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The Efficacy Of Strategy Training For The Proficiency Development Of L2 Student Writing

Posted on:2006-09-09Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X ZhouFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360182966478Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
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The issue of how to learn English efficiently and effectively has long presented a formidable challenge for many English learners. Since the concepts of learning strategies and strategy training are introduced, there has been an ever-existing and ever-developing debate on the efficacy of strategy training on language learning, especially on second language acquisition, among researchers as well as practitioners. Kellerman (1991) points out that language learners have acquired as series of learning strategies while they learned their native language. Therefore, this group of strategies will be transferred naturally to their process of second language acquisition. Rees-Miller (1993) suggests that without sufficient evidence to testify the decisive influence of strategy training, teachers must approach this issue cautiously. However, Wenden (1985) deems that one of the paramount goals of language training is to facilitate the autonomy of learners. He holds that the major way to this goal is to teach, help learners to master, explore, and generalize a series of tailored strategies for themselves (in fact, this is the process of strategy training). Their viewpoints coincide with the meaning of a old and philosophical Chinese saying: "It is better to teach how to fish than to offer fishes to people". So far, this debate about the efficacy of strategy training is still developing. In China, the empirical research on strategy training in the field of second language acquisition is almost a blank sheet of paper. This study aims to examine the efficacy of strategy training on writing proficiency.To be brief, the present study aims to examine the following research questions:1. What is the efficacy of strategy training on writing proficiency?2. What is the relationship between reported frequency of strategy use and task performance?Two classes of undergraduates in Wuhan University, one experimental group and one control group, participated in an eight-week experiment, which required them to complete a writing task battery consisting of two tasks on a pre-post test basis. After each task, they were asked to fill out a strategy checklist tailored for that specific task and the 50-item Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford 1989) to indicate their frequency of strategy use before, during, after the task. The experimental group had eight-week systematic strategy training that was integrated into the classroom activities. The rating of the students' composition was objectiveand reliable. The result of the current study is summarized as follows:1. Systematic strategy training, which is embedded into classroom activities, is evidently efficacious to the improvement of students' overall performance in writing and their performance in terms of subscales (organization, grammar, vocabulary), especially for those less successful English learners.2. The frequency of strategy use is significantly related to improvement in the organization, grammar, and vocabulary of students' composition in many cases.These results are discussed in light of the assertion of Wenden (1985) that strategy use is the key to learner autonomy and teaching how to learn is crucial. In addition to this, implications for further research and L2 pedagogy are considered.
Keywords/Search Tags:Learning strategies, Strategy training(ST), Strategies-based instruction(SBI), L2 writing proficiency development
PDF Full Text Request
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