语言文化论文-Learning Strategy Instruction in L2 Acquisition and Metacognitive Strategy.doc

语言文化论文-LearningStrategyInstructioninL2AcquisitionandMetacognitiveStrategy【Abstract】LearningstrategyinstructioninL2acquisitionisreallyatissue.Itisaverycomplextask.Thegoalofstrategyinstructionistohelplearnerstolearnhowtoemploystrategiesflexiblyandhowtoselectappropriatestrategiestoperformaparticularlearningtask.Metacognitivestrategiesmaybethoughtofascorelearningstrategiesbecausetheyareapplicabletoavarietyoflearningtasksandalsobecausetheyareoverarchingstrategiesabovecognitivestrategiesandsocial/affectivestrategies.ThispaperexplorestheissuesofstrategytraininginL2,andstressestheimportanceofmetacognitivestrategiesinstrategyinstruction.【Keywords】learningstrategies；strategyinstruction；metacognitivestrategy；metacognitiveskills.WhenitcomestotraininglearnersintheuseoflearningstrategiesinL2acquisition,maybeitismostappropriatetosay“thereisalottoplayfor”(Skehan1991ascitedinEllis,1994,p.558).Uptonow,therearealargenumberofmaterialontraininglearnerstouseeffectivelanguagelearningstrategies(e.g.,EllisandSinclair1989；Brown1989；Oxford1990；Wenden1986band1991).However,therehavebeenfewempiricalstudiesevaluatingthethesuccessofthetrainingonL2learners(Ellis,1994).Ithasnotprovedaneasytasktoincorporatetheaccumulationofknowledgeaboutstrategiesineffectivelearningintotheteachingprocess(Williams&Burden,2000).Becauseofthelackofsolidevidence,thereappearedtwooppositeviewpointsontheissueofstrategyinstruction.1.ArgumentonstrategyinstructionItisarguedthatsincenotenoughisyetknownabouttherelationsbetweenlearningstrategiesandlanguagelearning,cautionshouldbeexercisedinattemptingtotrainlearnerstouseparticularstrategies.Rees-Miller(1993；1994)arguesthatinviewofthelackofevidencefortheeffectiveness,resourcesspentonstrategytrainingmightbebetterdirectedelsewhere.Benson(2005)arguethatthecorrelationbetweenstrategyuseandimprovedperformanceisnotnecessarilyacausal-effectrelationship.Theresearchliteraturecontainsawealthofdescriptionsofattemptstoteachlanguagelearningstrategies.TheseresearchersmainlyincludeOMalleyandChamot(1990),WendenandRubin(1987),andOxfordandCrookall(1989).Itisworthnotingthattheresultsofmostoftheirstudiesindicatethatthosewhowereexplicitlytaughtstrategiesperformbetteronarangeoflanguagetasksthandidthecontrolgroupswhoreceivednostrategytraining(Williams&Burden,2000).McDonoughs(1999)reviewofresearchsuggeststhatthehypothesisthatlearnerscanlearnhowtouseeffectivestrategiesremainsvalid.Obviously,theexplicitteachingofstrategieshasreceivedaconsiderableamountofattention.Mostofresearchersareinfavorinstrategytraining.InChina,thesummerinstituteonL2learningstrategytrainingandresearchwasheldinNanjingUniversityin2003(Wang,L.F&WenQ.F.,2003).2IssuesofstrategytraininginL2Ellis(1994)identified5keyissuesinlanguagelearningstrategiestrainingafterreviewingthemajorstudiesonstrategytraining.Hegaveawarningthatissuesshouldbepaidmuchattentiontobeforestrategytrainingisimplemented:moreworkisneededtodiscoverwhatstrategiesand,inparticular,whatcombinationsofstrategiesshouldbetaught.wayshavetobefoundoftakingintoaccountlearnersownpreferredlearningstrategies.Somelearnersmayneedconvincingthatstrategytrainingisworthwhile.Itisnotclearwhetherlearnertrainingwillworkbestwhenitexistsasaseparatestrandinalanguageprogramorwhenitisfullyintegratedintothelanguageteachingmaterials.whetherlearnersshouldbemadeconsciousofthestrategiestheyaretaught,orwhetherjustprovidingpracticeopportunitiesissufficient.Whyistheissueofstrategytrainingsocomplex?Itmaybeduetothedifferentfactorsthatinteracttoinfluencetheteachingandlearningofstrategies:age,gender,personallearningstyleandteachersattitudeandbeliefs.Forexample,thelearningstrategiesemployedbythechildlearnersandadultlearnersaredifferent.Thestudiesmadebyresearchers(e.g.,OMalleyetal1985；Chamotetal1987)suggestthatlearnersabilitytouseabroadrangeofstrategiesflexiblymaydependtoalargeextentonthenatureofandrangeoftheinstructionaltasksintheclassroom.However,itmaynotbepossibletopredictthekindsofstrategiesthatalearnerwillemployinaparticulartask.Ontheonehand,strategyinstructionisdependentonthetasks；ontheotherhand,thetasksisunlikelytospecifycertainstrategiestobeusedbythelearners.MaybeitisbettertociteElliswords(1994):specifictasksmaypredisposelearnerstouseparticularstrategies,buttheycannotpredeterminetheactualstrategiestobeused.