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Theresa Yu
Promoting Self-Regulation in Foreign Language Learners By: McDonough, Sharon K. Clearing House, Jul 01, 2001; Vol. 74, No. 6, p. 323-326 Database: Academic Search Premier McDonough, S. K. (2001). Promoting Self-Regulation in Foreign Language Learners. Clearing House, 74(6), 323. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.patris.apu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34753400&site=ehost-live SILL Retrieved from http://www2.education.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/Best%20of%20Bilash/SILL%20survey.pdf Language learning strategies fall into three categories: cognitive, metacognitive, and social/affective. Cognitive strategies include clarification/verification and guessing, whereas metacognitive strategies are characterized by planning, and evaluating one’s learning activities. Social strategies are focused on behaviors that seek communication (verbal and nonverbal) with target language speakers. Affective strategies involve a person to approach a task with a positive frame of mind. When it comes to learning of a foreign language such as Mandarin, everyone can be considered as learners with special needs. That’s why it’s very important for teacher to be able to engage all students and utilize diagnostic and assessment strategies to find out what the learning progress in order to guide or modify the instruction plan. Language learners with special needs regardless their level and whether they are GATE or ELL students they all possess cognitive control over their learning efforts and can talk about their own mental processes. The article discusses the benefits and drawbacks on certain assessment types and recommends the usage of wide varieties of assessment strategies. Benefits of questionnaire include: ease to administer, cost-effectiveness, and protecting test-takers confidentiality; however, since it does not provide a description on strategies used, this could be a problem considering foreign language learning is heavily based on learning strategies. Researchers support the use of strategy assessment in the classroom to help student recognize the power of learning strategies and to help teachers identify what strategies are being used. They also recommend that teachers use multiple assessments to identify what students are really doing and to determine what new strategies to incorporate. Research has shown that successful learners used learning strategies more often, more appropriately, and with greater variety in their repertories than less successful learners. Therefore, the article advocates teachers to include the following ideas into their strategies. 1) Strategy training should be based on students’ attitude, beliefs, and stated needs. 2) Affective issues in strategy training should be directly addressed. 3) Strategies should be chosen to fit together and support other strategies and be integrated in a curriculum over a long period of time. 4) Strategy training should be explicit and relevant. 5) Learners should help to evaluate the success of the training and the value of the strategies.
There are also questions from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) which can be beneficial for the foreign language learners with special needs. Here are some of the strategies that I found helpful, they can be used to aid students’ learning as well as strategies for assessments and can serve as indicators of students’ learning process:
· When learning new words
o Create associations between new material and what I already know
o Use rhyming to remember it
o Use flashcards with the word on one side and the definition on the other
· Initiate conversations in the new language
· Watch TV shows or movies or listen to the radio in the new language
· Look for similarities and contrasts between the new language and my own
· Look for patterns in the new language
· Read without looking up every unfamiliar word
· Direct conversation to a topic for which I know the words
· Actively look for people with whom I can speak the new language
For my ELL and GATE students, I will offer them assessment opportunities such as projects like creating poems, making songs using the newly learned vocabulary, presentation of their researches or . I will also ask students to review the SILL list of strategies and write on their journal to reflect what they have done and to share with classmates of their successful or not so successful experiences; this will be a good way to stimulate their higher thinking and also to promote good learning strategies on their own.
Theresa Yu
Promoting Self-Regulation in Foreign Language Learners
By: McDonough, Sharon K. Clearing House, Jul 01, 2001; Vol. 74, No. 6, p. 323-326
Database: Academic Search Premier
McDonough, S. K. (2001). Promoting Self-Regulation in Foreign Language Learners. Clearing House, 74(6), 323. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Links To Article:
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.patris.apu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34753400&site=ehost-live
SILL Retrieved from
http://www2.education.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/Best%20of%20Bilash/SILL%20survey.pdf
Language learning strategies fall into three categories: cognitive, metacognitive, and social/affective. Cognitive strategies include clarification/verification and guessing, whereas metacognitive strategies are characterized by planning, and evaluating one’s learning activities. Social strategies are focused on behaviors that seek communication (verbal and nonverbal) with target language speakers. Affective strategies involve a person to approach a task with a positive frame of mind. When it comes to learning of a foreign language such as Mandarin, everyone can be considered as learners with special needs. That’s why it’s very important for teacher to be able to engage all students and utilize diagnostic and assessment strategies to find out what the learning progress in order to guide or modify the instruction plan. Language learners with special needs regardless their level and whether they are GATE or ELL students they all possess cognitive control over their learning efforts and can talk about their own mental processes. The article discusses the benefits and drawbacks on certain assessment types and recommends the usage of wide varieties of assessment strategies. Benefits of questionnaire include: ease to administer, cost-effectiveness, and protecting test-takers confidentiality; however, since it does not provide a description on strategies used, this could be a problem considering foreign language learning is heavily based on learning strategies.
Researchers support the use of strategy assessment in the classroom to help student recognize the power of learning strategies and to help teachers identify what strategies are being used. They also recommend that teachers use multiple assessments to identify what students are really doing and to determine what new strategies to incorporate. Research has shown that successful learners used learning strategies more often, more appropriately, and with greater variety in their repertories than less successful learners. Therefore, the article advocates teachers to include the following ideas into their strategies. 1) Strategy training should be based on students’ attitude, beliefs, and stated needs. 2) Affective issues in strategy training should be directly addressed. 3) Strategies should be chosen to fit together and support other strategies and be integrated in a curriculum over a long period of time. 4) Strategy training should be explicit and relevant. 5) Learners should help to evaluate the success of the training and the value of the strategies.
There are also questions from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) which can be beneficial for the foreign language learners with special needs. Here are some of the strategies that I found helpful, they can be used to aid students’ learning as well as strategies for assessments and can serve as indicators of students’ learning process:
· When learning new words
o Create associations between new material and what I already know
o Use rhyming to remember it
o Use flashcards with the word on one side and the definition on the other
· Initiate conversations in the new language
· Watch TV shows or movies or listen to the radio in the new language
· Look for similarities and contrasts between the new language and my own
· Look for patterns in the new language
· Read without looking up every unfamiliar word
· Direct conversation to a topic for which I know the words
· Actively look for people with whom I can speak the new language
For my ELL and GATE students, I will offer them assessment opportunities such as projects like creating poems, making songs using the newly learned vocabulary, presentation of their researches or . I will also ask students to review the SILL list of strategies and write on their journal to reflect what they have done and to share with classmates of their successful or not so successful experiences; this will be a good way to stimulate their higher thinking and also to promote good learning strategies on their own.