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英语学习策略 北京外国语大学中国外语教育研究中心 文秋芳

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Encouraging Note

• English Course Requirements

for Non-English Majors (2004)

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• Listening/Speaking• Reading/Writing• Translation• Recommended vocabulary size• Additional requirements:

– English teachers should allocate some

time to develop students’ learning

strategies to promote their self-autonomy

and to sharpen their cultural awareness to

develop their intercultural communicative

abilities

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• “English course guidelines for primary and secondary school students”

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The language curriculum

• Syllabus design: What?

• Methodology: How?

• Evaluation: How well?– (Nunan, 2004)

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Difficulties in implementing the new curriculum

• What are the strategies?

• No specifications in the curriculum

– How to incorporate the strategy component into

a daily lesson ？

– How to incorporate it into a web-based course ？

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• The question that arises in this

context

– How to integrate strategy training

with foreign language programs?

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讲课提纲

• 对英语学习策略研究的背景

• 英语学习策略的定义

• 英语学习策略系统的概述

• 英语学习策略对学习成绩的影响

• 指导英语学习策略的原则和步骤

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一 、 对英语学习策略研究的背景

( 一 ) 国外情况

• 70 年代开始有人研究英语学习策略– Rubin, J. 1975. What the ‘good language learner’

can teach us. TESOL Quarterly 9(1): 41-45.

– Naimen, N., M. Frohlich, A. Todesco, 1975. The go

od Lanugage learner. TESL TALK 6(1): 58-75.

• 80 年代成为研究热点

• 90 年代开始广泛应用到教学中去

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( 二 ) 国内情况• 80 年代开始有人研究 , 大约比国外晚 10 年。

– Huang, Xiaohua, 1984. An investigation of lear

ning strategies in oral communication that Chi

nese EFL learners in China employ. HK: Unpu

blished MA thesis.

– Chen ， S. Q. 1990. A study of communicatio

n strategies in interlanguage production by Chi

nese EFL learners. Language Learning 40 (2):

155-87.

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• 90 年代成为研究的热点，并试图运用到教学中去。– 研究对象：英语专业，非英语专业，硕士研究

生，小学生。

– 研究范围：听力策略，口头交际策略，阅读策略，写作策略，词汇策略。

– 未研究的或研究不够的：中学生，小学生；学习语音语调策略，学习语法策略，学习翻译策略。

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1 、文秋芳， 1996 ，《英语学习策略论》上海外语教育出版社出版了

2 、文秋芳， 2003 ，《英语学习的成功之路》上海外语教育出版社

3 、文秋芳，王立非， 2003 ，《英语学习策略实证研究》，陕西师范大学出版社

4 、文秋芳，王立非， 2004 ，《英语学习策略理论研究》，陕西师范大学出版社

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( 三 ) 为什么对研究英语学习策略感兴趣？

• 研究“如何教”成效不大– 研究教学方法，走进了死胡同。– 教与学两个方面，缺一不可。

• 社会对教育的要求– 培养独立、自主的学习者，自己能够学习新

知识。

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给人以鱼，一日食鱼；授人予渔，终身得鱼。

Give a man a fish and he eats a day.

Teach him how to fish and he eats

for a lifetime.

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二 、 英语学习策略的定义

( 一 ) 什么不是策略？

• 学习策略不是“ recipes” 。

• 学习策略不是“诀窍”。

• 学习策略不是“灵丹妙药”

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( 二 ) 英语学习策略的定义

根据自己的观念，为提高英语学习效果

而采取的行动或方法。

策略 = 观念 + 方法

这个定义更适用于对成年人的策略研究。

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三、英语学习策略系统

• 英语学习观念

• 英语学习方法

• 观念与方法之间的关系

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英语学习策略系统模型

管理观念 语言学习观念

管理方法 语言学习方法英语成绩

环境因素

学习者因素

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（一）学习观念举例

• 学好英语的关键是什么？• 管理学习过程重要吗？• 准确与流利哪个更重要？• 多听、多读是否一定能学好英语？• 母语在学习英语中的作用是什么？• 运用翻译来学英语是否是个好方法？• 通过上下文猜词义是否是学习单词最好的方法？

