PORTFOLIO TASKS

1. What is the difference between language learning styles and learning strategies?
Language learning strategies are specific actions, behaviours, steps or techniques that
learners use to improve their progress of their competence in the target language.
Strategies are tools with which the learners guide themselves in learning a language and
acquiring a greater communicative competence

Leaning styles are preferred ways of learning the person has, based on his personality
and cultural background. They differ from learning strategies because they describe what
type of a learner a person is, in which ways does he process the information most easily
and productively, while learning strategies are methods a learner deliberately employs.

2. How are learning styles and strategies related?

The learner needs to reflect on his preferred learning styles and find learning strategies
which work the best in synergy with them or those which work the best for him as an
individual.

3. Why are learning styles and strategies important for L2 teachers to understand?
Teachers need to understand that not all students learn in the same way, some are more
capable of learning by listening and others are visual learners. The teacher who
understands this knows it is futile to try to impose one specific learning style on all of his
students and he also knows that he should organize his classes so that different types of
learners can benefit from them. The knowledge of learning strategies is relevant for a
teacher because he can present them to his students and motivate them to look for ways
in which they learn the best, for example taking notes when reading helps a learner to
remember the contents of the book/material.

4. If you were asked to make your list of characteristics of "good language learners",
what would that list look like? Justify each of the ideas on your list?
A good language learner can focus on the material and the message that is being
transmitted. It is useless to understand the words without understanding the main
idea and to interpret the message it is important to try to find a pattern in the
message through focus.
Also, a good language learner should be able to express his thoughts and ideas in a
verbal or written way because language capabilities are not just abstract knowledge
of language rules, but a practical application and clear presentation of thoughts.
Language is learned through its use.
A language learner also benefits from being capable to understand the meaning of
an unknown word from the context. Communication with others always includes the
words that are unknown to us and a learner needs to guess at time what the new
words means. One relevant sign of a good language learner is his tendency to use the
dictionary and check the exact meaning of a word he is using or someone else used.
If a learner does not have this habit, he should acquire it in order to communicate his
thoughts precisely without confusing others and himself, this is also important
because of the misuse of words in everyday conversations.

5. Note-taking is sometimes thought of as an academic survival skill. What criteria

would need to be present to make note-taking an actual learning strategy?
Note-taking is a strategy of learning that includes identifying the relevant information
and writing it down. This requires that the act of writing is in some way beneficial for
the learner to understand the material better. The issue is that sometimes students
write whole pages of information presented to them by the teacher without being
able to summarize the main point in their own way.

6. Review the argument that the field-independence/dependence dichotomy helps give

explanatory power to the differentiation between natural (untutored) language
learning and classroom (tutored) learning. How does this pose a dilemma for the
language teacher? Can you compromise between the two styles in the classroom? Is
there a danger of overusing one at the expense of the other? Give your own critical
opinion based on your personal experience.
It is beneficial to have this distinction to understand two different types of language,
standard and colloquial. The language in class should be mostly standard and follow
the rules, but the learners need to be presented examples of dialogues and
sentences that are used in everyday conversations. I think compromise between the
two is possible, the tutored language needs to make students aware of the forms of
sentences and how to use verbs in different tense. To bridge the gap between the
two, it is useful to have authentic materials in class, they are great to show the
students how the menus or news are structured. There is definitely the danger of one
being overused while the other is ignored.

7. Define the following LLS according to Rebecca Oxford's taxonomy:

 RECOMBINING – Combining known elements in new ways to produce a longer
sequence, connecting one known phrase with another to form a whole
sentence.
 USING LINGUISTIC CLUES – Looking for language-based clues to guess the
meaning of what is heard or read. It is done in the absence of complete
knowledge of vocabulary, grammar or target language elements. The guess
the student makes relies on the already familiar material, so a word that
sounds similar in foreign language can be assumed to possess a similar or
related meaning.
 GETTING THE IDEA QUICKLY – The use of skimming to understand the main
idea of the material or the use of scanning to identify specific pieces of
information that are required.

