The Teacher: another Variable in the Use of Foreign Language Learning Strategies?

Abstract

The Bologna process aims to create the European Higher Education Framework (EHEF) by making academic degree and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe. The EHEF has different implications for university students, representing a change in emphasis from ‘teaching’ to ‘learning’, from a teacher-centred approach to a student-centred approach. In the last thirty years, researchers have discussed the role of teachers and students in the language learning-teaching process. Until then, the acquisition of a foreign language was focused on the teacher’s methodology. In the 80s and 90s, a series of student-centred approaches emerged, with the aim of making students more autonomous and independent in their learning. Language learning strategies are part of the tools used to improve language learning. There are different definitions and taxonomies of language learning strategies (Chamot (2001), Cohen (1998), Oxford (1990), O'Malley (1990) and Wenden & Rubin (1987) and there have been extensive descriptive studies on the different variables affecting the use of learning strategies including gender, previous linguistic knowledge, motivation, learning styles and/or second language versus foreign language acquisition. This paper aims to explore the instructor’s conscious or unconscious influence students’ use of learning strategies. To undertake this study, a group of teachers was asked to assess the 50 strategies presented in an adapted version of the Strategies Inventory Language Learning (Oxford 1990) according to their suitability and practicality for their students. The participants were lecturers from the French and English Department at Cádiz University. The languages included in the study were English, French and German for specific and general purposes.