Strategy-based instruction: A learner-focused approach to developing learner autonomy

• Published in: Language teaching research : LTR Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 9 - 30
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Le Thi Cam, Gu, Yongqi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2013; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Academic Discourse; Academic writing; Classrooms; College Students; Control Groups; Cooperative learning; Counseling; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Distance learning; Education; Educational technology; English (Second Language); Experimental Groups; Foreign Countries; Independent study; Intervention; Language; Learning Processes; Learning Strategies; Metacognition; Participation; Pedagogy; Personal Autonomy; Researchers; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Self concept; Self evaluation; Students; Studies; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Vietnam; Vietnamese; Vietnamese People; Writing; Writing Ability; Writing Improvement; Writing Instruction; Writing tests; Vietnam; New Zealand; Hong Kong China; New York; United States > US; Japan; China; self-regulation; strategy-based instruction; Learner autonomy; strategy training
• ISSN: 1362-1688; 1477-0954
• DOI: 10.1177/1362168812457528

This study investigates the effects of strategy-based instruction (SBI) on the promotion of learner autonomy (LA). LA was conceptualized and operationally defined as learner self-initiation and learner self-regulation. An intervention study was conducted with the participation of 37 students in an experimental group, and 54 students in two control groups at a Vietnamese university. An eight-week metacognition training package was incorporated into the academic writing programme of the experimental group. Students in the experimental group improved their ability to plan, monitor and evaluate a writing task more than students in the two control groups. Planning became the most often exercised skill, followed by evaluating and monitoring. Improvements in writing were maintained on a delayed test. Overall, the study suggests that strategy-based instruction in the form of training learners in task-specific metacognitive self-regulation improved learners’ autonomy in both learning and their writing ability.