Learning Styles and

Strategy-Based Instruction

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 In this presentation we will focus on how students can
retain, or keep, new knowledge. We will also look at
strategies which work together with students’ learning
styles to improve students’ learning experiences. We will
explore how students can change their viewpoints on the
overall learning process to have more effective results.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
What are Learning Strategies?
• Language learning strategies are “specific actions, behaviors, steps,
or techniques, that students (often intentionally) use to improve
their progress in developing L2 skills” (Oxford, 1993, p. 18).
• These strategies help students retain, or remember, the new
language.
• The strategies are self-directed.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
The Importance of Learner Strategies

• Strategies help …
• develop students’
communication skills in the L2.
• students become better
language learners in general.

“Untitled” by Maklay62 via Pixabay is licensed undera Pixabay License.

It is free to use and share.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Types of Learning Strategies
• Evaluating one’s own learning style and learning needs
Metacognitive • Planning for an activity/assignment
• Monitoring progress
O’Malley (1985) first Strategies • Evaluating the effectiveness of tools
identified language
learning strategies and •
•
Using resources and instructional tools
Note-taking
their general Cognitive • Repetition
characteristics. Strategies •
•
Using imagery
Making inferences (guesses)
• Identifying key words

• Cooperating/sharing ideas (cooperative learning)

Socio-affective • Clarifying information
• Self-talk for motivation
Strategies • Asking questions

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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 Metacognitive Strategy Example- Think Aloud!
Students answer questions aloud to the class before,
during and after reading.
• What do I know about
this topic already?
• Step 1: Introduce the questions • What do I think I will
• Step 2: Students read parts of the text. Example learn about this topic?
Question • The most important idea
• Step 3: Students answer the questions about the text was…
or their knowledge of the topic aloud. s • I got confused when…
• Step 4: Teacher facilitates discussion based on • This reminds me of…
students’ answers. • My favorite part was…

For more fun, students can choose questions randomly

from a hat!
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Cognitive Strategy Example- Review Guides
Students create their own review guides for quizzes and
tests based on what they learned.
• Draw a picture to help you
remember the most difficult
• Step 1: Introduce the topic for the quiz or test. Example
vocabulary words
• Create example sentences for each
• Step 2: Students create a study guide independently or in Review vocabulary word
• Write your notes into
groups based on teacher’s guidelines. Guide • Create test questions based on the
• Step 3: Students submit their study guides on test day. Component topic.
• Color code notes for key words,
s dates, names, examples, etc.
• Develop a mind map for to show
processes.
For more fun, students can write example test questions
on their study guide and exchange them with a partner.
They can answer their partner’s test questions for bonus
points!
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Socio-affective Strategy Example-
Think, Pair, Share!
Students answer questions aloud to the class
before, during and after reading.
• Allow students to choose which
partner shares the information
• Step 1: Teachers ask students to think about a • Group students in a creative way
topic independently.
• Step 2: Students are paired with another
Othe (eg. group by same birthday month,
same favorite food, same country,
etc.)
student.
• Step 3: Students share their ideas about a topic
r • Expand the share into whole class
discussions.
• Record responses in a mind map on
with their partners.
Ideas the board
• Have students write responses
anonymously if the topic is
For more fun, students can rotate partners in a sensitive.
circle for activities with multiple questions. This
way, they will have multiple opportunities to
share.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
What is Styles and Strategy-based Instruction?
• A learner-focused teaching approach
• It combines learning styles and learning
strategies with classroom activities.
• Students are given the opportunity to
understand not only what they learn,
but also how to learn the language
more effectively and efficiently.
• Learners are essentially learning how “Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License.
It is free to use and share.

to learn based on their learning style.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Phases of Strategy-Based Instruction

