TL;DR
Language learners can be successful in various ways and can take advantage of different learning methods. Still, they are all strategic in their learning, meaning that they use, consciously or unconsciously, learning strategies that help them become successful in their learning.
Understanding and implementing the foundations of language learning strategies research is one of the most important things you can do to take your learning to the next level.
Definition & Background
The research of language learning strategies (LLS) has been developing since the 1970s and along with that the different definitions of LLS.
Language learning strategies are the behaviors, actions, steps, and techniques that one uses and takes to enhance and facilitate the acquisition or maintenance of a foreign language. These actions and methods can be conscious or unconscious and also can support the learning process in different aspects.
The research of LLS has derived from the research of "good" and "bad" learners, as another path for examining the characteristic of successful learners.
The Taxonomy of Language Learning Strategies
Over the years, many researchers have worked on the classification and categorization of LLS, however through the years there were no significant changes or developments.
I like the classification of Rebecca Oxford, who added also the separation between direct and indirect strategies. In general, Oxford saw the goal of language-learning tactics as a tool for developing communication skills with social and cultural understanding.
Under Oxford's system, there are 6 strategies: Memory, Cognitive, Compensation, Metacognitive, Affective, and Social.
Under the indirect strategies, metacognitive strategies help learners plan, organize and monitor their learning. Affective strategies support learners on the emotional side, such as the cultivation of confidence and motivation. Social strategies are concerned with enhancing interactions and community relationships.
Regarding direct strategies, memory tactics are used to increase the storage and retrieval of information. Cognitive strategies give learners mental tools for analyzing, reasoning and creating structure/patterns for input and output. Finally, compensation helps students to facilitate and allow communication in cases of language knowledge gaps.
Language Learning Strategies Implementation
After having a basic grasp of what LLS are, the next step will be starting to experiment and implement different strategies, oriented by your goals and learning process.
The LLS can be used throughout the whole learning journey. From planning and researching (metacognitive) to building vocabulary and sentence patterns (cognitive/memory) and socializing and interacting with the language and people (compensation/social). I believe that a good language learner should always apply, to a certain extent, all the different six LLS together. Also, each strategy evolves and changes as your learning practice is developing.
Let's take for example a closer look at compensation. Once more, compensation helps us facilitate and enable communication when our language capacity is not enough. As a beginner, compensation's primary use will be a mix of handwaving, facial gestures, body language, and basic human communication. This will allow minimum support to get the message through and to understand the general idea of the other side. Later, when our skills lead us to more complicated and deep interactions, compensation will be used mainly for guessing and deciphering general meanings from context and other signs or clues. Finally, when language level is no longer an issue, compensation is there for us to reveal the "hidden" aspects of culture. The advanced learners will soon be discovering that when they understand perfectly each sentence and word there are still a lot of exchanges and interactions with "weird" or just unclear messages. This is where cultural-social context kicks in, and it is where we can use compensation in its highest form.
Ultimately, mastering the different language learning strategies is a long journey. After having a clear basis for this world, I suggest starting to work on one or two strategies that can benefit you the most. Examine your language routine and environment and try to identify which areas are most in need of a constructed LLS.
This is where language coaching outruns traditional teaching. Language coaching has the capacity to provide learners with skills that help them become independent, autodidact, self-directed, and with meta-learning tools that can be transferred to almost all domains of self-education.
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