Learning strategies in action

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study which aimed to investigate how an intervention for the development of learning strategies helps students to build self-regulation in learning and to learn English as a foreign language. The intervention was part of a first-year English course in a foreign language program that followed a task-based methodological orientation. The intervention was implemented in four phases: planning, presentation, instruction, and evaluation and engaged students in the development of two tasks, involving contextaware learning with the use of strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, memory, affective, and social. The evaluation of results demonstrated that students develop a positive attitude facing learning and raised awareness about the importance of using strategies. However, the strategies used by students were of direct type, related to linguistic aspects learning. This means that the intervention did not achieve to develop indirect strategies, particularly metacognitive, which demand reflection for making critical learning decisions. This shows that a shortterm intervention is not enough to promote self-regulation in learning and that a long-term intervention would be required.