8. Imagine a real life classroom strategy training. Put the following instructions in the
chronological order of the possible LLS TRAINING CYCLE:

1. Raise awareness of the students

2. Applicaton of strategies with scaffolded support
3. Initial evaluation by students
4. Exploration of possible strategies available
5. Modelling by teacher and/or other students
6. Combining strategies for a specific purpose or specific task
7. Monitoring strategy use
Nouns- Verbs- Adjectives- Adverbs-
and rewarding effort
8. Gradual removal of
Pronouns- Prepositions- Conjunctions- Interjections-
scaffolding
9. Evaluation by students
(and teacher)

9. Please identify all the language learning strategies according to Rebecca Oxford's
taxonomy in the following activities:

ACTIVITY 1 – Grouping (creating mental linkages – memory), recombining (practicing –

cognitive), using imagery (applying images and sounds – memory)
BOGGLE
In this game your task is to create words of three or more letters. These must be formed by
following a connected path (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) so that the letters touch in
some way. Make a list of all the words you can make with the letters. As you find words,

S O E R categorize them by parts of speech. After you have finished,

F C G P make a sentence for each of the word you found.

A E I T
R B M D

ACTIVITY 2 – Overviewing and linking with already known material (centering your learning –
metacognitive), using keywords (applying images and sounds – memory), adjusting or
approximating the message (overcoming limitations in speaking and writing – compensatory)

HISTORICAL FIGURES
The students choose a historical figure whom they know something about. They can use one
(or all) of the following sentence beginnings below, and complete the sentence for their
figure. The students compose a short story in first-person, speaking as the historical figure
where they explain the figure's wish, dream, or fear.

The thing that I regret most about my life is _____________________.

If I could accomplish one more thing, I would ___________________.

The accomplishment that I am proudest of is ___________________.

If I could live anywhere in the world, I would choose ______________.

The saddest moment in life was when ________________________.

My favorite childhood memory is _____________________________.

The thing that scares me the most is _________________________.

ACTIVITY 3 - Highlighting (creating structure for input – cognitive), taking notes (creating
structure for input – cognitive), using other clues (guessing intelligently – compensatory),
cooperating with peers (cooperating with others – social), analysing expressions (analysing
and reasoning – cognitive)

What's new?

The teacher provides the students with the text of a story which they have to read. The
students are divided in 3 groups. Each group has to find something new in the text. First
group has to highlight every new word they encounter and write it down in their notebook.
Now they are instructed to come up with the definition of the word on the basis of context,
and write it down. Second group has to do the same with new idioms. Third group has to
spot some new grammar forms and conclude about their use. They are given time limit after
which the text of a story is taken from them. When they are finished the teacher uses the
texts with highlighted parts to refer to each group and asks questions about things they have
come up with. Each group presents its answers to the rest of the class. If there is something
they did wrong or didn’t know the other two groups are allowed to answer instead (if they
know the answer) and get the points. If they don’t know the answer either the teacher
provides the answer. The group which has the most correct answers wins.

10. Sort and add

 Are these words and expressions visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory,

gustatory or neutral (ie unspecified representational system)? Write V, A, K,
O, G or N next to each of them. Remember you are considering the literal
meaning of the words and not your own interpretation.

see - V hear - A feel - O think - N smell - O

taste - G sound - A grasp -- N picture - V focus - N
heavy - K fit - O tone - A handle - N believe - N
experience - K grab - K odour - O describe - N harmony - N
look at - V tune in - A understand - N point of view - V
That rings a bell! - A I'm getting cold feet about this. - K
It's a piece of cake! - G See it from my perspective. - V
My mind's gone blank! - N She knows how to push his buttons. -
K
Give them the cold shoulder. - K It's not just a bit fishy; it stinks! - O
We're not singing the same tune. - A Wonderful! - V Smashing! -
K
Cool! - K Brilliant! - V It's OK. - N

 Brainstorm words and phrases to add to each of the six categories. Which
category do you find easiest? Why?
V stare, have an eye on somebody, gaze, feast your eyes, take a look
A hear, listen, earworm, nails on a chalkboard
K show someone the door, kick, move
O smell the coffee, stink like a skunk, cut the cheese, sniff
G delicious, taste (v), tastebuds
N comprehend, reflect on something

I find it the easiest to brainstorm for visual words and phrases because I can
remember the most of them. I think this is because the number of visual
phrases and words is much greater than the number of other types.