This innovative book focuses on the relationships among self-regulated language learning strategies, students' individual characteristics, and the diverse contexts in which learning occurs. It presents state-of-the-art, lively, readable chapters by well-known experts and new, promising scholars, who analyze learning strategy theory, research, assessment, and use.
Written by a team of international contributors from Austria, Canada, Greece, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Turkey, the UK and the USA, this volume provides theoretical insights on how strategic learning interacts with complex environments. It explores strategy choice and the fluidity and flexibility of learning strategies. Research-based but practical themes in the book include strategy-related teacher preparation; differentiated strategy instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners of different ages, cultures, and learning styles; and creative, visualization-based development of strategy awareness. Examining methodologies for strategy research and assessment, the volume explores narrative, decision-tree, scenario-based, and questionnaire-based research, as well as mixed-methods research and new assessment tools for young learners' strategies. It presents research on strategies used for foreign/second language pronunciation, pragmatics, listening, reading, speaking, writing, and test-taking.
By providing a wide range of examples of strategies in research and action in a number of countries, cultures, and educational settings, and by offering incisive section overviews and a detailed synthesis at the end, this book enables readers to develop a holistic understanding of language learning strategies. With additional online strategy materials available for downloading, Language Learning Strategies and Individual Learner Characteristics is invaluable to all those interested in helping language students learn more effectively.
[This book] provides a current research foundation on language learners' strategy use. One great strength of this publication is that the contributors include both internationally recognized researchers of language learning strategies, including names that everyone will recognize (for example Chamot, Cohen, Oxford, Griffiths, and Gu), along with a cast of newer researchers whose names will soon be synonymous with language learning strategy research. The book provides all language teaching professionals interested in strategy-based research a current perspective of classroom applications and research ideas for the use of language learning strategies in a wide variety of learning contexts.
