Second Language Learning and Language Teaching Website
Vivian Cook   SLA topics index  

Key Strategies

achievement strategies: a general approach in which you try achieve your goal by finding ways of expressing what you want to say

avoidance strategies: a general approach in which you shift or dodge your goal in speaking, say by changing topic

cognitive strategies: specific conscious ways of tackling learning.

communication strategies are usually seen in SLA research as ways of solving a difficulty in communication, i.e. as fall-back strategies to be used when things go wrong rather than all the time.

compensatory strategies are ways of getting round the fact you don’t know an L2 word in one way or another

conceptual archistrategy means trying to convey the meaning of a word in another way rather than say its form.

cooperative strategies involve interacting with someone else in various ways

good language learner (GLL) strategies are learning strategies employed by people known to be good at L2 learning

learning strategy: ‘a choice that the learner makes while learning or using the second language that affects learning: the learner’s goal-directed actions for improving language proficiency or achievement, completing a task, or making learning more efficient, more effective, and easier’ (Oxford, 2011)

linguistic archistrategy: falling back on existing linguistic knowledge, say the first language or other languages you know

metacognitive strategies involve planning your learning at a general level rather than specific techniques

social strategies involve interacting with other people in various ways