Language learner strategy research and modern foreign language teaching and learning

Abstract

This article addresses language learner strategy research in the context of second language learning and teaching in the UK. It arises from two sources: firstly, a personal background in research and writing about language learner strategy research in the context of modern foreign language learning and teaching in England and Wales; secondly, a newly constituted British-based interest group dedicated to this area of applied linguistics—UK Project on Language Learner Strategies (UKPOLLS). The article begins by sketching out the international background of language learner strategy research in terms of its relevance to modern foreign language learning and teaching in the UK. I shall refer to concerns with language teaching methodology and why language learner strategy research has been of particular interest to UK-based researchers. Various empirical studies will be referred to, with the aim of setting an agenda of issues, practical implications and current research preoccupations. In considering the work of UKPOLLS and others, the article also considers the place of language learning strategy research in second language policy in England and Wales, and, in particular, the case of the MFLs Key Stage 3 strategy for secondary schools, its theoretical rationale and its place in a broader language curriculum.