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重要观念一

管理学习过程是否重要？

• 不重要，跟着教师走就行。

• 不重要，因为强迫自己，效率不高。

• 重要，因为没有目标，没有计划，没有调

控，就不可能有成功。

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重要观念二

语言的准确性和流利度同等重要吗？

• 流利度比准确性更重要，因为交际中表达

意义最重要。

• 准确性必流利度更重要，因为语言错误不

注意纠正，容易固化。

• 同等重要。

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对正确性与流利性关系的认识有偏差

• 80 年代以前过分强调准确性

– 学生不敢开口，哑巴英语

• 80 年代以后过分强调流利性

– 短期效应，扼杀了学生语言的持续发展能力

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Schmidt (1983): 跟踪调查在夏威夷的日本人 Wes 在美国两年 , 英语的流利度有了显著提高，能成功的与别人进行交流，但句法能力几乎没有进步。

Higgs & Clifford (1982): 跟踪调查研究对象为美国外交学院学生学生入学时，语言的准确性高于或等于流利性的学生，经过训练以后，进步特别明显；而那些语言的流利性高于准确性的学生，他们虽有暂时的优势，但没有持续发展能力，课程教学对他们的作用不明显，他们通常在比较低的水平上就停滞不前了，

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( 二 ) 英语学习方法

• 管理方法– 认知活动管理– 情感活动管理

• 语言学习方法– 听、说、读、写– 语音、语法、词汇

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认知活动管理• 确立目标；• 制定计划；• 选择方法；• 监控学习过程；• 评价方法的成效；• 调整学习行为。

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情感活动管理分两类：(1)调动积极情感因素

自信心 毅力

(2)克服消极情感因素 焦虑 怕丢面子、怕失败等

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（三）语言学习方法

• 学习听、说、读、写技能的方法– 《英语学习策略论〉 89-134页

• 学习语音、语法、词汇的方法– 《英语学习策略论〉 134-159页

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四、英语学习策略对成绩的影响

大量研究结果表明：

(1)学习策略对成绩有明显的影响；

(2)有意识地调控学习策略是取得成功

的关键；

(3)学习有法，学无定法，策略因人而

异，因时而变。

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A comparative study of one

successful and one less

successful English learners in

China

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Introduction – A brief literature review – Research questions

Methodology– Subjects– Instruments– Data-collection– Data-analysis

Results and discussion

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Introduction

Since the 70’s, studies on learning strategies

used by L2 learners have been growing.

Their general assumption the studies

attempted to test is that poor learners use

fewer varieties of effective strategies and

use them less frequently.

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The contention of these studies is that if poor

learners can expand their repertoire of

learning strategies and increase the frequency

of using them, their achievement will be

improved. However, the empirical studies

haven’t yet yielded consistent results in

support of the above assumption.

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Research questions

• How do a good learner and a poor learner

carry out L2 learning activities (i.e.

Listening, speaking, reading, writing and

learning new words)?

• What are the main reasons that can

account for their different learning

behaviors?

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Subjects (Two second-year English Majors)

Name Gender Age Parents L1 L2 Effort

S1 F 19 F: UT 75 95 20.5hs M: UT

S2 F 20 F: Doc 75 96 40hs M: Nurse

Scores on the Band 4: 90.5/64.25

Go

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Instruments:

Interview schedule

Diary: one-week diary

Reading tasks

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Interview guide•How do you practice reading outside class?•How do you practice speaking outside class?•How do you deal with new words in a text?•How do you remember new words?•How do you practice writing after class?•Do you have your own plan for your study?•What is your plan? Can you give me an example?

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Instructions for diary• What activities do you undertake to learn

English after class?

• Why do you want to carry out such activities? How long?

• What is your psychological and physical state? (i.e. Are you attentive or absent-minded? Are you energetic or tired?)

• How do you carry out this activity? Do you use any methods?

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Reading task

Read a passage of 850 words

while they are allowed to use a

dictionary or a grammar book

as if they were previewing a

new lesson.

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Data collection• Interviewed the subjects individually

• Asked the subjects to read a passage individually while video-taping their reading performance and then interviewed them as soon as they finished the reading

• Asked the subjects to keep one-week diary and discussed the diary with them individually

Go back

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Data analysis

•Compare and contrast their learning

behaviors to find out differences.

•Analyze the reasons to account for

their behaviors.

Go

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Results and discussion

• Different learning behaviors of the two

subjects

– Listening

– Speaking

– Reading

– Writing

– Vocabulary learning

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Listening (How to practice listening after class)

Student A

I listen to the news broadcast by the VOA. I prefer to take down notes while listening. Once I finish listening, I write the summary of what I have listened… Sometimes, I record programs and listen to them repeatedly until I can understand everything in it. Performing such a listening task often takes me about 40 minutes or one hour.

