APPLYING INDIRECT STRATEGIES TO THE FOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS

A. Centering your learning

I. Metacognitive
strategies

B. Arranging and planning your learning

C. Evaluating your learning

A. Lowering your anxiety

II. Affective
strategies

B. Encouraging yourself
C. Taking your emotional temperature

A. Asking questions
III. Social
strategies

B. Cooperating with others

C. Empathizing with others

Fig. 1 - Indirect Strategies to Be Applied to the 4 Language Skills

Indirect strategies work best when used in combination with direct strategies. By definition, direct strategies
involve the new language directly, whereas indirect strategies provide indirect support for language learning
through focusing, planning, evaluating, seeking opportunities, controlling anxiety, increasing cooperation
and empathy, and other means.
The three sets of metacognitive strategies displayed in Figure 2 (Centering Your Learning, Arranging and
Planning Your Learning, and Evaluating Your Learning) are useful in developing all the language skills.
Centering Your Learning
Finding a focus or center for learning is important no matter what the language skill. Without appropriate
strategies for centering, language learners face merely confusion and noise.
Overviewing and Linking with Already Known Material (A) - This strategy involves previewing the basic
principles and/or material (including new vocabulary) for an upcoming language activity, and linking these
with what the learners already know. Exactly how this strategy is used depends in part on the skill level of
the learners. With higher-level students, you can be less directive in helping them learn to use this strategy.
Regardless of the students' level, let students express their own linkages between new material and what they
already know, rather than pointing out all the associations yourself. Following are examples of the
overviewing/linking strategy applied to each of the four language skills. Although the target language is
sometimes shown in these examples, the main focus is on the act of overviewing/linking, not on how the
language is used in that act.

1. Overviewing and linking with already known material

A. Centering your learning

2. Paying attention
3. Delaying speech production to focus on listening

1. Finding out about language learning

2. Organizing

I. Metacognitive ,
strategies

3. Setting goals and objectives

B. Arranging and
planning your learning

4. Identifying the purpose of a language task

(purposeful listening/reading/speaking/writing

5.

Planning for a language task

6.

Seeking practice opportunities

C. Evaluating your learning

1.
Self-monitoring

2.
Self-evaluating

Fig. 2 - Metacognitive Strategies to Be Applied to the Four Language Skills

Preparing for a listening exercise, Ricky and his classmates preview French vocabulary about irritation and
exasperation, like C'est insupportable, inadmissible, inacceptable, rvoltant, dgoutant, incroyable!, a
m'nerve, and so on, because they know their upcoming task will be to check off these phrases as they hear
them on the tape. As they preview, Ricky and his friends demonstrate each expression in the context of a
sentence, add some other relevant French expressions they already know, and finally compare the French
expressions for irritation with those in their own language.
Anh, a refugee learning English, sees that the next story to be read is about workers in a big city. She
overviews the material and considers how the troubles of the workers in the story relate to her own struggles
to get a good job. Mac overviews the upcoming Russian lesson in the grammar book concerning seasons
and times of day. He rapidly sees that the handling of seasons and times is different in Russian and English,
as in the contracted Russian expressions lyetom (in the summer), utrom (in the morning), among others.
In preparing for an Italian role-play about a family going to Naples on vacation, Katalin and her small
group create role descriptions of each of the family members. Then they discuss their best and worst family
vacations and identify ways in which an Italian vacation might be different from their own experiences.
Getting ready to do a writing assignment, Saskia does 10 minutes of "nonstop writing," a kind of written
brainstorming in which ideas are not censored. At other times, Saskia brainstorms out loud with a small
group or participates in debates to generate ideas for writing. Such activities help her bring out her own
existing ideas and start expanding them as preparation for the future writing task.
In any of the skill areas, vocabulary building can be an important part of the overviewing/linking strategy.
Students can help each other create and expand lists of relevant vocabulary for an upcoming language task,
putting those expressions into context and considering similar (or contrasting) expressions in the native
language.
Paying Attention (A) - The strategy of paying attention is necessary for all of the language skills. This
strategy involves two modes, directed attention and selective attention. Directed attention (almost
equivalent to "concentration") means deciding generally or globally to pay attention to the task and avoid
irrelevant distractors. In contrast, selective attention involves deciding in advance to notice particular
details. Encourage directed attention by providing interesting activities and materials, reducing classroom
distractions, reminding students to focus, and rewarding them when they do so. Facilitate selective
attention by giving learners an incomplete chart to fill out, a table or checklist on which to mark details, or
some other activity which requires attention to specifics.
Both of these attention modes, directed and selective, are important for listening. For instance, Murray's
mind begins to wander when he is listening to someone talk in the new language, so he consciously directs
his attention to the conversation. In a Spanish-language simulation about catching a plane at the airport,
Reinhardt quickly learns that he must notice the announcements about times of arrival and departure for his
plane. Janos selectively notes expressions as he hears them, using a checklist provided by the teacher.
In reading, Emily decides to pay close attention to the way characters in her German short story bring
conversations to a close and how they use polite phrases. In reading a Tolstoy novel in Russian, Chloe
focuses on the names and tries to remember who's who. Bertolt decides to focus on ways in which the
French past tense forms are used in front-page articles in Le Monde.
Full participation in spoken communication demands directing attention to the general context and content.
Learners can also pay selective attention to particular elements of the speech act, such as pronunciation,
register, style, physical distance from other speakers, grammar, and vocabulary. For instance, Lorraine, a
student of Russian, decides to engage herself fully in the conversation with her Russian friends, and in the
conversation she intends to pay special attention to using the correct forms of nouns and pronouns after
prepositions. In his oral report in German, Alain concentrates on making his spoken argument as logical as
possible. Rifka tries to set a melancholy mood as she tells her story in English.
Writing in the new language, like writing in the native language, requires directed attention. For instance,
Sangeeta determines she will concentrate whole-heartedly on writing a letter in her new language, Chinese,
blocking out noise and interruptions until she is finished. For writing, selective attention may mean
deciding in advance which aspects of the writing to focus on at any given time, like structure, content, tone,
sentence construction, vocabulary, punctuation, or audience needs. Especially for beginners, it is hard to
pay attention to all these elements at once. Here are some examples of selective attention applied to
writing. In writing his French paper Karl keeps constantly in mind the informational needs of the reader
and tries to structure the paper to address those needs. Marijke decides to focus on phraseology in writing
her article in Spanish. Juan, fresh from a small group discussion, wants to make sure his English essay
includes all of the key points from the discussion. These three students are focusing attention on specific
aspects of their writing.

