Investigating Language Learner Strategies

Gu, P. Y., Hu, G., & Zhang, L. J. (2005). Investigating language learner strategies among lower primary school pupils in Singapore. Language and Education, 19(4), 281-303.

Background

There is little research on primary, particularly lower primary school pupils’ use of language learner strategies (LLS). Little is known about the challenges associated with eliciting LLS data from children and whether children can be differentiated in terms of the learner strategies they deploy in handling language tasks.

Aims

The study investigated whether think-aloud could be used to elicit LLS from lower primary school pupils in Singapore and whether these learners differ in their use of LLS.

Sample

The participants were 18 lower primary pupils in a government school, out of which nine were Primary 1 pupils and nine Primary 3 pupils. They experienced varying degrees of challenges in learning English. Each grade level had pupils representative of the high, middle, and low learning progress groups.

Method

The main elicitation method adopted was probed think-aloud. Four tasks were used to elicit strategy use: a listening comprehension task, a reading task, a picture-prompted writing task, and a topic-prompted writing task. Warm up activities and think-aloud training were conducted. The pupils were audio- and video-taped while performing the tasks. Thirty-three verbal reports were collected.

Findings

The excerpts of the learners’ verbal reports indicated to some extent that, when the elicitation method was executed with care, it was able to draw out rich information about the LLS these pupils used when performing various language tasks. Pupils were all able to perform the think-aloud tasks, although with some difficulty. They possessed the introspective abilities necessary to verbalize their mental processes. The Primary 3 pupils were more competent at verbalizing their ideas and mental processes than the Primary 1 pupils. They were also able to describe their thinking more coherently, reflecting greater metalinguistic awareness. In terms of their use of LLS, the Primary 1 pupils demonstrated less deliberate strategic approaches to problems and had smaller and less flexible repertoires of strategies than their older peers. Pupils from the high progress group tended to possess a wider repertoire of strategies and were generally able to deploy strategies that were regarded as those used by effective language learners, as compared to the low progress group, who tended to use ineffective strategies.

Implications

The authors concluded that it was possible to use the think-aloud protocol to gather meaningful data pertaining to children’s use of LLS in task-specific language learning events if researchers took care in handling children and had good probing skills in strategy elicitation.

Original article retrieved from Google Scholar.