Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings

Language learning strategies have been a topic of research for roughly three decades. Broadly speaking, that research has focused on classroom tuition, predominantly at secondary level. Increasingly, however, language learning occurs in independent settings, whether at distance, on Institution-Wide Language Programmes (IWLPs), or in virtual environments. Success in independent language learning is achieved by autonomous individuals with a capacity for self-regulation. Yet we still know relatively little about the specific means they use to learn effectively, whether in terms of the affective strategies they employ to sustain motivation, the metacognitive strategies required for planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning, or the specific cognitive strategies applied to difficult learning tasks. These are all discussed and evaluated in Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings.

Stella Hurd is a Senior Lecturer in French at the Open University, where she has developed materials at all levels since 1994. As a member of the Open University’s Centre for Research into Education and Educational Technology, her main research focus is distance language learning and teaching, which embraces autonomy, affect, learning strategies and learner support. She has published on all these topics in refereed journals and books and has also co-edited three books on adult language learning.

Tim Lewis is currently a Lecturer in French in the Department of Languages of the Open University. From 1993 to 2001 he was Director of the Modern Languages Teaching Centre of the University of Sheffield where he introduced Tandem learning into UK Higher Education. A member of the Open University’s Centre for Research into Education and Educational Technology, he has co-edited two previous books on technology-based language learning and on tandem learning.