(p.545)3.RoleofmetacognitioninL2trainingThegoalofstrategyinstructionistohelplearnerstolearnhowtoemploystrategiesflexiblyandhowtoselectappropriatestrategiestoperformaparticularlearningtask.Buthereistheproblemfortheteachersandthelearners:howtodefinetheword“appropriate”?AmongthreetypesofstrategiesintheclassificationofOMalleyandChamot,metacognitivestrategiesmaybethoughtofascorelearningstrategiesbecausetheyareapplicabletoavarietyoflearningtasksandalsobecausetheyareoverarchingstrategiesabovecognitivestrategiesandsocial/affectivestrategies.Metacognivestrategiesarehigherorderexecutiveskillsentailinggoalidentification,planning,monitoringandevaluation.AccordingtoAnderson(2002),understandingandcontrollingcognitiveprocessesmaybeoneofthemostessentialskillsintheclassroom.Thedistinctionsbetweencognitiveandmetacognitivestrategiesareimportant,partlybecausetheygivesomeindicationofwhichstrategiesarethemostcrucialindeterminingtheeffectivenessoflearning.Itseemsthatmetacognitivestrategies,whichallowstudentstoplan,control,andevaluatetheirlearning,havethemostcentralroletoplayinthisrespect,ratherthanthosethatmerelymaximizeinteractionandinput.Thustheabilitytochooseandevaluateonesstrategiesisofcentralimportance.Therearealsootherresearcherswhoemphasizemetacogitioninlearningstrategies.WilliamsandBurden(2000)stressmetacognitioniscentraltoeffectivelearning.Wenden(1987)saysthatmetacognitionis“theprocessthatunderliestheefficientuseofstrategiesandtheessenceofintelligentactivity”(p.573).Quicke(1994)similarlyviewsthatmetacognitiveawarenessiscrucialinlearningstrategies.Ellis(1994)isrelativelyreserved,sayingthatmetacognitivestrategiesassumeconsiderableimportanceatleastforadults.Hecontinuestosaythatmanylearnersseemtounderutilizethisstrategy.Thisfindingsuppliesmeaningfulimplicationsforstrategytraining.Inaddition,mostofthestudies(OMalleysndChamot1990；WendenandRubin1987；OxfordandCrookall1989)foundthelearnerswhowereparticularlytaughtmetacognitivestrategiesperformedbetterthanthoseinthecontrolgroup.Goodlanguagelearnersmakeuseofmetacognitiveknowledgetohelpthemassesstheneeds,evaluateprogressandgivedirectionstotheirlearning.4.TeachingmetacognitiveskillsSincetheimportanceofmetacognitionhasbeenstressed,itisadvisabletoheightenlearnersmetacognitiveawareness.Wen(1995)emphasizedthatsuccessfullearnersarethoughfulandawareofthemselvesinrelationtothelearningprocess.Theyareabletoemploystrategiesunconciously,andmaketheirmetacogitiveawarenessintoplaywhennecessaryorwhentheyarefacedwithdifficulties.Suchawarenessgiveslearnerscontrolovertheirownlearning.Therefore,metacoginitiveawarenessisanecessaryandessentialfocusinlearningtoregulatelearning.Traininginmetacognitiveawarenessincludeawarenessofwhatlearningalanguageinvlovesaswellastrainingintheselectionofappropriatestrategiesfordifferentsituations.Inaddition,metacognitivetrainingshouldincludeheighteningawarenessofthefeelingsindefferentaspectsoflanguagelearning,andofalearnerspersonalitiesandstrengths.(Williams&Burden，2000)Toraisemetacognitiveawarenessinvolvesfiveaspects.preparingandplanningforlearning:Theseimportantmetacognitiveskillsrelatestoidentifyingwhatistobeaccomplished.Teachersarticulatetheparticularlearninggoalsforclassandguidethestudensinsettingtheirownlearninggoals.knowinghowtoselectanduselearningstrategies:Inthisrespect,teachersteachstudentshowtousespecificstrategiesbasedonvarioustasks.Teachersshowhowtochoosethestrategythatismostlikelytosucceedinagivensituation.Itisthemostdifficultskillforteacherstoinstructstudents.monitoringstrategyuse:Bymonitoring,studentscankeepthemselvesontracktomeettheiraims.Duringthetimestudentsimplementspecificstrategies,teachersneedtoremindstudentstostopregularlyandthinkaboutwhethertheyusestrategiesasintended.knowinghowtodeployvariousstrategies:Teacherscanaidstudentsbymakingthemawareofvariousstrategiesavailable.Tomasterthisskillmeansthatastudenthastheabilitytocoordinate,organizeandmakeassociationamongthevariousstrategies.self-assessingonesownstrategyuse:Self-assessmenthelpsstudentsreflectthroughthecycleoflearning.Teachersmayasksuchquestionsas“WhatamItryingtoaccomplish?”“HowwellamIusingthem?”.Throughthisskill,studentscanlearntoassesstheirperformancemoreaccurately.Thefiveaspectsarevaluablesuggestionsforteacherstoinstructthemetacogn