Delaying Speech Production to Focus on Listening (L, S) - This strategy relates to listening and speaking
rather than reading and writing. You do not have to teach or encourage this strategy, because many learners
do it automatically by postponing their speaking in the target language for hours, days, weeks, or possibly
even months. This phenomenon is often viewed as a way of focusing on listening comprehension before
students feel comfortable enough to speak. The speech delay may be total (no target language speech) or
partial (for instance, saying only stock phrases but no creative sentences). The delay occurs because
listening is more rapidly developed than speaking, and because speaking seems more threatening to many
students. Instructional theorists stress the importance of allowing a "silent period" for all learners, and
various language teaching methods reflect this emphasis, but research evidence concerning the significance
and optimal length of the silent period is mixed. Help build solid listening comprehension skills, and
encourage students to speak as soon as they are ready, without any externally imposed delay.
Here are some examples of delaying speech production. Judy lets others speak in her German class, while
she repeats silently because she does not yet feel confident enough to speak. Aleta, a learner of Russian,
says routine phrases such as dobry den' (good day), and do svidaynia (good-bye), but she does not yet say
anything more than these standard phrases. Jon, a traveler in Israel, decides he is ready to try pronouncing
the names of the items on the menu, but he feels unable to speak the language in normal conversations with
Israelis.

Arranging and Planning Your Learning

The six strategies for arranging and planning are helpful in developing all language skills. These concern
discovering the nature of language learning, organizing to learn, establishing aims, considering task
purposes, planning for tasks, and looking for chances to practice.
Finding Out About Language Learning (A) This strategy means uncovering what is involved in language
learning. Learners often do not know much about the mechanics of language learning, although such
knowledge would make them more effective learners. Books about language learning are a good source of
information [4]. Help your students by allowing them to talk about their language learning problems, ask
questions, and share ideas with each other about effective strategies they have tried. Taking class time to
talk about the learning process will reap rewards for the students [5]. All four skills are aided by this
strategy, especially if time is allotted to talk about special problems in each of the skills.
Organizing (A) This strategy includes a variety of tools, such as creating the best possible physical
environment, scheduling well, and keeping a language learning notebook. First, having the right physical
environment is important for every language skill. Listening and reading especially re quire a comfortable,
peaceful setting without too much background noise. Help establish a good classroom environment, and
encourage your students to create an appropriate setting for learning at home.
Second, assist your students in developing practical weekly schedules for language learning, with plenty of
time devoted to outside-of-class practice in the language skills which are most needed. Note that certain
skills like reading and writing are, for many students, best developed with un broken stretches of time.
Relaxation time should be built into the schedule, too, because students can become exhausted with too
much work, leading to lowered performance.
Finally, a language learning notebook is an excellent organizational aid to learners. The notebook is useful
for writing down new target language expressions or structures and the contexts in which they were encountered, class assignments, goals and objectives, strategies which work well, things to remember, and so
on. Encourage your students to obtain a language learning notebook and organize it for the best use.
Setting Goals and Objectives (A) Goals and objectives are expressions of students' aims for language
learning. Students without aims do not know where they are going, so they might never get there! Goals
and objectives should be noted in the language learning notebook, along with deadlines for accomplishing
them and an indication as to whether those deadlines were met. Goals are generally considered to be longrange aims referring to the outcome of many months or even years. Objectives are short-term aims for
hours, days, or weeks. Aid your students in determining goals and objectives in each of the skill areas,
realizing that different students will have different aims. In the examples below, some of the aims reflect
full-blown communicative competence, while others reflect relatively minimal skill development.
Some possible goals for listening might be to attain an advanced listening proficiency rating, to be an
effective listener in occasional conversations with native speakers, to understand the language well enough
for foreign travel, or to be able to hold a job that depends on skilled, in-depth listening. Examples of
listening objectives might be as follows. Betty will tune in to the Spanish-language news this evening and
will try to understand at least half of it. Bill will visit his French-speaking uncle twice this week and work
to improve his listening comprehension. Alden plans to listen to a Chinese tape on the way to work daily
for the next 3 weeks.
Reading goals might be to become proficient enough to read professional materials in a technical area, to
read magazines or newspapers for pleasure, to read short stories with ease, to understand signposts in the
foreign country, to reach a superior reading proficiency level, or to pass the reading exam required for
graduate school entrance. Reading objectives might look like these. Johann decides to master the Cyrillic
alphabet by Friday, so he can proceed with learning simple Russian words. Kathleen wants to learn a set of
vocabulary words this afternoon, so it will be easier for her to read the Italian story tonight. Muriel, who is
learning French, plans to finish the Camus novel by the end of the month.

