Abstract
In the context of ongoing debate about the relationship between strategy training and autonomous learning, this study set out in the belief that they are inextricably linked and sought to explore three important aspects of learner strategy development more deeply. An experiment was designed to investigate the effectiveness of learner training with three groups of Saudi students taking a course in English for Medical Purposes: control (no treatment), offline (treatment delivered on paper), and online (online treatment). The treatments used supplementary learning material focused on language learning strategies (LLS). The design and the delivery of the treatments was informed by Rubin, Chamot, Harris, and Anderson (2007), Cohen (1998), Murphy and Hurd (2011), and Murphy (2008a). This paper sought to answer three research questions related to the impact of learner training on students’ attitudes, awareness, and use of LLS in relation to their autonomous abilities after exposure to the treatment. Qualitative data from students’ reflective writings, interviews and focus group discussion was used to answer these questions. For the two treatment groups, the treatment impact was found to be positive in relation to the research questions and negative in the control. The online group outperformed the offline one in all the three investigated aspects.
Highlights
Teachers have often and are still trying to make their students successful learners
The current paper focuses on finding answers to the three research questions, i.e. what are the students’ attitudes to learner strategies, what was the level of students’ awareness of the strategy, and the level of students’ strategy use after the intervention? Evidence for the potential impact of the learner training, focused on learner strategies, was sought from the students’ qualitative data and the results are discussed
Most and least autonomous students were identified in both treatment groups based on the framework proposed in the PhD research for the measurement of language learner autonomy (LLA)
Summary
Teachers have often and are still trying to make their students successful learners. One way to achieve this end can be through the provision of learner training to the students. Oxford (1999) was among those who believed that being a strategic student would lead to the achievement of successful learning and to the enhancement of learner autonomy. Cohen (1998), White (2008), Everhard (2012), and Ranalli (2012) see a connection between learner autonomy and learning strategies. Other scholars perceive this connection between learner strategies and autonomous learning as a complex one. McDonough (1999) was skeptical about the reliability and robustness of the studies that looked at the effectiveness of LLA training on having successful learners Other scholars perceive this connection between learner strategies and autonomous learning as a complex one. Benson (2011) is one of the opponents of the relationship between the provision of strategy training and the attainment of better language proficiency and better learning. McDonough (1999) was skeptical about the reliability and robustness of the studies that looked at the effectiveness of LLA training on having successful learners
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