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Student B

When I was the first-and second-year student, I often listened to various kinds of tapes borrowed from the language lab but rarely took a dictation of it. My purpose was just to understand its general meaning. For me, to listen to the programs broadcast by the VOA or the BBC is also for obtaining the information.

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Question One

What are the differences

in listening by Student A

and Student B?

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Differences in listening

• Student A: Took down notes, wrote a summary, had intensive listening.

• Student B: Listened only for meaning.

• Integrated• Form and meaning

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Speaking

Student A I am very active in class because I think these chances are very precious for me to practice spoken English. I also like to talk with my classmates or teachers in English. I like to talk to myself in English, too. Sometimes, I talk to myself in English while doing house work at the kitchen. When my mother hears the strange sounds,thinking I am talking to her, she says very loudly from the bedroom ‘What are you saying?’

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I feel self-talk is useful for practicing spoken English… When I cannot think of a word during a conversation in English, I usually don’t use gestures which could hardly express the ideas clearly. What I like to do is to use simple English to describe it or the other linguistic means…If I don’t know how to say something in English, I never avoid it and I will ask the other people for help. (Subject 1)

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Student B

I don’t volunteer to answer any questions in class even I have known the answer. I don’t practice speaking after class because there is no English-speaking environment. Occasionally, I may talk to myself. If I cannot think of the English word, I may use gestures or avoid using it. Occasionally, I consult the dictionary.

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Question Two

What are the differences

in speaking by Student A

and Student B?

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Differences in speaking

• Student A: Active inside and outside class; tried to use linguistic means to make up for her insufficient linguistic knowledge.

• Student B: Inactive inside and outside class; tried to use non-linguistic means to make up for her insufficient linguistic knowledge.

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ReadingStudent AIf I do reading for enjoyment, I do not aim at understanding everything. So long as I can grasp the main idea, I did not want to look up all the new words in the dictionary but I do look up the words appealing to me in the dictionary. If reading a text prescribed by the teacher, I will try to understand everything in it because the teacher seems to set up

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examination questions deliberately concerning those points which are easy for us to neglect. I usually do not like to memorize the texts but I am fond of reading them aloud. I often go to the classroom half an hour early before the class begins, reading the texts aloud…I am not very good at grammar. Sometimes I cannot tell the grammatical function of each part of a sentence. But if the sentence

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structure is very complicated, I will find out which is the main clause and which is the subordinate clause. …Read Reader’s Digest for the main idea. I do not use the dictionary at all but I underline the new or interesting words with a pencil. ...Read China Daily quickly, but at the same time, pay attention to useful phrases and sentence patterns. ...Read the words in

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Reader’s Digest that are appealing to me and look up some of the new words that I want to know their precise meanings.

I take notes of some interesting points and sentences…Read Newsweek, National Geography and some short stories for the main idea. I try to read as quickly as I can and only look up the words that appear interesting.”

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Student B:

She did not differentiate two kinds of reading

but in her diary, she did have two kinds of

reading. For self-initiated reading, she read

the text very fast for a general understanding

like her listening. For prescribed-reading,

she read the text extremely slowly.

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Question Three

What are the differences

in reading by Student A

and Student B?

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Differences in reading

• Student A:

– Differentiated two kinds of reading: Self-

initiated reading/reading for pleasure and

Course-bound reading

– Dealt with these two kinds of reading

differently.

• Student B: Did not differentiate two

kinds of reading consciously.

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In self-initiated reading, Student A paid

more attention to reading speed and

the flow of ideas expressed by the

author, yet she looked up new words

that she found interesting. In course-

bound reading, she endeavored to

understand every detail of the text

while trying to master the linguistic

forms such as vocabulary and

structures.

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In self-initiated reading, Student B

read almost exclusively for meaning

and even for gist, while paying little

attention to new words and structures.

In course-bound reading, what she

said about her behaviors appeared to

be similar to Student A but what I

observed in her performance was not

consistent with what she said.

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WritingStudent A

In addition to the teacher’s assignments, I like to keep diary in English and I also like to take notes in English.

Although I’ve been thinking about the story for several days, the ideas had come to my mind just before I began to write. So I

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quickly wrote it down. What I have written down was just the first draft. I put it aside for a few days before I make the second draft. Also, I try to find a classmate to read it and give me some comments. ...I revise both the content and the grammatical mistakes before I submit it to the teacher.