Speaking goals might be to develop sufficient speaking skill to survive in a second language environment,
to communicate occasionally with acquaintances who speak the target language, to get a job requiring daily
spoken communication in the language, to negotiate foreign travel arrangements, and the like. Sample
speaking objectives might be as follows. Sonya decides to master the common German greetings before the
next class meets. Manning plans to practice the Russian past tense verb endings this week until he can say
them perfectly. Alfonso will speak English for half an hour with his teacher and will apply some of the new
conversation management techniques he has just learned.
Goals for writing might include developing enough writing skill to maintain correspondence with foreign
friends, to succeed in school or university courses conducted entirely in the target language, to write
acceptable business letters, to write scientific articles publishable in international journals, or to pass the
language course. Writing objectives might be like the following. Marianne wants to finish her essay within
the next few days. Helmuth wants to share the first draft of his autobiography with Wilhelm by the following
Tuesday. Edward hopes to meet his early and intermediate writing deadlines, so that he can avoid a "crash"
writing effort at the end.
Identifying the Purpose of a Language Task (A) This strategy involves determining the task purpose an
act useful for all language skills. (However, carrying out that purpose is the subject of various direct
strategies, such as analyzing expressions, guessing, and practicing.) The strategy of considering the purpose
is an important one, because knowing the purpose for doing something enables learners to channel their
energy in the right direction. Help your students understand the purpose by allowing them to discuss the
purpose before doing the task itself.
Figuring out the purpose for listening or speaking is made easier by understanding the kind of speech being
used for instance, casual speech, deliberate speech, reading aloud from a written text, and speaking from a
memorized script. Here are some examples of considering the purposes of listening and speaking tasks.
When he meets his Italian-speaking friends for a casual lunch on Tuesday, Pierre's chief communication
purposes are to have fun, find out how his friends are, and tell them what he has been doing. Juana, who has
a job interview in English, has more serious purposes in mind. Her listening purpose is to understand key
questions, and her speaking purpose is to respond appropriately and convince the interviewer that she is
qualified for the job. In listening to a lecture in Polish, Michael has as his main purpose to understand and
take notes on the most salient ideas. Going to a German-language suspense film, Leonida and Pasha have the
purpose of using the visuals to help them enhance their understanding of the language and the plot.
Meredith's purpose is to ask for information about Nice-to-Paris train schedules and about overnight sleeping
accommodation, and to understand that information well enough to purchase an appropriate ticket.
Classroom listening and speaking exercises need to become more like these authentic communication tasks,
so that task purposes are clear and realistic.
Reading activities are also enhanced by having a clear purpose. Teach your students to look for the purpose
in light of the situation and the type of material. Various formats suggest different purposes for reading:
looking quickly through the piece to get the main idea or gist (skimming), searching rapidly for a particular
piece of information (scanning), reading a longer text for pleasure (extensive reading), and reading a shorter
text carefully and in detail (intensive reading). Following are some examples of reading with a purpose.
Myra races through the news article to understand the key idea. Caroline pages rapidly through the German
telephone book to find the phone number of the cinema. Sandor relishes the English novel as he reads slowly
for pleasure. Bridget reads a Spanish editorial carefully and in detail, trying to separate the assumptions and
opinions from the facts.
The purpose of a writing task is related to the type of written format and the needs of the potential audience.
Language learners will have a great advantage if they know some possible purposes for writing, such as
providing factual information, convincing the audience of the validity of a point, persuading someone to act
or think in a certain way, entertaining the audience, making the reader feel an emotion deeply, or evoking a
certain mood (light, happy, serious, somber, tense, fearful). Here are some examples of writing with a
purpose. Writing a letter to her American penpal, Danni, Sibella includes a long list of things that Danni
might do in Germany when she comes to visit; the purpose is to make a clear, factual list that will enable her
friend to choose among alternatives. Walt wants to write a funny story in Spanish to entertain his classmates.
Karen's purpose is to write a serious report in Japanese about the influence of Japanese investments in North
America. Gert, a German speaker, is making a written list of duties in English for his summer assistant from
Britain, who has just arrived in Munich and does not yet know much German.
Planning for a Language Task (A) Regardless of the language skill(s) involved, this strategy always
involves identifying the general nature of the task, the specific requirements of the task, the resources
available within the learner, and the need for further aids. These four steps can be illustrated for each of the
language skills.
Felicia, a student of Russian, wants to listen to the Radio Moscow news. In planning for this task she first
identifies the nature of the task that is, listening to a news program that is likely to be mainly political and
economic. Then she figures out the probable elements, like nuclear arms, diplomatic talks, warships,
American and Russian attitudes, economic change. Next she checks her own internal resources and decides
she knows most of the political words but not the economic terminology. Therefore, she looks up terms
which she might need but does not yet know. Of course, she cannot determine everything in advance, but she
can anticipate and prepare for many of the topics and thus become better prepared for the listening activity.
The same steps are used for a reading task. Janette decides to read an article about fashion in the German
women's magazine Quelle. She figures this task will require her to recognize and understand a variety of
words related to women's attire, such as clothing items, styles, and colors. She considers whether she has the
needed vocabulary, realizes she knows a few fashion-related words, and assumes she can guess many more
expressions from the pictures and the text. To help her if she gets completely stumped, Janette decides to
keep a dictionary handy.

