J. Michael O'Malley

Learning Strategy Applications with Students of English as a Second Language

Recent research on cognition has indicated the importance of learning strategies in gaining command over second language skills. Despite these recent advancements, important research questions related to learning strategies remain to be answered. These questions concern 1) the range and frequency of learning strategy uses by students learning English as a second language (ESL) and 2) the effects of training in learning strategies on English language skills. This study, which was conducted with high school ESL students, was carried out in two phases corresponding to the two research questions. In Phase I, ESL students and their teachers were interviewed to identify strategies associated with a range of tasks typically found in ESL classrooms and in other settings. Results indicated that students used a variety of learning strategies but typically used more familiar strategies and applied them to discrete-point rather than integrative tasks. In Phase II, ESL students were randomly assigned to receive learning strategies training on vocabulary, listening, and speaking tasks. Results varied depending on the task but generally indicated that strategy training can be effective for integrative language tasks. Results are discussed in terms of implications for teaching and future research.

The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach: A Bridge to the Mainstream

The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) is designed for limited English proficient students who are being prepared to participate in mainstream content-area instruction. CALLA provides transitional instruction for upper elementary and secondary students at intermediate and advanced ESL levels. This approach furthers academic language development in English through content-area instruction in science, mathematics, and social studies. In CALLA, students are taught to use learning strategies derived from a cognitive model of learning to assist their comprehension and retention of both language skills and concepts in the content areas. This article first discusses the rationale for CALLA and the theoretical background on which the approach is based. This is followed by a description of the three components of CALLA: a curriculum correlated with mainstream content subjects, academic language development activities, and learning strategy instruction. Finally, a lesson plan model integrating these three components is briefly described.

The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach: A Model for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms.

This article describes the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA), an instructional model designed to increase the achievement of English-language-learning (ELL) students. The CALLA model, which is based on cognitive learning theory, integrates content-area instruction with language development activities and explicit instruction in learning strategies. After reviewing the academic needs of ELL students, we discuss the research base underlying CALLA and how cognitive learning theory applies to second language acquisition. The components of CALLA are described, and teaching guidelines are suggested. Examples are provided of ways in which CALLA teachers actively foster school achievement of their ELL students through activities that include reflection, conceptual understanding, language development, and learning how to learn more effectively. CALLA incorporates what current research and practice identify as effective instruction for all students and is an approach that can be adopted by teachers with mixed classes of native and non-native English speakers.

Some Applications of Cognitive Theory to Second Language Acquisition.

This paper describes recent theoretical developments in cognitive psychology that can be applied to second language acquisition and uses the theory to analyze phenomena discussed regularly in the second language literature. Some limitations of linguistic theories in addressing the role of mental processes in second language acquisition are identified, and current cognitive learning theory in general is outlined. The paper then examines the theoretical model developed by John Anderson (1983, 1985) as it applies to memory representation, learning, and language skill acquisition. The remainder of the paper describes possible applications of this model to issues in second language acquisition and suggests that the theory is useful both in explaining second language acquisition processes and in identifying areas in which research is needed.

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition: A cognitive theory of learning

This chapter describes the rationale for advancing a cognitively based theory in second language acquisition and presents the foundation for the theory as it relates to constructs that will be discussed in later chapters. We suggest that second language acquisition cannot be understood without addressing the interaction between language and cognition, and indicate that at present this interaction is only poorly understood. Second language theorists have not capitalized on the available body of research and theory that has already been worked out in cognitive psychology. The chapter first identifies second language processes as having parallels with the way in which complex cognitive skills are described in cognitive theory. Aspects of cognitive theory are discussed that relate to memory representation and to the process of acquiring complex cognitive skills. The theory on which we rely most extensively is augmented in order to describe more adequately processes that occur in second language acquisition. We go on to discuss the way in which cognitive theory addresses specific language comprehension and language production processes, and conclude by indicating that cognitive theory can extend to describe learning strategies as complex cognitive skills. Finally, we introduce the major types of strategies on which we rely in later chapters. Background The fields of linguistics and cognitive psychology each contain separate paradigms for describing second language acquisition. Linguistic theories assume that language is learned separately from cognitive skills, operating according to different principles from most learned behaviors (e.g., Spolsky 1985).

APPLICATIONS OF LEARNING STRATEGIES BY STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the applications of learning strategies by students learning English as a second language (ESL). It describes two studies designed to examine the usefulness of learning strategies for second language learners. The first study was a descriptive analysis of strategies used by students learningESL and the second was an experimental study in which ESL students were trained to use learning strategies on different academic language tasks for vocabulary, listening, and speaking. The first investigation involved the design and implementation of a descriptive study undertaken in a public school setting. The basic intent of this study was (1) to determine the types and range of strategies used by high school students for language learning tasks found typically in ESL classrooms and in the daily experiences of these students and (2) to determine if strategy use interacts with the type of language task or activity and the level of English proficiency of the students. The purpose of the training study was to evaluate the effectiveness of learning strategies training among intermediate level ESL students for vocabulary learning, listening comprehension, and academic speaking tasks.

