As a result of the emergence of the concept of LLS, researchers have attempted to connect these strategies with other aspects of language, such as vocabulary. Studies such as that conducted by O'Malley and Chamot (1990) confirmed that most LLS are also employed for vocabulary tasks. Similarly, all memory strategies based on Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy can be employed for vocabulary learning tasks, the effect of which motivated Schmitt (1997) to base his VLS taxonomy on Oxford’s LLS classification.
Since the current study concerned the effectiveness of learner-selected strategies on short and long-term word retention in both intentional and incidental vocabulary learning, the researcher selected two models of VLS taxonomies to classify the participant-selected strategies. The first referred to research conducted by Schmitt (1997), and the second related to research conducted by Nation (2001, 2013). Reference was also made to the research conducted by Rubin (1987), O'Malley and Chamot (1990), and Oxford’s LLS classification, as these are frequently cited in the extant literature, and represent the basic approach to VLS taxonomies.
Rubin’s (1987) taxonomy of LLS
Rubin (1987) provided one of the earliest classification system of LLS. Her taxonomy system consisted of two broad categories: direct contributory strategies to language learning, and indirect contributory strategies to language learning. These two categories were further divided into three primary categories: learning strategies under the direct category, and
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communicative and social strategies under the indirect system of learning. As illustrated in Figure 3 below, the direct strategies involve learning strategies that can be divided into cognitive and metacognitive strategies. In contrast, the indirect strategies involve communicative and social strategies.
Figure 3. Rubin’s classification of LLS (Source: Rubin, 1987).
Learning strategies are those that “contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affects learning directly” (Rubin, 1987, p. 23). These involve two categories: cognitive and metacognitive strategies.
1- Cognitive strategies concern the mental steps or actions employed in learning or problem solving that require analysis, transformation, or a synthesis of learning materials. Rubin suggested six cognitive learning strategies:
• Clarification/verification is the process of attempting to clarify and confirm the rules and regulations being learned in the target language;
• Guessing/inductive inferencing is the use of prior knowledge and available information to infer the meaning of new items;
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• Deductive reasoning is the process of seeking more general rules, such as finding organization and patterns in the target language;
• Practice refers to strategies such as repetition, imitation, and rehearsal that contribute to the storage and use of language, focusing on accuracy;
• Memorization is similar to practice, but focuses on storage and retrieval, rather than accuracy;
• Monitoring is thought to be a combination of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in which the learner directs their attention to linguistic and communicative errors, and then affects decisions about them.
2- Metacognitive strategies are related to knowledge concerning language learning, and the regulation of strategies involving self-directed learning through planning of learning, thinking about the learning process, monitoring of performance and comprehension, and the evaluation of results and the learning process.
- Communicative strategies include using one’s linguistic and communicative knowledge to maintain continuity in a conversation. They involve, for example, the use of synonyms, cognates, gestures, circumlocution, and repetition utterances. Employing communicative strategies may be helpful for learning, although they do not specifically contribute to direct learning, since their focus primarily concerns better communication, and they therefore simply assist learning.
- Social strategies allow learners to practise and expand their knowledge of the target language. They involve creating various opportunities to initiate communication in the target language, using facilities such as TV and radio, reading books, and attending parties where it is possible to practice. As with communicative strategies, social strategies do not contribute to direct learning, and instead are employed to create a suitable environment for practising language.
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O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990) taxonomy of LLS
Another frequently used LLS taxonomy is that developed and refined by O’Malley, Chamot, and their colleagues (Chamot, 1987; Chamot & Kupper, 1989; O'Malley & Chamot, 1990; O'Malley, Chamot, Stewner‐Manzanares, Kupper, & Russo, 1985) through a series of studies involving strategy instruction, think-aloud procedures, interviews, and classroom observation. O'Malley and Chamot (1990) developed three types of strategies: (1) cognitive strategies; (2) metacognitive strategies; and (3) social/affective strategies.
1- Cognitive strategies are mental operations for storing and retrieving information. They comprise repetition, resourcing, translation, grouping, note-taking, deduction, recombination, imagery, auditory representation, keyword method, elaboration, transfer, and inferencing;
2- Metacognitive strategies relate to self-management procedures that involve planning, directed attention, selective attention, self-monitoring, problem identification, and self-evaluation;
3- Social/affective strategies involve interacting with other people, or employing effective control to assist learning, and include asking questions for purposes of explanation, cooperation, and self-talk.
Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy of LLS
Based on a series of research projects, Oxford (1990) produced the most comprehensive and detailed classification of learning strategies, known as the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), which is a method for assessing learning strategies. This inventory has been used in a considerable amount of research in SLA. According to Oxford and Burry-Stock (1995), the SILL has been employed as one of the central data collection instruments in at least 40 to 50 major studies, involving approximately 8,000 to 8,500 language learners. This learning strategy system includes two major classes of direct and indirect strategies. Each class involves
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three groups: the first main class contains memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies, and the second main class contains social, metacognitive, and affective strategies.
Memory strategies consist of approaches that help to process, store, and relate new material to an existing knowledge system. Examples of these strategies include grouping, applying images and sounds (keyword method), and structured reviewing.
Cognitive strategies concern the common function of manipulation or transformation of the target language by the learner. Examples of these strategies are practising by repeating, using resources for receiving and sending messages, translation, and taking notes.
Compensation strategies involve different ways of compensating for missing knowledge. For instance, guessing intelligently by employing linguistic clues, switching to the mother tongue, and selecting the topic.
Metacognitive strategies involve a conscious overview of the learning process; decisions are made with regard to planning, monitoring, or evaluating the best ways to study. Examples of this group of strategies include paying attention, organizing, seeking practice opportunities, and self-monitoring.
Affective strategies exhibit how to manage one’s emotions, attitudes, and motivation in language learning. Among the affective strategies are making a positive statement, using a checklist, discussing feelings with someone else, using mediation, and rewarding oneself.
Social strategies involve learners using their interactions with others help to facilitate their learning, and to develop cultural understanding. Examples of these strategies include asking for clarification or verification, asking for correction, cooperating with others, and becoming aware of others’ thoughts and feelings.
The direct and indirect strategies within this taxonomy correspond to those of Rubin (1987). With regard to the nature of the present study, which concerns short- and long-term
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memory retention in both intentional and incidental vocabulary learning, it was possible to adopt two groups of direct strategies: memory and cognitive strategies.
Having discussed the most popular taxonomies of LLS, the following section focuses on specifically on VLS classification.
Schmitt’s (1997) VLS taxonomy
Schmitt (1997) claimed that the lack of attention given to VLS is due to the lack of a comprehensive list, or taxonomy, of VLS, and he therefore compiled a list of VLS, based on the following sources. First, vocabulary reference books and textbooks were examined to provide the majority of the initial strategies. Second, Japanese intermediate level students were asked to report on their methods of studying English vocabulary words. Third, several teachers were asked to review the list, and to add any strategies they had become aware of through their own experience. Schmitt’s taxonomy was then organized according to both Oxford’s (1990) system, and Cook and Mayer’s (1983) discovery and consolidation strategies. However, Schmitt only adopted four strategy groups from Oxford’s classification: social, memory, cognitive, and metacognitive, arguing that no category in Oxford’s system adequately described the kinds of strategies employed by individuals when discovering a new word’s meaning, without consulting other people. As such, he added the category of ‘determination strategies’ to the taxonomy.
The updated version of Schmitt’s taxonomy of VLS contained six large categories, incorporating 58 individual strategies. These were divided into discovery strategies, and consolidation strategies. Discovery strategies included (1) determination strategies, or discovery-determination, which analyse parts of speech by checking for L1 cognate, and guessing from textual context, word lists, and flash cards; and (2) social strategies, or discovery-social, which involve asking the teacher for L1 translations, asking classmates for meanings, and discovering meaning through group work activities. Consolidation strategies
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involve (1) social strategies that employ group work to learn or practice vocabulary. In other words, the social context enhances the motivation of the participants, while cooperative learning may involve preparing the participants for ‘team activities’ outside the classroom, where they have more time to use the manipulated language. Consolidation strategies also involve (2) memory strategies, which constitute relating the word to be retained with previously acquired knowledge, often employing some form of imagery, or grouping of pictures, related words, unrelated words, or orthographical forms; (3) Cognitive strategies, which encompass those similar to memorization, although they do not focus specifically on manipulative processing, instead employing repetition and mechanical means to study vocabulary, including word lists, flash cards, and note-taking; and (4) Metacognitive strategies, which involve the use of language media, self-administered words tests, using spaced word practice, skipping new words, and continuing to study new words over time. Table 3.4 presents the final versions of Schmitt’s VLS taxonomy.
