Effective Awareness-Raising in Language Learning Strategy Training.

A study investigated how students of English as a second language (ESL) improved their use of learning strategies through awareness-raising in group interviews and informal training. Subjects were 68 Taiwanese university students in two freshman English classes. Subjects responded to an English learning strategy questionnaire in the beginning and at the end of the semester. During the semester, students were interviewed in small groups, in which they examined and discussed details of their strategy use when learning vocabulary, listening, reading, writing, and speaking inside and outside the classroom. Statistical analysis of preand post-test resolts found significant increases in learning strategy use. It is suggested that the group interview provided learners with an important opportunity to focus not only on language but also on the learning process, and offered teachers an opportunity to convince their students of the value of learning strategies and to encourage their active use and improvement. Resulting recommendations for learning strategy instruction include: discovering students' beliefs and strategies; explaining and modeling the strategies explicitly; providing authentic context for strategy use; making strategy training interactive; dealing with students' motivation; and implementing strategies-and-beliefs components within the language curriculum. Contains 49 references. (Author/MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** oo rcv EFFECTIVE AWARENESS-RAISING IN LANGUAGE LEARNING cr, STRATEGY TRAINING Nae-Dong Yang, Ph.D.