Here is an example of preparing for a spoken presentation in the target language. In the first step,
describing the nature and purpose, Christoph decides to talk in Spanish about Mexican education in the
year 2020. The next step is identifying the language elements needed for instance, the future tense,
comparatives, and vocabulary for primary and secondary schools, universities, vocational schools,
education ministries, and so on. Christoph then checks whether he has the necessary knowledge and finally
works to develop any missing elements.
In using this strategy for a writing task, Livia realizes first that she wants to write a letter to a friend
overseas. Next she decides her letter will require a range of specific language functions (like asking
questions, describing, and explaining), a number of structures (such as past, present, future, and
conditional), and vocabulary that is adequate to talk about personal things to her friend. After considering
whether she has the necessary knowledge, she seeks additional resources by asking a native speaker for
help with certain colloquial expressions. (In a longer piece of writing, the planning steps would occur
repeatedly, with plans made and remade as ideas evolve.)
Seeking Practice Opportunities (A) -Language learners must seek out, or create, opportunities to practice
any and all of the four language skills. If students want to reach moderate to high proficiency, classroom
time cannot usually provide adequate practice opportunities. Therefore, students will need to find
additional chances to practice the language and must realize it is up to them to search for these occasions.
This strategy underscores students' responsibility to generate their own opportunities to practice. Challenge
your students to look for such chances whenever and wherever possible.
Here are some examples of seeking practice opportunities. Viva, who is learning Spanish, decides to
practice her listening comprehension skills by listening to popular songs on the radio. Sachi actively seeks
out new American friends to talk with at the local community club. Bob decides to submit his name and
address to the German magazine's pen-pal list so that he can begin a correspondence in German. Eva takes
out a subscription to Le Monde as a way of pushing herself to practice reading French every day. Each of
these examples involves a conscious decision to look for or create new chances to practice the target
language.

Evaluating Your Learning

The two strategies in this set relate to monitoring one's own errors and evaluating one's overall progress.
Both are useful in all the skill areas.
Self-Monitoring (A) This strategy does not center as much on using the language as it does on students'
conscious decision to monitor that is, notice and correct their own errors in any of the language
skills. Encourage your students to write down their most significant difficulties in their language learning
notebooks and try to eliminate them. In considering a particular faux pas, learners can often benefit from
trying to determine the reason why it was made. Tracking the cause of the problem, such as
overgeneralization from a native language rule, or inappropriate verbatim translation, helps learners
understand more about the new language or about their own use of learning strategies. However, error
analysis even this positive kind must not be too strongly emphasized, or else learners will become
overly self-conscious about their performance.
Although monitoring one's own errors is often thought to be used mainly in speaking and writing, it is
frequently used for listening and reading as well. One study reported that self-monitoring is extensively
used by effective listeners, who check whether they correctly understand the meaning of whole chunks of
the message, monitor any confusion they encounter, and correct inaccurate guesses. A similar process
occurs in reading. Readers often skim or scan, make guesses about what will come next, and correct any
misinterpretations as they move ahead. Here are some specific cases of self-monitoring for listening and
reading. Lyla is talking with Uwe in German, and she misinterprets what he says about the age of his
nephews. Later she corrects her understanding of their ages as Uwe continues to talk about the nephews'
school activities. Briggi is reading a detective novel in English. She guesses whenever she does not fully
understand the details of the plot, like who is where at what time, but she subsequently corrects her
understanding as she gets more facts.
Self-monitoring is important for speaking, but students should not become obsessed with correcting every
speech difficulty, because this would kill communication. Without expecting to be perfect, learners should
notice and rectify their important speech problems, such as those which are so cially offensive or which
cause confusion. Here are some examples of self-monitoring of speech. Phyllis notices that the French
school director is offended when she uses just a single-word response instead of saying the more polite
expression, Oui, Madame la Directrice, so Phyllis quickly corrects herself. Hans, a German learning
English, transfers am Telefon directly into English, as in the incorrect statement, I promised it to you at the
telephone. Carlos, a Spanish speaker, makes English speech errors like I want to explain you the problem.
The difficulties of Hans and Carlos are not serious or offensive at the beginning stage of language learning,
so they might not need immediate correction although more experienced language learners should know
and use the correct forms. Encourage your students to keep track of and correct their important speech
problems.
For writing, avoid teachers' frequent practices of appropriating the whole error-monitoring function and
splashing fountains of red ink over students' compositions. These practices can lead to a sense of defeat for
both you and your students. Learners can help each other monitor their writing difficulties without your
constant intervention. If the classroom climate is sufficiently nonthreatening, peers can read and comment
on each others' written drafts. Mark the most important writing problems, or certain kinds of problems, and
then ask students to figure out the correct forms with help from their friends and from reference books.
Encourage students to use published checklists to monitor their own errors in spelling, punctuation,