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Table 3.4: Schmitt’s VLS taxonomy (Source: Schmitt, 1997, pp.207-208).
Strategies for discovering a new word's meaning DET Analyse part of speech.
DET Analyse affixes and roots. DET Check for L1 cognate.
DET Analyse any available pictures or gestures. DET Guess from textual context.
DET Bilingual dictionary. DET Monolingual dictionary. DET Word lists.
DET Flash cards.
SOC Ask teacher for an L1translation.
SOC Ask teacher for paraphrase or synonym of the new word. SOC Ask teacher for a sentence including the new word. SOC Ask classmates for meaning.
SOC Discover new meaning through group work activities. Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered SOC Study and practice meaning in a group.
SOC Teacher checks students’ flash cards or word lists for accuracy.
SOC Interact with native speakers.
MEM Study the word with a pictorial representation of its meaning.
MEM Image the word’s meaning.
MEM Connect the word with personal experience. MEM Associate the word with its coordinates.
MEM Connect the word with its synonyms and antonyms. MEM Use semantic maps.
MEM Use ‘scales’ for gradable adjectives. MEM Peg Method.
MEM Loci Method.
MEM Group words together to study them. MEM Group words together spatially on a page. MEM Use new words in sentences.
MEM Group words together within a storyline. MEM Study the spelling of a word.
MEM Study the sound of a word.
MEM Say new word aloud when studying. MEM Image word form.
MEM Underline initial letter of the word. MEM Configuration.
MEM Use keyword method.
MEM Affixes and roots (remembering). MEM Part of speech (remembering). MEM Paraphrase the word’s meaning.
101 MEM Use cognates in study.
MEM Learn the words of an idiom together. MEM Use physical action when learning a word. MEM Use semantic feature grids.
COG Verbal repetition. COG Written repetition. COG Word lists.
COG Flash cards.
COG Take notes in class.
COG Use the vocabulary section in text book. COG Listen to tape of word lists.
COG Put English labels on physical objects. COG Keep a vocabulary notebook.
MET Use English-language media (songs, movies, newscasts, etc.).
MET Test oneself with word tests. MET Use spaced word practice. MET Skip or pass new word.
MET Continue to study word over time.
Since the present study concerned intentional and incidental L2 vocabulary learning within short- and long-term word retention, the most relevant strategies available to the participants were memory and cognitive strategies.
Nation’s (2001, 2013) VLS taxonomy
Nation (2001) distinguished among the strategies relating to (1) the planning of vocabulary learning, including word choice, aspects of word knowledge strategies, and planning repetition; (2) the sources for finding information about words, including word analysis and context, consulting a reference source in L1 or L2, and using parallels in L1 or L2; and (3) Process strategies as ways of establishing vocabulary knowledge, including noticing, retrieving, and generating. Table 3.5 displays Nation’s VLS taxonomy.
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Table 3.5: Nation’s VLS taxonomy (Source: Nation, 2001, p.218).
General class of
strategies Type of strategies Planning: choosing what
to focus on and when to focus on it.
Choosing words.
Choosing the aspects of word knowledge. Choosing strategies.
Planning repetition. Sources: finding
information about words.
Analysing the word. Using context.
Consulting a reference source in L1 or L2. Using parallels in L1 and L2.
Processes: establishing knowledge.
Noticing. Retrieving. Generation.
A close examination of the third general class of Nation’s VLS classification processes strategies enabled the observation that these strategies appear to be the most closely related to the participants of the current study. Furthermore, an examination of the three sub-strategies of processing strategies of noticing, retrieving, and generating, revealed that these strategies may relate to the cognitive strategies included under the classification of consolidation strategies groups in Schmitt’s (1997) VLS taxonomy. According to Nation (2013), repetition is the first step toward deeper information processing. Moreover, both retrieval and generation can take several forms, for instance, receptive/productive, oral/visual, hidden/open, and contextualized/decontextualized, all of which engender better target word recall, and thus may refer, in part at least, to the memory and cognitive strategies classified by Schmitt (1997).