Las creencias

I nvestigations i nto the strategie s u sed by lang uag e learn ers we re origi nally m otivated by a desi re to i solate the characte ri stics of successfu l learn ers. With the g rowing recognition that strategy use was a complex phenomenon varyi ng acco rding to facto rs such as task, level of study and the ethnicity of learners, m o re recent research has soug ht to ide ntify the influe nces on language learne rs' choice of strateg ies. A n u mber of fi ndings fro m such studies have bee n presented i n this chapte r.

In some cases, for example with reg ard to proficie ncy , there appears to be evide nce fo r quite a strong re lationship betwee n effective ness in lang uag e learning and strategy choice. Simi larly, the research sugg ests that the leve l of languag e study affects the strategies learne rs use, with g reater strategy use being associated with m o re advanced leve ls of lang uag e study. Th e cu rre nt study i nvestig ates whether the obse rved diffe re nces in strategy use with reg ard to profici ency and leve l of study are co nsistent in the context of fo reig n lang uag e underg raduate students studyi ng i n a dual-mode setti ng.

I n other cases, as with regard to g e nd e r, the research is suggestive that diffe re nces exist i n strategy use by m e n and wo men , but qu estions remain as to whethe r the observed sex diffe re nces a re co nsistent ove r further studies. Research on the re latio nship betwee n m otivation and strategy use also falls i nto this catego ry where , as O'Malley and Chamot ( 1 990 :224) arg u e , 'the i nflue nce of motivation on strategy use n eeds to be analysed i n g reater detai l in both theory and research'.

With reg a rd to the i nfluence of the TL and the age of learne rs on strategy use, a wide ni n g of the research focus is requ i red. Research i nto the ro l e played by the TL in strategy choice by lang u ag e l earne rs has, to date, bee n confi ned to situ atio n s i nvolvi n g l ndo-European Tls. The current study e xtends the scope of previ ous studi es to i nclude a co mparison of the strateg ies used by learne rs of Asian lang uages (Japanese, Chi nese) and of l ndo-E u ropean languages (Fre nch , German). I n response to a call by Skehan ( 1 989 : 1 48) the cu rre nt study makes an o rd e red co m parison of the strategies used by diffe rent ag e-g roups. Data on strateg y use i s co l lected fro m learners who vary in ag e fro m late tee ns to advanced adu lthood , thus syste matical ly coveri ng an age range of al most five decades.

Then t h e re are a nu mber of u n explored variables which wi ll be i nvestigated i n the cu rre nt study and these include lang uage learn i ng experi e nce, p rior experience i n learning the TL, language use opportunities and mode of study. While anecdotal evidence wo u ld suggest that learn i ng additional languages becomes increasing ly e asy, there is little evidence to support this clai m , and we do not know whether the learn i ng of other languages has an effect on the strateg ies applied to the task of learni ng the new TL. I n additi o n , we do not know whether p ri o r e xperience i n learn i ng the TL, as, for e xample , in the host cou ntry , affects st rategy use i n a classroom o r distance learning envi ro n me nt. Finally, while research h as revealed the i m portance of functi onal practice o utside fo rm al classroom requ i rements fo r lang uag e learn i ng (Bi alystock, 1 9 79 ; Huang and van N ae rsse n , 1 987), it is not as yet clear wheth er oppo rtu nities to use the TL, beyond t hose provided by the cou rse , have an effect on the ki nds of strateg ies students choose to use. The need fo r research into the i nflue nce of setting on strategy use, i n particular the i nflu e nce of non-classroom e nvi ro n m e nts on strategy use, is well-established i n the lite rature (Stern 1 983 ; Skehan 1 989 ; O' Malley and C hamot 1 990) , as discussed i n Chapter 1 .

The mai n research question of this study i s co ncerned with the i nfl ue nce of m ode o f study, that is, the p rese nce or absence of a classroo m learn i ng e nviro n m e nt ,

on strategy choice by u nde rg radu ate foreign language learners. The role of mode of study in dete rmi n i ng strategy use , re lative to the ro le of oth e r aspects of the langu age learni ng context (th e TL, level of study, and languag e use opportunities) is examined. I n additio n , the study e xplores the contribution made by l earn e r characte ristics (ag e , gender, languag e learn i ng experience , p ri o r co ntact with t h e T L , motivation a n d proficie ncy) i n dete rm i n i n g the st rategies learn e rs em ploy t o develop TL co m pete nce .

I n the research published to d ate g e n erally only o n e o r two facto rs have bee n e xami ned for their i nflu e nce o n strategy use. I n such studies it is o n ly possi ble to g auge the relative importance of, say , level of learning as o pposed to g e nder diffe rences, with oth e r possi bly critical vari ables such as proficiency be i ng absent fro m the equation. Th u s it has not been possi ble to measu re the re lative sig n ificance of a number of key vari ables. Larsen-Freeman and Lo ng (1 99 1 ) argue for the n eed fo r m ore co mplex research designs rather than 'si mple correlations b etween a si ngle i ndividual variable and learner perfo rmance', which , i n the case of strategy research , h as be e n re ported strategy use. The cu rrent study acknowledges that lang uage learning is a co mplex p rocess and seeks to e xami ne the relationship betwee n strategy use and both learn e r characte ristics and aspects of the lang uag e learn i n g co ntext.

I n short, this study seeks to ide ntify the factors which exert a strong i nflu e nce on strategy choice , th ose which exert a lesser i nflu e nce , and those which do not appear to b e i mportant. lt also attempts to add ress the question of the ro le of m ode of study re lative to oth e r variables, i n determining the strategies used by fo reign lang u ag e learn e rs . Once a set of key variables which are associated with strategy choice has bee n identified, a fu rther question arises : are the two g roups of learne rs (classroom and distance) homogeneous in the extent to which the key variables h ave an effect on their strategy choice? I n oth e r words, does mode of study i nte ract with other key variables to i nflue nce the strategy choice of languag e learners? This aspect of the p roblem is a further way of examining the

i nfluence of the learn i ng e nvi ronment on the operations that learne rs use i n accomplishing languag e tasks.