vocabulary, organization, content, and tone. Here is an example of self-monitoring in writing. Alberto, an
Italian student of English, is writing a letter to Beth, his English-speaking friend, in order to make plans for
a trip. Alberto mistakenly uses an Italian pensare-type construction when he writes, "We think to come by
car." In rereading the letter, he realizes this is an inappropriate construction and changes it to: "We are
thinking of coming by car."
Self-Evaluating (A) This strategy involves gauging either general language progress or progress in any of
the four skills. Global impressions are often faulty, and the more specific the learner is in self-evaluating,
the more accurate the evaluation. Of course, any self-evaluation must take into consideration the difficulty
of the situation or the language. Checklists, diaries, or journals can help learners evaluate their progress, at
the same time as getting in touch with feelings. For instance, an advanced ESL student wrote in his journal,
"My research paper has turned out decently. . . . I definitely failed to make the topic enchanting but I hope
I described it satisfactorily and showed my point of view . . . Life is blossoming again".
Following are some ideas about how to evaluate progress in each of the four skills.
Listeners can check with the speaker to determine whether what they understood is really accurate. They
can estimate what percentage of a conversation has been understood (for instance, less than half, more than
half, almost all). They can assess whether they are at the stage of listening comprehension they expected or
wanted to be at this time. Students can consider whether their listening has improved since last week or last
month, based on what they understand.
As applied to reading, self-evaluating might consist of learners' assessing their proficiency in a variety of
ways. For instance, learners might consider whether their speed or comprehension is acceptable at this
point. They might estimate whether their reading skills have improved since the last check. They might
consider what proportion of a reading passage they understand, and whether this represents any sign of
progress.
In speaking, there are many ways to self-evaluate. Learners may record their own speech on a tape recorder
and then listen to the recording to find out how they sound compared with native speakers. During a faceto-face interaction or a telephone conversation, they can make a rough count of the number of times they
are asked to repeat something. Learners can also pay attention to the responses of native-speaking listeners
when they speak: Do they appear confused or comprehending, upset or calm, alienated or involved?
Learners can ask themselves whether, given such signs, their speaking seems to have improved since last
month/year.
Finally, learners can learn to use self-evaluating effectively for writing. They can review samples of their
own work, note the style and content of the writing, and assess progress over time. They can compare their
writing with the writing of more proficient language users and with that of their peers. Some important
criteria are sentence length, complexity of thought, power of arguments, written organization, accuracy, and
social appropriateness.

APPLYING AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO THE FOUR SKILLS

Using progressive relaxation, deep breathing, or meditation

Using music
Using laughter

Making positive statements

II. Affective
strategies

Taking risks wisely

Rewarding yourself

1. Listening to your body

2. Using a checklist
C. Taking your emotional
temperature

3. Writing a language learning diary

4. Discussing your feelings with someone else

Fig. 3 - Affective Strategies to Be Applied to the Four Language Skills

Lowering Your Anxiety

In any of the four skills, anxiety can play a strong role, short-circuiting potential learning. Speaking the
new language often causes the greatest anxiety of all, but some learners also experience tremendous anxiety
when listening, reading, or writing the new language. The following strategies help learners to lower their
anxiety, no matter which skill or combination of skills is involved.
Using Progressive Relaxation, Deep Breathing, or Meditation (A) These techniques are all effective
anxiety reducers, according to scientific biofeedback research. Progressive relaxation involves alternately
tensing and relaxing all the major muscle groups, one at a time. Deep breathing is often an accompaniment
to progressive relaxation. It involves breathing low from the diaphragm, not just from the lungs. The simple
act of deep breathing brings greater calmness almost immediately. Meditation means focusing on a mental
image or sound to center one's thoughts, and it, too, helps to reduce the anxiety that often dogs language
learners. All of these techniques can be used in the classroom or just about anywhere else. Learners do not
need to lie down or assume yoga poses to benefit from any of these techniques. A few minutes of relaxation
in the classroom or at home using progressive relaxation, deep breathing, or meditation will help learners
accomplish their learning tasks more peacefully and more efficiently. Train your students to use these
techniques.
Specific examples of this strategy are as follows. Daniela, who is learning German, is frightened by the
prospect of the upcoming Goethe Institute examinations, which are known to be tough but fair. She relaxes
by using deep breathing techniques before entering the testing room. Libby, a student of Spanish, uses
progressive relaxation and meditation for a few minutes before giving a talk in Spanish.
Using Music (A) This strategy is useful before any stressful language task. Five or 10 minutes of soothing
music can calm learners and put them in a more positive mood for learning. Suggestopedia is based partly
on the use of baroque music to alter students' moods and mental states. The powerfully relaxing capabilities
of music cannot be denied in the language learning context. As an illustration of using music to relax, Flint
listens to his favorite, most upbeat country music before practicing Russian. Sara relaxes with classical
music before her German study sessions.
Using Laughter (A) Laughter is the best medicine, as the saying goes. The use of laughter is potentially
able to cause important biochemical changes to enhance the immune system, so many hospitals are now
using "laughter therapy" to help patients relax. Language learners, too, can benefit from laughter's anxietyreducing powers. Laughter brings pleasure to the classroom. Laughter is not just the result of teachercentered joke-telling or Rassias-type dramatics; it can be stimulated by many kinds of classroom activities,
such as role-plays, games, and active exercises in which learners are allowed to play as they learn. Laughter
is part of a general atmosphere of enjoyment for students of all ages. As an example, Marguerita reads
comic books in French for relief, relaxation, and language practice. Ingmar tells jokes and laughs with his
friends, so that he can unwind and study more effectively. Grace enjoys doing comical role-plays in class.
Encouraging Yourself
Teaching students some self-encouragement strategies will pay off in all of the skill areas. Language
learners often need to find ways to keep their spirits up and persevere as they try to understand or produce
the new language.
Making Positive Statements (A) The strategy of making positive statements can improve each of the four
language skills. Demonstrate the kinds of positive statements your students can privately make to
themselves. Urge them to say those statements regularly, especially before a potentially difficult language
activity. Here are some examples:
I understand a lot more of what is said to me now. I'm a good listener (reader, speaker, writer). I pay
attention well.
I enjoy understanding the new language.
I can get the general meaning without knowing every word.
I'm reading faster than I was a month ago.
People understand me better now.
I had a very successful conversation today.
I can tell my fluency is increasing.

