do more successful language learners
set about the task in some distinctive way? Do they have at their disposal
some special repertoire of ways of learning, or strategies? If this were
true, could these even be taught to other, hitherto less successful
learners? Much research has been done to describe and categorize the
26 Second language learning theories
strategies used by learners at different levels, and to link strategy use to
learning outcomes; it is clear that more proficient learners do indeed
employ strategies that are different from those used by the less proficient
(Oxford and Crookall, 1989, quoted in Gardner and Maclntyre, 1992, p.
217). Whether the strategies cause the learning, or the learning itself
enables different strategies to be used, has not been fully clarified, however.
We look more closely at learning strategies and their role in acquisi