native speakers (e.g. asking for clarification and verification, cooperating with other learners, and developing awareness of cultural differences).

Cohen and Weaver (2006: 33-34) present classifications of strategies by goal, skills, and function. From the perspective of goal, they hold that strategies fall into groups of language learning strategies and language use strategies. In the former group, there can be a range of strategies like identifying, distinguishing, grouping the language material, practicing material through participation in classroom activities and homework, and committing the material to memory. In the latter group, there are four subsets: retrieval strategies are the conscious processes that learners use to call up language material from storage; rehearsal strategies are conscious processes for practicing target language structures before using them; communication strategies are conscious processes used by learners to convey a message that is both meaningful and informative for the listener or reader when they dont have all the language they need; covert strategies are conscious processes that learners use to create an appearance of language ability so as not to look unprepared, foolish, or even stupid.

Ⅲ Preparations for strategy training

1.Raising students' awareness of the significance of strategy training

To fulfill any task, the goal and the significance must be made clear because any human activity is purposeful, and nobody will show interest or initiative if they believe the task is merely a waste of time. Thus, before implementing strategy training, learners should first be informed about the significance of learning strategies. Cohen (1998: 69) believes that the goal of strategy training is to explicitly teach students how, when and why strategies can be used to facilitate their efforts at learning and using a foreign language. With strategy training, students can learn the target language in a more effective way and they can also be encouraged to self-evaluate and self-direct their learning. The key to strategy training lies in learners themselves, and only if the learners actively and attentively take part in the training, can they really reap the benefits from the strategies.

2.Investigating learner strategies

Before training students on strategies, teachers need to find out how much the students have already known about learning strategies, and to what extent they have used the strategies in language learning and using processes. To make the strategy training well targeted and to meet a particular group of students' needs, teachers are strongly advised to gather the information on students' learning strategies before carrying out strategy training. Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) is a typical and frequently adopted questionnaire for assessing language learning strategies. Cohen (1998: 27-49) proposes six approaches: oral interviews and written questionnaires, observation, verbal report, diaries and dialog journals, recollective studies, and computer tracking. Cheng and Zheng (2002:137-138) lay out four aspects that a diagnosis of language learning strategies should cover: making a checklist of the effective strategies that have been grasped by learners, conducting a survey on students' negative strategies (e.g. rote learning of vocabulary), investigating the frequency with which students apply the learning strategies, and looking into the connection between the use of strategies and students' academic achievements.

3.Selecting learning strategies

Teachers need to make an analysis of the data obtained from the investigation of learning strategies and make decisions on the choice of the strategies to be taught. Though numerous strategies ave been identified, it's impractical and impossible for teachers to introduce all of them to students. In the previous part, the investigations into the factors that influence learner strategies have been mentioned, for example the characteristics, learning styles, age and gender of the learner, different learning motivations, various cultural backgrounds etc. Teachers have to sift the strategies and these influencing factors to make them match one another. And if the size of the class is large, then it should be made sure that the needs of the majority of students are to be met. The strategy selection also depends on how the strategy training will be conducted. The forms of isolated learning strategy lectures, strategy workshops or strategy trainings integrated into language course content exert influence on the selection of the strategies and the way they are taught and practiced. Cheng and Zheng (2002:137-138) make some suggestions on priority selection of language learning strategies. They believe the following strategies should be given priority.

●strategies which are easy to understand and practice;

●strategies which have already been used by the students but to a limited extent and with a low frequency;

●strategies which can be extensively used in acquiring knowledge and skills;

●strategies closelyrelated to the students'learning tasks and goals;

And since the ultimate goal of strategy training is to empower students by allowing them to take control of the language learning process (Cohen, 1998:70), students need to be encouraged to select their own strategies that they believe to be beneficial to their language learning.

Ⅳ Conducting strategy training

Various approaches have been taken to conduct strategy training, among which no single one has been proved to be the best since different approaches are designed to fit into different contexts. Cohen reviews the options for providing strategy training, which include: general study-skills training which is separate from the language course, awareness training both through lectures and through workshops, peer tutoring, the insertion of strategy discussions directly into the textbooks, videotaped mini-courses, and strategies-based instruction in which strategy training is fully integrated into the language curriculum under the guidance of the teacher (Cohen, 1998: 74).

O'Malley and Chamot (1990: 152) talk about the divergence of researchers' opinions on how to implement strategy instruction. Some favor separate instruction in that strategies are generalizable to many contexts and students will learn strategies better if they focus on developing strategic processing skills instead of trying to learn content at the same time. While people who favor integrated instruction believe that practicing strategies on authentic academic and language tasks can facilitates the transfer of strategies to similar tasks encountered in other classes. Similarly researchers' opinions vary as to carrying out direct or embedded strategy instruction. In direct instruction, students are informed of the value and purpose of strategy training, whereas in embedded instruction, students are presented with activities and materials structured to elicit the use of the strategies being taught but are not informed of the reasons why this approach to learning is being practiced (O'Malley and Chamot, 1990: 153). The studies concerning the two contradictory ways of strategy instruction reveal that direct instruction works better in helping students become autonomous learners. Thus many researchers prefer direct instruction to embedded one (O'Malley and Chamot, 1990: 154)

Cohen (1998: 70) uses the term explicit strategy training to refer to the way of directly informing the students of the value, purpose and rationale of learning strategies. And he introduces three explicit approaches to strategy training, one of which was proposed by Oxford et al. (1990). The sequence of this approach can be briefly expressed as the following:

1.ask learners to do a language activity without any strategy training;

2.have them discuss how they did it and how the strategies they adopted may have facilitated their learning process;

3.introduce new strategies and inform students of the rationale for strategy use. Learners are encouraged to include new strategies into their learning repertoires;

4.allow students time to practice the new strategies with language tasks;

5.show students how to transfer the strategies to other tasks;

6.provide students practice to use the strategies with new tasks and allow them to make choice about the strategies they will use to complete the task;

7.help students understand how to evaluate the success of their strategy use.

Other researchers have also proposed their approaches emphasizing explicit training (Pearson and Dole, 1987; Chamot and O'Malley, 1994; Jones et al, 1987; Hosenfeld et al, 1981) What is common in the structures of these approaches is the similar sequence of conducting strategy training. In all of these approaches, the use, value, and rationale of the strategy are emphasized. Besides, students have the opportunity to practice the new strategies and learn how to transfer them to other learning tasks. And they also learn how to monitor their performance and evaluate the strategies.

ⅤConclusion

The goal of researching learning strategies and conducting strategy training is to help students have better language learning performances and become autonomous language learners. To achieve such a goal, the strategies that so far have been identified need to be adapted to meet the needs of the specific groups of students. And the most suitable way of conducting strategy training for a given group of students needs to be discovered by combining the advantages of alternative ways and with accordance to the specific learners' needs and context features.

References:

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[2]Benson. Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. Pearson Education Limited, 2001.

[3]Cohen. Language Learning: insights for learners, teachers, and researchers. Newbury House / Harper & Row, 1990.

[4]Cohen. Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language. Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998.

[5]Cohen and Weaver. Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teachers' Guide. Beijing: Foreign Languages Teaching and Research Press, 2006.

[6]Gardner and Miller. Establishing Self-Access: From Theory to Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

[7]O'Malley and Chamot. Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

[8] Rowley, Mass. Language Learning Strategies: what every teacher should know. Newbury House, 1990.

[9]Wenden. Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. London: Prentice Hall International, 1991.

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