Abstract
This article aims to present a great emphasis on the use of
language learning strategies in English learning contexts for more than
two decades due to increased interest in a learner-centered approach
amongst language educators. It reviews the literature and the importance
of language learning strategy use, as well as the theory of and research
into language learning strategy use.
This review will provide information about the use of language
learning strategies, which will enhance English learning for non-native
learners. Further, the better understanding of language learning strategies
for English teachers can help students to learn more successfully and
develop their learning autonomy.
Keywords: Language learning strategies, English language learning
contexts, Learning autonomy, Individual learner differences
Introduction
Over the last two decades, there has been a prominent shift
within the field of language learning and teaching with greater emphasis
being put on learners and learning rather than on teachers and teaching.
In parallel to this new shift of interest, how learners process new information
and what kinds of strategies they employ to understand, learn or remember
information has been the primary concern of researchers dealing with the
area of foreign language learning (EFL). Research into language learning
strategies began in the 1960s. In most of the research on language
learning strategies, the primary concern has been on “identifying what
good language learners report they do to learn a second or foreign
language, or, in some cases, are observed doing while learning a secondor foreign language” (Wenden & Rubin, 1987, p.19). The strategies
employed by those learners were proposed and then were suggested for
unsuccessful language learners to apply in order to make them successful
in learning their target languages.
Good Language Learners and Language Learning Strategies
The notion of good language learners’ learning strategies in
the history of language learning strategy studies emerged from the
‘post-methods’ era (Brown, 2002, p. 5), when attention shifted from
teaching and learning processes and the contributions of the individual
teacher to language learning and teaching pedagogy.
The factors which have led to this shift are:
1. a general shift of perspective among methodologists and
researchers from focusing on teachers and instruction towards learners
and learning processes (Lassard-Clouston, 1997);
2. a broadening of theories of language learning to incorporate
insights not only from applied linguistics, but also from cognitive psychology
(O’Malley & Chamot, 1990); and
3. a broadening of the overall goals of language learning to
include a contextual dimension of the study of language learning strategies
(Coleman, 1991; Holliday, 1994; Stern, 1983).
As in the early studies, researchers tended to make lists of strategies
and other features presumed to be essential for all “good L2 learners.”
Rubin (1975) suggests, for example, that good L2 learners are willing
and accurate guessers, have strong drives to communicate, are often
uninhibited, dare to make mistakes, focus on form by looking for patterns
and analyzing, take advantage of all practice opportunities, monitor their
speech as well as that of others, and pay attention to meaning. Naiman, FrÖehlich, Stern, and Todesco (1975) also made a list of strategies used by
successful L2 learners, adding that they learn to think in the language and
address the affective aspects of language acquisition, that is, successful
language learners are likely to select strategies that work together in
an effective way, tailored to the requirements of the language tasks.
The types of strategies used by different learners in different
contexts, i.e. learning English as a foreign language (EFL), or learning
English as a second language (ESL), vary due to different factors, such as
stage of learning, task requirements, teacher expectations, age, gender,
nationality/ethnicity, general learning styles, personality traits, motivation
level, and purpose for learning the language (Oxford, 1990). Of all the
learner factors, the relationship between the use of language learning
strategies and success in mastering a second or foreign language has
been the focus of considerable research over the past two decades
(Oxford, 1989; Rubin, 1987).
A Shift to an Emphasis on Learners and Learning Processes
The view of “learners as individuals” with regard to language
learning strategies has been emphasized in TESOL (Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages). The trend of changes in TESOL methods
is the result of this greater learner-centered emphasis on second language
teaching and learning. Innovation in the language teaching field in the late
1980s and 1990s, therefore, was stimulated by a particular concern for the
individual’s language learning processes (Larson-Freeman, 2000). Over
the year