WHAT STUDENTS OF
LCTLS WANT THEIR
TEACHERS TO KNOW
Anna Uhl Chamot
Jill Robbins
(thanks to Laura Blythe Liu, Kristen
D’Avolio, & Candice Michalowicz)
The George Washington University &
National Capital
Language Resource Center
Washington, DC http://nclrc.org/lctls

BACKGROUND
National Capital Language Resource
Center (NCLRC) one of 15 foreign language resource centers in U. S.
Since 1990 NCLRC has conducted research on language learning strategies, both identification and classroom applications studies.
Learning Strategy Resource Guides produced for elementary immersion, high school, and university language teachers and students.

PURPOSE OF CURRENT
NCLRC STUDY
Explore how US college students learn
Arabic
Chinese
Japanese
Korean

RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
Most learning strategy research on Western languages.
Good language learners (of
Western languages) use similar strategies.
Effect of non-Western writing systems on strategy use?
Impact of unique grammar and non-cognate vocabulary?

PARTICIPANTS
College learners of Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, or Korean.
Low Intermediate (fourth semester) level at two U.S. universities.
11 students of Arabic.
10 students of Chinese.
6 students of Japanese.
4 students of Korean.

QUESTIONS
What are the challenges in learning
(language) ?
What strategies do you use to overcome these challenges?
What advice do you give to other students of this language?
How are you learning the target language culture?

METHODOLOGY
Record and videotape focus group interview protocols.
Transcribe interviews verbatim.
Analyze transcripts for learning challenges and responses.
Identify student perceptions of effective and ineffective instruction.

FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW
STRUCTURE
Writing task with think-aloud prompts.
Questions on
Speaking
Reading
Listening
Vocabulary
Culture
Advice to a new student of the language.

How students study the language
Why students are studying the language
Student perceptions of effective language instruction

Online listening: repeat many times
(text materials)
Listen to music online
Online authentic materials: use images to guess meaning
Use the strategy of inferencing for live listening

Text CD: slow with Windows media
Repeated listening

Using boxes for reading
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Working with NS friends
Watching movies
Using online listening
Using online games & quizzes (Quia)

Listening with an iPod)
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Use flashcards while playing video games
Watch movies in Japanese
Make friends and get involved in martial arts and cultural exchanges
Study radicals to understand kanji

Use an online translator
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Internet radio, Korean music
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Use Imagery
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Becoming more bankable
A mission to learn
Getting “a profound sense of the
Middle East”
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Go into International Politics
Just want to speak the language; enjoy the culture
Fascinated with China
To learn more about my heritage

Interest in pop culture; anime
Career involving Japanese or business with Japan
Go for a homestay in Japan

To get in touch with my identity
To communicate with my parents or relatives better (adopted child who wants to meet birth mother)

Students don’t feel they are getting enough listening practice; must puzzle out what the teacher is saying through her gestures
Knowledge of grammar is simple

Pairwork can be productive (or not)
Partners can let you down
Managing time together is crucial
Limited knowledge of structures restricts creativity
Choral reading is “mind-bogglingly” slow

More reading wanted
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Should start with kanji earlier
Transition from HS to college: “the jump was hard” because there was more review in HS
Students shouldn’t be allowed to NOT speak Japanese in class

Understanding teacher’s questions is difficult and stressful: Students under pressure stop listening and guess
“what she must be asking”
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NEXT STEPS
Continue data analysis.
Develop descriptions of learning strategy applications for each language.
Produce resource guide for teaching learning strategies to students of Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, and Korean.

FUTURE RESEARCH
Ways to teach learning strategies for language-specific challenges.
Effects of strategies-based instruction (SBI) on student achievement/proficiency, attitude, and motivation.
Instructional model for SBI for non-Western languages.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please visit the NCLRC website for free resources on language learning strategies and other topics http://www.nclrc.org
Special thanks to our transcribers: Laura
Blythe Liu, Kristen D’Avolio, and
Candice Michalowicz