I enjoy writing in the new language.

Writing helps me discover what's on my mind.
I don't have to know everything I'm going to write before I start.
I'm confident and secure about my progress.
I'm taking risks and doing well.
It's OK if I make mistakes.
Everybody makes mistakes; I can learn from mine!
When used before or during a language activity, positive statements are for self-encouragement. For
example, before presenting a talk in Japanese, Rose says to herself, "I'm sure I can get my point across,
even if I make errors." When used after a very good performance, such statements also take on a selfreward function (see the strategy of rewarding yourself, described below). For instance, Udo says, "I
really did a good job this time!"
Taking Risks Wisely (A) This strategy involves a conscious decision to take reasonable risks regardless of
the possibility (or probability) of making mistakes or encountering difficulties. It also suggests the need to
carry out this decision in action that is, employing direct strategies to use the lan guage despite fear of
failure. This strategy does not imply wild, unnecessary risks, like guessing at random or saying anything
at all regardless of its degree of relevance. Risk taking must therefore be tempered by good judgment.
Deciding to be a wise risk taker may require the supportive use of other affective strategies, such as
making positive statements or rewarding yourself.
For example, Grigori decides to prod himself to speak in his beginning English class, though he is afraid
of sounding like a fool, but he intends to say something sensible and not just blurt out something
irrelevant. Mohammad decides to guess at meanings in the article he is reading, even though his guesses
might not always be right.
Rewarding Yourself (A) Learners often expect to be rewarded only by external sources, such as praise
from the teacher, a good grade on a test, or a certificate of accomplishment. However, learners need more
reward than they can get externally. They also need it more regularly and more often. Some of the most
potent and useful rewards come from within the learners themselves. Therefore, learners need to discover
how to reward themselves for good work in language learning. Naturally, self-reward relates to all four
language skills. Rewards differ from one person to another and must be personally meaningful to the
individual.
Rewards need not be tangible or visible. They can also come from the very act of doing a good job.
Students can learn to relish their own good performance. For instance, they can begin to value more
highly a well-crafted composition in the new language, or a conversation in which the learner participates
fully and communicates as well as possible. Positive statements, when used after a particularly good
performance on the part of the learner, can become a form of self-reward, as seen above.
Here are some examples of more tangible rewards. Hildegarde rewards herself for good work by
watching a favorite TV show. Elgard eats a big pizza. Lindsay goes out shopping. Lois calls up a friend
for a long chat. Frederick goes to hear a beautiful opera. Ernie takes his family out for a drive by the lake.
These are potent rewards for the individuals involved.
Taking Your Emotional Temperature
This set of strategies for affective self-assessment involves getting in touch with feelings, attitudes, and
motivations through a variety of means, language learners need to be in touch with these affective aspects,
so that they can begin to exert some control over them. The strategies described here enable learners to
notice their emotions, avert negative ones, and make the most of positive ones.
Listening to Your Body (A) One of the simplest but most often ignored strategies for emotional selfassessment is paying attention to what the body says. Performance in all four language skills is affected
by the learner's physical state. Negative feelings like tension, anxiety, fear, and outrage tighten the
muscles and affect all the organs of the body. Positive feelings like happiness, pleasure, contentment, and
excitement can have either a stimulating or a calming effect, but certainly an effect that is discernibly
different from the effect of negative feelings. Language learners need to learn to pay attention to these
physical sensations frequently. "Tuning in" to the body can be a first step toward greater emotional selfunderstanding and control. For example, Regina feels her stomach knotting up and her legs going weak
just before she has to talk with a native speaker of Thai, so she knows she is nervous and decides to do
something about it. Pardee, a learner of German, has a headache, realizes that it is coming from tension
about performing in German, and determines that he will relax a bit more every day.
Using a Checklist (A) A checklist helps learners in a more structured way to ask themselves questions
about their own emotional state, both in general and in regard to specific language tasks and skills.
Learners can use a checklist every day or every few days to assess their feelings and attitudes about
language learning. Encourage students to complete checklists periodically at home, or else give students
10 or 15 minutes of class time on a regular basis to do checklists. Use checklists to stir up class
discussions of feelings about language learning. Here are examples of this strategy in action. Liselotte
uses a checklist each night to note her changing attitudes about her intensive Chinese course, her teacher,
and her own progress in learning Chinese. Alton's teacher asks the members of the class to complete a

