Studying Learner Strategies : Feedback on Compositions
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The paper begins by calling attention to research on learner strategies and to the significant role that verbal report data have played in such research. It is noted that information on learner strategies has developed from largely intuited lists of strategies to empirically-derived taxonomies which have as their ultimate purpose that of training learners to be more successful at language learning. The three verbal report techniques used to collect data on learner strategies—self-report, self-observation, and self-revelation—are defined and illustrated. The paper then presents two studies which employed these verbal response techniques in an effort to better understand the strategies that teachers use in giving feedback on compositions and the strategies that learners use in handling this feedback in the English-foreign-language and Portuguese-native-language classrooms respectively. The final portion of the paper deals with the strengths and weaknesses of these two studies as examples of language learning research.
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Lack of second language learners' writing and revision strategies are rooted partly in writing teachers who focus mainly on the form of the writing and overlook the real ideas and meaning interacted through the text.
“Zamel (1983) and Cohen (1987) found that lack of second language learners' writing and revision strategies are rooted partly in writing teachers who focus mainly on the form of the writing and overlook the real ideas and meaning interacted through the text.”
From A comparative study of the effect of teacher’s group and individual feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ learning of speech acts in apology letter writing (2020) · cites this paper as Cohen, 1987
The introduction (p. 3) reports that feedback can focus narrowly on grammar and mechanics and that students have limited strategies for handling it. It does not establish that this focus causes the lack of writing or revision strategies. Moreover, the study’s findings (pp. 5–6) say the EFL teacher emphasized content and organization as well as form; the actual feedback did not corroborate one student’s perception that grammar and mechanics dominated. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Research works printed but not linked: 18
- Cardelle, M. & Corno, L. (1981). Effects on second language learning of variations in written feedback on homework assignments. TESOL Quarterly, 15 (13), 251-261.
- Cohen, A.D. (1987a). Student processing of feedback on their compositions. In A.L. Wenden and J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall International, 57-69.
- Cohen, A.D. (1987b). Studying language learning strategies: How do we get the information. In A.L. Wenden and J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall International, 31-40.
- Cohen, A.D. & Aphek, E. (1981). Easifying second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 3 (2), 221-235.
- Cohen, A.D. & Cavalcanti, M. (In press). Giving and getting feedback on compositions: A comparison of teacher and student verbal report. Evaluation and Research in Education.
- Grala, M., Oxford, R., & Schleppegrell, M. (1987). Improving your language learning: Strategies for Peace Corps Volunteers. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
- Hosenfeld, C. (1979). Cindy: A learner in today's foreign language classroom. I.W. Born (Ed.), The foreign language learner in today's classroom environment. Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference Reports. ERIC ED 185 837.
- Hosenfeld, C. (1984). Case studies of ninth grade readers. In J.C. Alderson & A.H. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a foreign language. London: Longman, 231–249.
- Oxford-Carpenter, R. (1985). A new taxonomy of second language learning strategies. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C.
- Oxford, R., Nyikos, M., & Crookall, D. (1987). Learning strategies of university foreign language students: A large-scale study. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
- Pica, T. (1986). An interactional approach to the teaching of writing. English Teaching Forum, 24 (3), 6-10.
- Ramirez, A.G. (1986). Language learning strategies used by adolescents studying French in New York schools. Foreign Language Annals, 19 (2), 131-141.
- Rubin, J. (1975). What the "good language learner" can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9 (1), 41-51.
- Rubin, J. (1981). Study of cognitive processes in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11 (2), 117-131.
- Semke, H.D. (1984). Effects of the red pen. Foreign Language Annals, 17 (3), 195-202.
- Tyacke, M. & Mendelsohn. D. (1986). Student needs: Cognitive as well as communicative. TESL Canada Journal, Special Issue 1, 171-183.
- Wenden, A.L. (1985). Learner strategies. TESOL Newsletter, 19 (5), 1-7.
- Wenden, A.L. (1986). Incorporating learner training in the classroom. System, 14 (3), 315-325.
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- Authors
- Cohen, A.
- Corresponding author
- Cohen, Andrew
- Venue
- PASAA
- Publisher
- Chulalongkorn University
- Published
- 1987-01
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 29-38
- ISSN
- 2287-0024 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4393358681
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 11.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- PASAA (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
- Keywords
- student learning strategies, self-report, self-observation, self-disclosure, teacher feedback, composition writing, strategy taxonomy, English as a foreign language, Portuguese as a native language, second language writing
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