The cognitive academic language learning approach (calla)

Abstract The ‘Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach’ (CALLA) is designed for limited English proficient (LEP) students who are being prepared to participate in mainstream content area instruction. CALLA provides transitional instruction for upper elementary and secondary students at intermediate and advanced ESL levels. This approach furthers academic language development in English through content area instruction in science, mathematics and social studies. In CALLA, students are taught to use learning strategies derived from a cognitive model of learning to assist their comprehension and retention of both language skills and concepts in the content areas. This paper first discusses the rationale for CALLA and the theoretical background on which the approach is based. This is followed by a description of the three components of CALLA: a curriculum correlated to mainstream content subjects, academic language development activities and learning strategy instruction. Suggestions for integrating thes...

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition: Strategies used by second language learners

In this chapter, we will build upon the review presented in Chapter 4 and describe a series of studies we performed that elicited both general and specific information about strategies, the students who use them, and the second language tasks with which the strategies are used. The first study attempted to define and classify strategies used in second language acquisition and used retrospective interviews with students learning English as a second language. The second study extended this purpose and again used retrospective interviews to identify strategies in second language acquisition but with native English-speaking students learning foreign languages. The third study was designed to build on the definitions and classifications established with retrospective interviews by using thinkaloud data collection to probe in greater depth the ways in which individual strategies are used by ESL students on a listening comprehension task. The final study reports the results of think-aloud interviews conducted longitudinally with students learning foreign languages. Study 1: learning strategies used by beginning and intermediate ESL students At the time we began our first study of learning strategies in second language acquisition, we were aware of most of the research discussed in the previous chapter, with the exception of a few specific studies using questionnaires in second language acquisition (e.g., Oxford 1986; Padron and Waxman 1988; Politzer and McGroarty 1985; Zimmerman and Pons 1986), which emerged later. There had been no studies performed of strategies used by students learning English as a second language, and no integration of the separate work performed in cognitive psychology and second language research.

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition: Instruction in learning strategies

Most learning strategy research in second language acquisition has concentrated on the identification, description, and classification of learning strategies used by second language learners. One of the principal concerns in this research has been the description of strategies used by more effective versus less effective language learners. Once strategies used by good language learners are identified and the strategy use of effective and less effective learners are compared, the questions arise of whether less effective learners can learn to use strategies to assist their learning and, if so, what strategies can and should be taught, and what instructional approach can be used to teach the strategies selected. Instruction in learning strategies has been done with strategies that facilitate the acquisition of declarative knowledge (generally referred to as memory training) and of procedural knowledge (such as reading comprehension and problem solving). Considerable research on training learning strategies has been conducted outside the second language field in various areas of the curriculum, including reading comprehension, memory training (e.g., recall of vocabulary, facts, definitions), and problem solving. Noticeably absent from learning strategy training research in first language contexts is training in oral language production (Derry and Murphy 1986). Relatively little research has been completed on instruction in writing strategies compared to the substantial body of research on direct instruction in reading strategies (see, for example, Pearson and Dole 1987). Although much recent research interest in first language written composition has concentrated on identification of the writing process and analysis of discourse (Scardamalia and Bereiter 1986), some investigations of instruction in learning strategies for composition have been reported.

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition: Learning strategies: methods and research

In previous chapters we established the foundation for describing second language acquisition and learning strategies as complex cognitive skills within a cognitive-theoretical framework. This theoretical foundation is necessary for the research on learning strategies in second language acquisition we present in this and later chapters to have substance and meaning in a broader framework than would be provided by simply demonstrating that students report using learning strategies or that the strategies can be taught. We use the theory in this chapter to build a rationale for analyzing findings from the descriptive research, and in later chapters we use it to specify the conditions under which strategy training is likely to be effective. Research on learning strategies is based on the assertion that strategies begin as declarative knowledge that can become proceduralized with practice and, like complex cognitive skills, proceed through the cognitive, associative, and autonomous stages of learning. At the cognitive stage, the strategy application is still based on declarative knowledge, requires processing in short-term memory, and is not performed automatically. The student may have a firm recollection of using the strategy with a specific task. In this case, research on how the strategy is used should be relatively easy and presumably could be performed through virtually any form of data collection, such as interviews or questionnaires. However, if the strategy application has become proceduralized and the strategy use is performed automatically, the student may not be aware of using the strategy, and data collection might require specialized techniques that interrupt ongoing mental processes.