checklist every Monday morning, then Alton discusses the checklist responses with his language partner.
Zaria realizes through using a checklist that she feels more at ease and less scared about learning English
than she felt before.
Writing a Language Learning Diary (A) Language learning diaries or journals are narratives describing
the learners' feelings, attitudes, and perceptions about the language learning process. They can also include
specific information about strategies which learners find effective or ineffective for each of the four
language skills. You can either give guidelines for your students' diaries or allow those diaries to be
freewheeling. Some learners like to share their diaries or journals with other people. In Vladimir's English
class, students use diaries to understand and keep track of their thoughts, attitudes, and language learning
strategies, and if they feel comfortable enough, they share their diary entries during group discussion in
class once or twice a week. Lorelei, a student of Spanish, gets a new perspective by sharing her language
learning diary with her sister, who is not studying Spanish.
Other learners prefer to keep their diaries or journals private. For example, while writing in her diary, Bea
admits she is bored in her Polish class and does not like the Polish textbook. This realization, which she does
not share with her Polish teacher or classmates, makes Bea decide to inject more energy and variety into the
learning situation.
Discussing Your Feelings with Someone Else (A) Language learning is difficult, and learners often need to
discuss this process with other people. As noted above, written checklists and diaries can be used as input to
oral discussions about feelings and needs related to any of the language skills. Learners can benefit from
discussing these topics with peersand with you! Amazing transformations of classroom activity and
atmosphere can occur because of these discussions; anxieties and inhibitions diminish, and learners feel they
have more control over their own fate. Discussions of feelings can also take place outside of class with a
friend, a parent, a counselor, or a native speaker of the language. Encourage students to express their feelings
about the language learning process and discover what they need to be better learners. Examples of
discussions with other people inside and outside the language classroom have already been given for Alton,
Vladimir, and Lorelei (see above).

APPLYING SOCIAL STRATEGIES TO THE FOUR SKILLS

Sometimes people mistakenly think that social strategies (see Figure 4) are used only for listening and
speaking, but social strategies are helpful and indeed essential to all four language skills.
Asking Questions
This set of strategies includes both asking for clarification or verification and asking for correction. These two
strategies are used differently in the four skill areas. In listening and reading, asking questions for clarification
or verification is used more often than asking for correction. In speaking and writing, asking for correction is
more prevalent.
Asking for Clarification or Verification (L, R) Asking for clarification in listening involves asking the more
proficient speaker to slow down, paraphrase, repeat, explain, or otherwise clarify what he or she has said.
Asking for verification in listening means checking to make sure that something has been rightly understood.
Learners need to learn acceptable ways to ask for clarification or verification, since it is done differently in
different cultures and different languages. Help your students learn appropriate conversational questions like
the following:
Would you repeat that, please?
Please speak more slowly.
I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Pardon me.
What was that again?
Did you say_______________________?
What does_____________________mean?
Learners who are reading in the new language may also use the strategy of asking for clarification or
verification. Usually they ask someone more proficient in the target language, although students at the same
proficiency level can often provide clarifying or verifying information. In jigsaw listening or reading
exercises, or in other activities involving these two skills, this strategy is commonly used.

