2 - Theoretical Background & Researches on Learning Strategies

7/27/2019 2 - Theoretical Background & Researches on Learning Strategies

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Theoretical Background &

Researches on Learning Strategies


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We believe that theory is vital for teachersbecause it provides insight into why studentsrespond to instruction in certain ways.

Allwright: Why dont learners learn whatteachers teach?

While learning theory may not allow us to predictor explain all the variations in learners, it can

provide a framework for understandingcommonalities among students and possiblereasons for individual variations.


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Different instructional approaches are based

on explicit or implicit believes about human

learning-how languages are learnt.

Many systems of classroom management/

teaching approaches are based on the

behavioural theory that emphasizes the

pairing of appropriate stimuli and rewards todesired responses.


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Behaviouristic Theory of Learning

For decades, behaviouristic & Skinnerianlearning theory had a great impact on foreignand second language teaching methodology. It

was believed that -human behaviour could be predicted and

controlled;

-children came into this world with a tabularasa, a clean slate bearing no preconceivednotions about the world/ about language;


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-they are then shaped by their environment,

slowly conditioned through various schedules

of reinforcement;

-Languages a form of behaviour

-Language learning a process of habitformation


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Learning model:

Stimulus response reinforcement

-repetitions habit formation & learning

Reinforcement or reward is

-very important in the early stages of learning -should be given frequently.


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Each step in the learning process should be as

small as possible so that correct behaviour is

reinforced with rewards.

Mistakes are corrected immediately. e.g Audio-

lingual method- popular in the 50s & 60s.

It was claimed that a carefully designed

programme of step-by-step reinforcement couldteach virtually any subject matter effectively and

successfully.


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Language teaching, often in the form of

language stimuli, provide the first input.

Learners were expected to adapt to this

input.

As a result, most researchers concentrated on

approaches or methods of teaching or

instruction, which would bring about effectivelanguage acquisition.


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Paradigm Shift

Since the early seventies, the focus of foreign

and second language studies has shifted from

methods of teaching to

-the learning process

-learner characteristics

-their influence on second languageacquisition.


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Gardner and Lamberts (1972) seminal

research on attitude and motivation pointed

tot the importance of affective factors.

Schumann (1976) have found that social

factors could determine the extent to which a

non-native group may remain socially distant

from the culture of the target group.


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Since then, other personal characteristics of

the learner, such as intelligence, aptitude,

personality, motivation and attitude, learning

styles and age, as well as the structure of the

native and target languages, and interaction

opportunities with native speakers have all

been found to affect second language learning(Lighbown & Spada, 1993)


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Beside these factors, cognitive science has

offered some answers to how learners learn a

second language and the learning process.

Approaches that call for higher level thinking

and student autonomy, such as the LHTL

model, are based on cognitive learning theory.


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Learning Theories Supporting the Use

& Development of Learning Strategies

-Cognitive Learning models which focus on

learners mental processes. -Social Cognitive models which investigate the

roles of interaction between individuals and

group processes in learning.


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Cognitive models of learning

Thus far, linguistic theories have assumed that

language is learned separately from cognitive

skills. However, OMalley & Chamot (1990:16),

who are responsible for advancing a cognitive-based theory in second language acquisition

(SLA), have concluded that: SLA cannot be

understood without addressing theinteraction between language and cognition


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They have reviewed Andersons Information

Processing Theory of cognition and memory as

well as those of other theorists and showed how

these theories could be used for explaining SLA. They also concluded that cognitive theory could

extend to describe learning strategies as complex

cognitive skill provides a mechanism fordescribing how language learning ability can be

improved.


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Anderson (1983, 1985 in OMalley & Chamot,1990:20) distinguishes between linguisticinformation stored as

what we know about, or static informationin memory known as declarative knowledgeand

what we know how to do or dynamicinformation in memory known as proceduralknowledge.


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The two types of knowledge have different

roles in language learning:

Declarative knowledge consists of internalised

second language (L2) rules and memorized

chunks of language. It is stored in the form of

schemata, framework or as meaningful

information or facts about language forms andfunctions.