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Student B:

She admitted that she didn’t practice

writing in English besides the writing tasks

assigned by the teacher. According to her

description, she seemed to use similar

strategies in writing like S1. However, she

did not care much about the correctness of

the form of the language because she

believed that the purpose of writing a

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composition was to develop the skill of

expressing one’s ideas in a coherent way

and so long as the ideas were clearly stated,

it did not matter that much if the form was

not correct.

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Question Four

What are the differences

in writing by Student A

and Student B?

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Differences in writing• Student A:

– Active in writing in English outside class.

– Revised the composition several times and paid attention to both the form and the meaning.

• Student B:– Inactive in writing in English outside

class.– Did not pay attention to the form

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Learning new words

Student A

If the words are not important, I will not consult them in a dictionary, particularly in my outside reading. But when reading (prescribed) texts, I will read the whole text once and guess the meaning of the new words without the use of the dictionary. In the second reading, I will look them up in a

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dictionary. Besides the explanation of the word, I also like to read the sample sentences or phrases.

I don’t repeat the individual words, but I would like to repeat the phrases. If I consult the dictionary for meaning of the new words several times. I can memorize them. Some words in the texts, if I think, are rarely used, I don’t memorize them. At the most, I try to

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memorize them when I am preparing for the examination. I don’t copy the new words on a note book. My habit is to write the meaning of words directly on the textbook. The meaning is usually in English. But if the English explanation is very long and not clear, I write down the Chinese equivalent. I do not allocate the

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time to memorize the words in isolation. I prefer to memorize the words together with reading the text. I feel that memorizing new words combined with reading the text is more efficient than memorizing the words in isolation.

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Student B

When I find new words in a text, I’d like to guess the meaning first and then consult the dictionary. Without consulting the dictionary, I feel not sure of the meaning of the new words I have guessed … I copy down the new words and their meanings sometimes together with their sample sentences. I write down both English explanations and Chinese equivalents.

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Then I read them repeatedly in order to memorize them, but I quickly forget them. It seems to me revision is not effective to me at all. I usually don’t memorize the new words occurring in outside reading.

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It is vain, of course, to argue that sport

is a splendid diversion and a healthy

pastime, but not an activity worthy of

a civilized individual’s entire

attention, efforts and ambition.

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diversion: pastime, recreation

play: pastime, recreation: for fun, not for money

play: used without an object. Children amuse

themselves

hobby: quiet activities

sport: bodily movement

game: usually competition

match: important public game

sports: important public occasion, competitive

in many different bodily ways

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But it does have an increasing and

loud nationalist element in its society

that is ill-educated, potentially violent

and extremely nasty.

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nasty: (not formal) very ugly or unpleasant

to see, smell, taste, etc. [cheap and ~

furniture] [~ weather]/morally bad or

improper, obscene [It’s a ~ book] /

harmful,painful, severe [a ~ accident with

one person killed] [ a ~ cut on the head]

[The hotel bill was a ~ shock] /causing

difficulty or danger [a ~ calculation] [a ~

place to cross the main road] [a ~ storm at

sea] angry or threatening [a ~ temper]

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nasty: (not formal) very ugly or unpleasant

to see, smell, taste, etc. [cheap and ~

furniture] [~ weather]/morally bad or

improper, obscene [It’s a ~ book] /

harmful,painful, severe [a ~ accident with

one person killed] [ a ~ cut on the head]

[The hotel bill was a ~ shock] /causing

difficulty or danger [a ~ calculation] [a ~

place to cross the main road] [a ~ storm at

sea] angry or threatening [a ~ temper]

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What is a chunk?

It is a series of words that often go together in communication, such as idioms, set phrases, stock expressions and collocations. It may be a phrase or a sentence. Some of them are completely fixed; others are largely fixed but with an open slot where the speaker can fill in a word or a phrase.

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Learning a foreign language was one of the most difficult yet most rewarding experiences of my life. Although at times, learning a foreign language was frustrating, it was worth the effort.

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• A difficult experience• rewarding/frustrating /valuable/good/

bitter/pleasant • Difficult experiences of my life

That experience was rewarding/frustrating/painful/valuable

• work experience/life experience/business experience

• Teaching experience• Journalistic experience

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Question Five

What are the differences

in learning new words by

Student A and Student B?

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Differences in learning new words

• Student A: – Differentiated new words in terms of

importance and treated them differently.

– Remembered the new words together with reading the text.