<
A. Asking questions

1. Asking for clarification or verification

2. Asking for correction
B. Cooperating with others
1. Cooperating with peers
III. Social
strategies

2. Cooperating with proficient users of the new language

C. Empathizing with others
1. Developing cultural understanding
2. Becoming aware of others' thoughts and feelings

Fig. 4 - Social Strategies to Be Applied to the Four Language Skills

Here are some instances of asking for clarification or verification for listening and reading. Marina, who is
learning English, does not understand when Rae says, "Wadja wanna do?" Marina asks Rae to slow down
and repeat, and Rae clarifies by saying more distinctly, "What do you want to do?" Vicki, reading a French
passage, does not comprehend the meaning of the phrase toute allure, confusing it with tout l'heure. She
asks Helene for clarification and is told that the first expression means "at great speed" and the second means
"see you very soon."
Asking for Correction (S, W) This strategy is mostly used in speaking and writing, because errors which are
most obvious to other people occur in producing the new language. It is related to the strategy of selfmonitoring, in which students notice and correct their own difficulties.
In a spoken conversation, learners can ask the other person for correction of important problems that is,
those which cause confusion or offense. However, the other person cannot be expected to correct all errors
made by the learner, because this would intimidate the learner, halt the conversation, and turn the
conversation partner into a "speech cop."
Language learners should ask for correction of some writing difficulties, but the kind and amount of
correction depends on the level of the learner and the purpose of the writing. Heavy-handed correction,
especially in the beginning stages of language learning, can have two possible negative effects: students'
morale plummets, or students simply ignore the corrections. If advanced learners are expected to create a
polished written product, they might ask for a greater amount of correction, or at least a noting of problems
which they themselves can correct.
Following are specific examples of asking for correction. Paige is sure that she has made an error when her
Spanish friend looks surprised at what she says, so she asks to be corrected. Aurelius wants to improve his
writing, so he asks the teacher to mark his most serious difficulties, for which he then tries to find the correct
form on his own. Felix asks his Russian teacher for correction of the written phrase representing "date of
birth, 16th of April, 1989" (data rozhdyeniya, 16oye apryelya 1989 goda. The teacher says that no correction
is needed.
Cooperating with Others
Because language in all its aspects is a social act, cooperating with other people is essential. This cooperation
requires that the learner interact well with both peers and more proficient language users. Some of the
actions mentioned here under cooperating are similar to those under the cognitive strategy of practicing
naturalistically.
Cooperating with Peers (A) This strategy involves a concerted effort to work together with other learners on
an activity with a common goal or reward. Games, simulations, and other active exercises challenge students
to develop their ability to cooperate with peers while using a variety of language skills.
Here are some examples of cooperating with peers in listening and speaking. Agnes's small group is working
on French jigsaw listening activities, which require individual language learners to listen to different pieces
of a story and then figure out the whole story by putting the pieces together in the right order. In another kind
of listening exercise, Johanna and Jose listen to the same passage in English, and Johanna summarizes it in
English, with Jose asking questions and prompting. Then, while listening to a different passage, they reverse
their roles. Barbro and Stefan, regular language learning partners at the advanced level of English, have daily
telephone conversations with each other, thus receiving listening and speaking practice in the company of a
friend.
Reading, though usually considered an independent activity, can be a cooperative enterprise as well. For
example, Wally works with his small group on a Russian-language jigsaw reading activity. Each group
member has part of the story to read, and together they have to figure out the entire story through a process
of negotiating, questioning, and cooperating. At first they do this in English. Later, when they are more
advanced, they do it in Russian; when this happens, listening and speaking skills enter the reading act. No
matter how it is done, jigsaw reading encourages cooperation with peers.
Writers in any language are often viewed as lonely figures scribbling silently or pounding the keys of their
word processor. Though such views might have some truth, writing can also be a social, cooperative activity.
For instance, Manolo writes a journal and shares it with his English-language classmate, who responds with
comments. Beate participates in brainstorming activities to generate ideas for writing. Daniel takes notes on
his friend Max's writing and shares comments with him. Charlene writes in Portuguese to a pen-pal in
Lisbon. Before sending a letter, Charlene shows it to her language partner, Sue, to obtain feedback.
Cooperating with Proficient Users of the New Language (A) This strategy applies to all four skills. When
used for listening and speaking, this strategy involves taking specific steps to enhance communication with a
proficient user of the new language. For example, Lynda reminds herself to keep Rudolph, her Germanspeaking friend, informed of her own listening needs (e.g., slowing down, repeating). She knows she must
listen actively, ask questions, and observe natural feedback, like gestures, facial expressions, and body
distance.
In reading and writing the target language, students often need to cooperate with proficient language users.
This frequently happens when language learners encounter proficient language users on the job, in the

classroom, or on a trip. For instance, Sean needs to get help from Jean-Louis in order to understand some
highly technical written instructions while on the job. Diana seeks advice from her Danish friends as she
writes reports in Danish. Belinda cooperates with Germans, who help her understand the German tour book.

Empathizing with Others

Understanding and producing the new language involves empathy with other people, especially with
individuals from the target culture.
Developing Cultural Understanding (A) Background knowledge of the new culture often helps learners
understand better what is heard or read in the new language. Such knowledge also helps learners know what
is culturally appropriate to say aloud or in writing. Help students sharpen their cultural understanding by
injecting short cultural discussions into classroom activities, and by comparing and contrasting behavior in
the students' native culture and the target culture. In second language classes, where many nationalities may
be represented and where students are learning the language of the immediate community, learners can bring
in materials from their own cultural group to share and can discuss how their background differs from that of
the culture in their new homeland. In foreign language classes, where learners are learning a language from a
distant country and are generally from a homogeneous cultural background, students can bring in cultural
artifacts from traveling abroad or from visiting any ethnic enclaves that exist in their own community.
Outside of the classroom, encourage students to find out all they can about the target culture through reading,
going to lectures, or watching films in the target language. All these activities develop greater cultural
awareness, which is necessary for achieving proficiency in the new language.
Here are some instances of developing cultural understanding. Paco, who is studying in England, listens to
the BBC to try to get a flavor of the culture. Clem and his classmates sign up for a trip to Central America so
they can learn about the culture in person as they speak the Spanish language. Lucretia looks at department
store catalogs from France to understand more about French culture.
Becoming Aware of Others' Thoughts and Feelings (A) Learners can purposefully become aware of
fluctuations in the thoughts and feelings of particular people who use the new language. Such awareness
brings learners closer to the people they encounter, helps them understand more clearly what is
communicated, and suggests what to say and do.
Observing the behavior of others during face-to-face communication often sharpens this awareness.
Listening carefully to what is said, and what is left unsaid, enables learners to become more aware of the
mindset of other people. For instance, Rosalee carefully listens to the tone and expression of the mother in
the Italian "host family," so that she can be more sensitive to the mother's feelings. Ramon observes the
physical signals and speech of his teacher, so he can be more aware of the teacher's mood and thoughts. With
this knowledge, Rosalee and Ramon both understand better what they themselves should say.
In addition, learners can become aware of the feelings of others as expressed in writing. Students can sense
the feelings of people with whom they communicate informally through letters, notes, or memos. Formal
writing like novels, stories, and articles can be understood more easily when learners consciously try to "get
inside the skin" of the writer to understand the writer's point of view. For informal or formal writing, this
awareness might mean reading on two levels: the literal, verbatim level and the covert, between-the-lines
level. The literal meaning might be perfectly sensible in many instances, but sometimes meanings are
expressed in both explicit and subtle ways, and learners need to read for both types of meanings. For
example, Mickey reads the letter from his Asian friend on both levels to determine what is directly expressed
and what is implied. This helps Mickey know how to respond in the next letter he writes to his friend. Sandy
reads the Pushkin poem in Russian, being aware of both possible levels of meaning.