Task 4
To what extent does he display an autonomous approach to his language learning?
Firstly, he is aware of the fact that he is still learning and that, for him, the language learning process is never finished.

A number of his comments show that he is aware of his own preferred style of learning. For example, he claims that his Greek teacher 'didn't know about language teaching' and threw the students in at the deep-end and that this is 'no way to learn a language'. He is showing here that he does not respond well to this particular teaching approach. He is also aware that he is a highly visual learner, and is assertive enough to persuade the teacher to let him learn in his own way, by writing things down.

He is aware of his purpose for learning a language. For example, he wanted to learn Chinese to see 'whether it was learnable'. He adapts his approach to learning according to his learning purpose.

What strategies does he use?
Metacognitive strategies:

• Directed attention: He is aware of his own way of learning and uses those aspects of the lesson that correspond to this way of learning.
• Self-management: He seeks out the best ways of learning that are available in Birmingham.
• Advance preparation: He knows why he wants to learn, and what he wants to get out of his lessons. Sometimes he is learning because he is going to live in the country where the target language is spoken. At other times, he is only interested in the internal structure of the language. This awareness is reflected in the various approaches that he takes to his language learning.
• Problem identification: He knows that he is not particularly good at memorizing decontextualized lists of vocabulary, so he develops strategies (such as having notes on his knee) in order not to hold up the class.

Cognitive strategies:

• Translation: He uses his first language to help him understand the target language.
• Visualization: He pictures the written words as he hears them.
• Transfer: When discussing how to cook noodles in Columbia, he mentioned that there were lots of points of comparison between noodle-cooking techniques in Britain and in Columbia. This provides opportunities for discussion, as well as opportunities to compare words and expressions that are used, in English and in Spanish, to describe these techniques.

Social mediation:

• Socialization: He throws himself in at the deep-end when in the target language community. In Columbia, he read newspapers, listened to the radio and watched soaps. He is particularly aware of the language learning opportunities provided by these types of media. For example, he says that the soaps provided 'stock situations' (presumably enabling him to guess the meaning of new words from the context), lots of repetition and emotional exposure (which, again, is a strong contextual clue).

What advice might you give him with regard to his language learning strategies?
He says that he doesn't like learning vocabulary for the sake of it, and that it makes no sense to learn lists of vocabulary for which he has no use. Here, you might suggest that he creates his own purpose for learning vocabulary, and that he uses the vocabulary in appropriate contexts. For example, he might like to communicate with someone in the target language culture about an issue discussed in class, or he might write to a magazine in the target language. He could prepare a short comment on the issue and submit it to a discussion list in the target language, thus getting feedback from native speakers of the language.

At one point he says that he cannot immerse himself in a Chinese-speaking environment in Birmingham. Here you might suggest that he visits Chinatown, and orders a meal in one of the restaurants there, in Chinese. He could also shop in the supermarkets there, or go into one of the video shops and enquire about the availability of Chinese videos with English subtitles.

When he says that his Greek teacher 'didn't know about language teaching' and threw the students in at the deep-end and that this is 'no way to learn a language', you might suggest to him that, for some people, this is a good way to learn a language, and that his negative reaction to the approach is a result of his own particular learning style (you will find more about learning styles in section 12.3).

There are many strategies in O'Malley and Chamot's taxonomy that he did not mention. You might like to mention some of these strategies to him to see whether or not he finds them worthwhile.

Task 7
Type A: Analytical
The particular cognitive strengths of these learners lead them to analyze carefully and show great interest in structure, but also to put a great deal of value on showing their independence by doing these things themselves, independently.

Other strategies favoured by this type of learner might include metacognitive strategies such as planning, self-management, advance preparation and self-evaluation, cognitive strategies such as resourcing, deduction and induction, elaboration, inferencing and social mediation strategies such as self-talk and self-reinforcement.

Type B: Concrete
These learners tend to use very direct means of taking in and processing information. They are people-oriented, in a spontaneous, unpremeditated way. They prefer real conversation and may react negatively to the artificial nature of some classroom 'conversation'.

Other strategies favoured by this type of learner might include metacognitive strategies such as directed attention and problem identification, cognitive strategies such as grouping and note-taking, and social mediation strategies such as questioning for clarification, cooperation and socialization.

Type C: Communicative
These learners have a desire for a communicative and social learning approach, probably in part because they feel that this would be most useful for their needs in relation to language learning. They also have a certain amount of autonomy and are prepared to work at the mechanical aspects of language learning as well. Willing found communicative language learners to be the most successful. This is probably because they see the importance of both form and meaning.

Other strategies favoured by this type of learner might include metacognitive strategies such as directed attention and problem identification, cognitive strategies such as resourcing, induction/deduction, compensation, elaboration, and social mediation strategies such as cooperation and socialization.

Type D: Authority-oriented
Because cognitively these people are not predisposed to actively organize information, they probably perceive that they need the teacher's direction in the provision of explanations and patterns to follow. Willing found authority-oriented language learners to be the least successful. This is probably because they are somewhat lacking in focus and tend to rely too heavily on the teacher to provide direction.

Other strategies favoured by this type of learner might include cognitive strategies such as repetition, note-taking and translation.