Chiraz Ouerfelli Higher Institute of Applied Studies in Humanities Tunis Situating Strategy Use: The Interplay of Language Learning Strategies and Individual Learner Characteristics Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt October 2015

 Definition of a strategy: “A strategy is a conscious mental activity, employed in the pursuit of a goal, transferable to other learning situations and tasks” (Macaro, 2006).  Difference between cognitive and metacognitive strategies  Recent reviews provided empirical evidence for the effectiveness of explicit strategy instruction in enhancing learners’ reading and writing abilities (Hassan et al., 2005; Plonsky, 2011; Taylor et al., 2006)

 This study is part of a larger project aiming at exploring the impact of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction (MSI) on learners’ reading and writing strategy use and performance.

 It attempts to explore teachers’ perceptions of strategy instruction, their teaching practices and the strategies implemented in the reading-writing classroom.  It aims at investigating whether MSI can bring about changes in students’ strategic behaviour.  It seeks to investigate whether MSI can help EFL learners improve their reading and writing performance.  It aims at eliciting learners’ reactions to and attitudes toward the training programme.

 Does Metacognitive Strategy Instruction (MSI) have an impact on learners’ strategy use?  Does MSI have an impact on learners’ reading and writing performance?

 The research design: A quasi-experimental mixed method research design  The participants 143 EFL undergraduate students drawn from six intact classes were randomly assigned to two condition groups

 The data collection Two-phase study: Pre-Post training programme  Research Instruments  Questionnaires: Pre-post questionnaire administration  Retrospection protocols: Pre-post retrospective sessions with a sub-sample (N= 18)  Reading-writing Test (RWT)

 The MSI programme extended over a 12-week semester (36 hour lessons)  Integrated in their regular skill course  Explicit strategy instruction  Combination of cognitive and metacognitive strategies  Standard cycle of instruction: awareness- raising/modelling, scaffolded practice, gradual scaffolding withdrawal, practice, evaluation.

 A goal-setting based approach  A process-based approach to reading and writing instruction.  Promoting awareness-oriented discussions and cultivating self-questioning and self-reflection.  Encouraging strategy orchestration and strategy transfer  Providing many practice opportunities  Promoting group discussions and collaborative activities

 Quantitative Analysis: Questionnaires and RWT data analysis  Descriptive Statistics: Pre-post data comparison  Statistical Analysis: A Mann-Whitney U test and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test were run on the data.  Qualitative Analysis: Retrospective protocols  Coding Scheme

 After Strategy instruction, the experimental group was not only using more strategies, but they were also using them effectively according to task demands.  More metacognitive strategy deployment  More instances of strategy orchestration (e.g., prediction strategies (PRP and WRP) followed by Tapping prior knowledge Strategy)

 The experimental group provided justifications for their strategy use reflecting a metacognitive awareness of the usefulness and potential of strategies in improving reading and writing.  Strategy choice was more goal-oriented (with the aim of achieving a learning task)  More confidence when verbalising on their learning processes.  A more articulate description of their learning processes

 At Time 2, the control group participants did not show any significant change in their strategy use.  They were more concerned with the product.  Their strategic behaviour was not motivated by a learning goal.  They did not display any metacognitive awareness of the value of using strategies.

 Monitoring strategy use: Experimental group at time 1: « I read paragraph two, but I could not understand it » [E2AL1] “ I could not understand paragraph three, so I kept reading it again and again. Then, I tried to understand each word but there were many difficult ones” [E2BL1].

 Monitoring strategy use : the experimental group at Time 2:  “Before answering comprehension questions, I read the text to understand the main idea. I also took notes on the margin to remember the content of each paragraph”. [E2BL2]  “I got lost when writing. So I returned back to re-read my writing” [E2BH2].

Experimental condition MaxMean pre- course SDMean Post- course SDMean Gain Experimental group Reading Writing Total Control groupReading Writing Total

 A Mann-Whitney U test was run on the pre-RWT scores and showed no significant difference between the two groups at Time 1 (Z= -1.86, p >.05)  A Mann-Whitney U test was run on the post-RWT scores and showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups at Time 2 (Z=-3.09, p=.002)

 A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was also run on the experimental group to compare pre-post test scores. The findings showed a statistically significant difference between informants’ total score before and after treatment (Z= -4.63, p <.001).  A second test was run on the control group and indicated that there was no significant difference between control group’s total test scores at Time 1 and 2 (Z= -1.86, p >.05).

 Explicit MSI seems to have expanded learners’ strategy repertoire and changed their strategic behaviour via a shift towards more metacognitive strategy deployment and more strategy orchestration.  The findings underline the value of the explicit MSI in instilling goal-setting routine into students’ learning processes.  The participants in the Experimental group attest to a growing awareness of the processes underlying successful reading and writing, and of the value of strategy use.

 Findings from the RWT lend further support to earlier interventionist studies and provides strong evidence for the salutary effect of MSI on the development of learners’ reading and writing performance

 This study provides a support for a pedagogy of reading and writing strategy instruction that helps learners become more strategic readers and writers by explicitly exposing them to the metacognitive processes underlying the two complementary skills.

Thank you