• Student B:– Did not differentiate new words in

terms of importance.– Remembered the new words by

simple repetition

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Major difference One

Student A paid equal attention to both the form

and the meaning of the English language when

she learned English. However, she could vary

her attention paid to the form and to the

meaning according to different situations.

Student B only paid her attention to one aspect

of the language: either to the form or to the

meaning.

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Major difference Two

Student A enthusiastically practiced both

receptive and productive skills while Student

B, almost neglected productive skills,

particularly speaking skills.

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Major difference Three

Student A was able to

remember new words in an

effective way while Student B

was not.

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Reasons that induced their different learning behaviors

It was found that their different learning

behaviors are in one way or another,

related to their beliefs and managerial

strategies.

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Beliefs and managerial skills

Appropriate beliefs

Student A strongly believed that both form-

focused and meaning-focused were essential

for success in learning a foreign language,

and receptive and productive skills were

equally important.

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Effective managerial skills:

Student A

I like to read the books which contain the

self-tests. In this way, you can easily

evaluate yourself. If I found that I couldn’t

answer the teachers’ questions fluently, or I

didn’t do well in a test, I would often think

the reason about it when I am lying on the

bed before sleep.

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I very much like to reflect on what I have done. For example, in my first year study in the university, many of the English majors spent quite a lot of time memorizing the words. At first, I also did it in the same way. After some time, I realized that memorizing the words in isolation was not very fruitful because even if you can memorize individual words, this does not mean that you can use them.

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Therefore, I changed the method later. I read the texts and try to memorize the sentences. At that time, I read ‘New Concept English’ for my own study, I found much more efficient if the learning of words was associated with a text.

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Student B: Inappropriate Beliefs

She clearly indicated that her listening and

writing activities were aimed at the

meaning.

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Student B: Poor managerial skills

Researcher: Do you know what may lead to

your poor listening comprehension?

Student B: If I know it, my listening

comprehension won’t be that poor.

Researcher: Have you ever thought about this

question before?

Student B: No. Never.

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Conclusion

To conclude, granted that variety and

frequency problems indicated by previous

studies do exist, they are only superficial

ones. The essential differences in the

learning behaviors found in this study

offered strong evidence in support of our

views.

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These differences cannot be accounted for

simply by the variety or frequency use of

the strategies. Learners’ beliefs and

managerial skills are two main factors

attributing to the different learning

behaviors which, in turn, result in different

achievements.

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五、指导英语学习策略的原则和步骤

( 一 ) 指导原则

• 学习有法，学无定法；策略因人而异，因时而变，有些策略是双刃剑。

• 必须要从“管理策略”入手，调动学生的自主意识。

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Why?

• Strategy training: a means but not an end

• Immediate goal

– Facilitate L2 learning

• ultimate goal

– Produce autonomous lifelong learners

• Part of quality education

• Multiple functions

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Common Assumptions

• Students do not know what are good

strategies.

• Some strategies are good while

others are bad.

• The belief “The more, the better”

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Assumption One: lack of strategies

• 6 years of learning English

• 12 years of learning Chinese

• Experience in learning physics,

mathematics, chemistry, history,

geography

• Experience in learning every day

living skills

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• Have abundant resources for learning

strategies

• Need to learn how to activate and

implement the strategies they have

already had before

• Abandon the informing-practice

pattern

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Assumption Two: Good or bad

• Some strategies are good while others

bad. Poorer learners do not learn a

foreign language successfully because

they use bad strategies while good

learners use good strategies.

• Huang (1987)

• Vann & Abraham (1990)

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Assumption Two: Good or bad

• Ellis (1994), Cohen (1998),

• Strategies are not inherently good or bad.

There are no good or bad strategies but

there is only good or bad use of strategies.

• Who, When, How

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Assumption Three: The belief “the more the better”

• Underlying quite a number of studies

–Nunan suggests: encourage poorer le

arners to use a greater range of strate

gies

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• Strategies are problem-oriented.

• Some strategies are double

edged.

• Strategies do not function well

individually.

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( 二 ) 指导步骤

• 了解学生使用策略的情况– 问卷、访谈、观察

• 决定方式– 集中训练、分散训练、个别指导

• 决定训练内容

• 准备训练材料

• 实施训练计划

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(三 )策略训练应该达到的目标

•让学生了解更多可以选择的方法

•使学生了解调控的过程

• 提高学生选择和实践某种方法的机会

•经常要求学生对自己的学习进行评价