GENDER AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES

Language learning strategies

Steps taken by learners to make language learning easier, faster, enjoyable, self-directed, effective, and transferable to new situations.

Good language learner characteristics

Traits identified by scholars such as being a great guesser, having an urge to communicate, and focusing on meaning and form.

Direct strategies

Strategies that involve working directly with the target language in specific tasks, including memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies.

Memory strategies

Techniques that help learners store and retrieve new information.

Cognitive strategies

Methods that allow learners to manipulate or transform the target language.

Compensation strategies

Strategies that enable learners to use a new language for comprehension or production despite knowledge limitations.

Indirect strategies

Strategies that support and manage language learning without directly involving the target language, such as metacognitive, affective, and social strategies.

Metacognitive strategies

Strategies that help learners coordinate their own learning process.

Affective strategies

Strategies that involve positive emotions and attitudes produced during the learning process.

Social strategies

Techniques that involve the use of language for communication and interaction.

The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL)

A tool that considers and analyzes the strategies proposed by Oxford in 1990.

Factors influencing language learning strategies

Variables such as age, gender, proficiency, personality, context, and purpose of learning that affect learners' choice of strategies.

Strategy training

Instruction provided by teachers to help learners become more independent in the learning process.