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Whereas declarative knowledge or factualinformation may be acquired quickly,procedural knowledge, such as language

acquisition, is acquired gradually and onlywith extensive opportunities for practice.

Therefore, to attain procedural knowledge orcomplex cognitive skills, learners need todevelop their skills in thinking and learn howto use strategies specific to learning.


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Learners use learning strategies when they areinvolved in mental activities such as analyzingdata to form abstractions, concepts,generalizations and theories about the language

they are learning. Hence, it is logical to assume that learning cannot

take place without procedural knowledge whichplays a vital role in the learning process. By

employing and deploying learning strategies orprocedural knowledge, learners will ultimatelylearn how to learn.


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Cognitivism- emphasises on the learners &

their learning process (how they organise their

knowledge). Learning in an active mental

process.


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Social-cognitive models of learning

Learning does not take place in a vacuum.

Factors other than the learners thoughts, orcognitions, can affect learning.

Social-cognitive models focus not only on theindividual learner, but also on the social nature oflearning and other factors.

Such models offer explanations for:

-why strategies work:

-how strategies can be taught.


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Banduras Social Cognitive Theory

Learning is based on complex, reciprocal

interactions among behaviour, environment,

and personal factors.

The theory emphasizes on the role of personal

motivation-when a learner experiences

success at a valued task, he or she develops a

sense of self-efficacy-a belief that one has thecapability to succeed at that kind of task.


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Self-efficacy can, in turn, affect whether the

student is willing to try a task, as well as the

students persistence at the task, thoughts during

the task, and eventual performance (Bandura,1997)

Using appropriate strategies can help build self-

efficacy by -creating success experiences and

-by giving students the tools for future successes.


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Research by (Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary,Carbonaro & Robbins, 1993) found that foreignlanguage students with high self-efficacy report

using more learning strategies than do foreignlanguage students with low self-efficacy.

During strategies instruction, it is critical thatteachers ensure that students see how each

strategy helps them experience success. This success will, in turn, develop their feelings of

self-efficacy.


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Teaching Model teach learners how to analyseproblems, how to think for themselves and howto employ and deploy learning strategies to learn.

Learner-centred

Discovery learning

Inductive and deductive learning

errors-as integral part of learning

Language awarenessConsciousness-raising

Strategy training


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Humanistic Psychology in Language

Learning

Besides, cognitive learning theory, Carl Rogershumanistic psychology has a significant impact onour understanding of language learning,particularly in pedagogical context.

In his classic work Client-Centred Therapy(1951 in Brown, 1994:84-86), Rogers analyzedhuman behaviour including the learning process.

The learner he studied is a whole person who isa physical and cognitive, but primarily emotionalbeing.


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He focused on the development of an individualsself-concept and of his or her personal sense ofreality, which causes a person to act. Given a non-threatening environment, he believed that human

beings are able to adapt and grow in the directionthat enhances their existence.

The focus of humanistic psychology is away fromteaching and toward learning. Hence, the goal

of education is the facilitation of change andlearning. According to Rogers, teachers shouldonly be facilitators of learning.


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Learning how to learn is more important than beingtaught something from the superior vantage point ofa teacher who unilaterally decides what shall betaught (ibid:86)

Paolo Freire (1970 in Brown, 1994:86), an educationaltheorist in the Rogers tradition, also argued thatstudents should not be spoon-fed.

They should instead be allowed to negotiate learningoutcomes, to cooperate with teacher and other

learners in a process of discovery, to engage in criticalthinking, and to relate everything they do in school totheir reality outside the classroom.


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Our present system of education, in prescribing learning goals anddictating teaching content, actually denies our students bothfreedom and dignity and prevents them from taking responsibilityfor their own learning.

Humanistic teaching model:

-students attitude must be positive -teachers role-create conducive, non-threatening environment and

develop students self-esteem

-materials-take into account students affective domain

-Students-set own goals and follow own pace

-Experiential learning/ learning by doing -personal involvement/stimulation of feelings and thinking/self-

initiation/self-evaluation

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2 - Theoretical Background & Researches on Learning Strategies

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