Shaping the Way We Teach English: Module 07, Learning Strategies

Summary

The transcript discusses the importance of teaching strategies to foster autonomous learners, adaptable both in and out of the classroom. It highlights successful language learners' ability to select effective strategies based on task requirements and emphasizes the overlap between cognitive and metacognitive strategies. The teacher's approach includes understanding students' backgrounds, incorporating various learning strategies, and using multimodal teaching methods to enhance comprehension and engagement.

Takeaways

• 📚 The goal of teaching strategies is to foster autonomous learners who can learn independently both inside and outside the classroom.
• 🔍 Research and classroom practices are evolving to better understand and facilitate learning for students of all ages.
• 🏆 Successful language learners tend to select strategies that work well together according to the requirements of the language task.
• 🧠 Metacognition involves developing an awareness and ability to monitor the learning process.
• 🔄 There is significant overlap between language learning, communication strategies, cognitive, and metacognitive strategies.
• 👨‍🏫 Teachers can help students develop effective strategies by identifying their current learning strategies and assisting in developing a cohesive set.
• 🌟 Characteristics of successful self-directed language learners include a strong drive to communicate, willingness to take risks, recognizing patterns, using guessing and prediction, focusing on meaning, self-monitoring, and practicing at every opportunity.
• 🌐 The teacher in the video segment uses a variety of strategies to support her students, including those for language-specific skills, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and affective factors.
• 📈 The teacher incorporates biology into her English class to support her students' learning in multiple subjects.
• 🎥 Visual aids such as movies and pictures are used to boost students' understanding and engagement with the material.
• 🤝 Encouraging student participation and risk-taking is a key strategy to prevent losing students in the learning process.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of teaching strategies?

The primary goal of teaching strategies is to create autonomous learners who can learn by themselves both inside and outside the classroom.

How do successful language learners generally choose their strategies?

Successful language learners tend to select strategies that work well together according to the requirements of the language task.

What is the focus of the module introduction mentioned in the script?

The focus of the module introduction is on key features of two classes of learning strategies: language learning and communication strategies, and cognitive and metacognitive strategies.

What is the definition of metacognition in the context of learning?

Metacognition is defined as developing an awareness of and an ability to monitor the learning process.

How can teachers help students develop effective strategies?

Teachers can help students develop effective strategies by identifying students' current learning strategies, helping individual students understand which strategies work best for them, and assisting students in developing a set of strategies that work well together.

What are some characteristics of successful self-directed language learners?

Some characteristics of successful self-directed language learners include having a strong drive or motivation to communicate, willingness to take risks and make mistakes, recognizing language and communication patterns, using guessing and prediction strategies, paying attention to meaning, monitoring and self-correcting their own speech, practicing with the language at every opportunity, and learning to think and perhaps even dream in the target language.

What challenges do the students in the script face?

The students face challenges such as coming from war-torn countries, working part-time to supplement family income, having English as a second language with peculiar problems related to speaking and writing, and having gone through interrupted schooling.

How does the teacher in the script approach teaching to address the students' background and challenges?

The teacher starts from what the students already know, uses folk tales to jog their memory, and gradually moves to the unknown to facilitate knowledge transfer. She also incorporates various learning strategies, such as small-group pre-listening discussions, and uses pictorials and movies to make the learning more meaningful and engaging.

What is the purpose of the teacher incorporating biology into the English class?

The purpose of incorporating biology into the English class is to support the biology class the students are taking and to teach various skills in English, such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

What is the teacher's approach to using movies in her classroom?

The teacher uses movies because students love them and they are pertinent to what they are learning. She believes that seeing the crocodile in action can set the students' imagination going and help them make connections.

How does the teacher ensure that all students participate in the class?

The teacher tries to make sure that each student talks or asks questions before the class is over to encourage participation and prevent losing some students in the process.