Awareness- Personalizatio
Preparation Training Practice
Raising n of Strategies

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Phase 1: Preparation
• Goal: find out how much students already
know about and can use strategies
• Teachers can’t assume that students don’t
know about strategies.
• Students have most likely developed some
strategies previously.
• The thing is that they may not use them
systematically, and they may not use them “Untitled” by OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License.

well. It is free to use and share.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Phase 2: Awareness-Raising
• Goal: alert learners about strategies they might never have
thought of or may have thought about but had never used
• Teachers raise awareness about:
• what the learning process may consist of
• their learning style preferences or general approaches to learning
• the kinds of strategies that they already use, as well as those
suggested by the teacher or classmates
• the amount of responsibility that they take for their learning
• approaches that can be used to evaluate the students’ strategy “Untitled” by Gerd Altmann  via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

use
• These strategies are always explicitly (directly) taught by
instructors.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Phase 3: Training
• Goal: explicitly teach how, when, and why
certain strategies can be used to learn
language
• Teachers…
• describe, model, and give examples of possibly
useful strategies.
• ask for additional examples from students based
on the students’ own learning experiences.
• lead small-group or whole-class discussions
“Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and
about strategies (why they are used; planning share.
an approach; evaluating the effectiveness, etc.).
• encourage their students to experiment with a
broad range of strategies.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Phase 4: Practice
• Goal: students experiment with a broad range of
strategies
• Learners need many opportunities to try strategies of a
variety of tasks
• Teachers should create “strategy-friendly” activities
that…
• reinforce strategies that have already been dealt with.
• allow students time to practice the strategies at the same
time they are learning the course content.
• include explicit reminders of strategies being used while
completing the task. “Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is
free to use and share.
• During the activity, students should…
• plan the strategies that they will use.
• pay attention to particular strategies while they are being
used.
• reflect on their use of strategies. This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Phase 5: Personalization of Strategies
• Goal: students create their own versions of
strategies learned, evaluate to see how they
are using the strategies, and then think about
how to use these strategies in other situations.
• To make sure that learners continue to use the
strategies, teachers can…
• use the course material they already have and then
determine which strategies might be inserted.
• start with a set of strategies that they wish to focus “Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and
share.
on and design activities around them.
• insert strategies randomly into the lessons when
appropriate.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
In order for students to reconsider
their ways of learning and learn new
strategies to fit their learning styles,
they need to learn to think about “Untitled” by Arek Socha via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

their thinking and understand the way they learn.

Now, let’s look at metacognition, a process that explains how students

can become aware of their thinking and learning strategies.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Metacognition – Some Quotes
“Metacognitive strategies enable learners to play an active role in the
process of learning, to manage and direct their own learning…” (Chari
et al, as cited in Rahimi & Katal, 2011)

“…developing students’ critical thinking skills is facilitated through

metacognition.” (Magno, 2010)

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Metacognition
• Metacognitive strategies help students
understand the way they learn.
• They help students “think” about their
thinking and make their thinking
process visible to themselves and
others.
• This helps them learn problem solving
skills.
• An example might be when students
notice which words they don’t “Untitled” by OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

=-
understand, or when they stopped
understanding something they heard
or read.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Metacognition
Students use metacognition when they are
aware of their own learning strategies and
mental processes.
For example:
• A student consciously uses the skills of
predicting and inferring when they read a
story.
• A student is aware of her kinesthetic
learning style and chooses to tap a rhythm
with her finger when learning new
.
material. “Untitled” by OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share

• A student circles unfamiliar words in the

text and decides how to figure out their
meaning.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Primary Components of Metacognition
As teachers, we can help learners develop the following strategies:
• Preparing and planning for learning.
• Selecting and using learning strategies.
• Monitoring strategy use.
• Organizing various strategies.
• Evaluating strategy use and learning.
It is important for L2 learners to become self-directed learners in order for them to
be able to handle the language demands they will experience outside the language
classroom in real life academic, social, and professional contexts. (Anderson, 2002)

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Using Metacognitive Strategies
Successful learners know how to:

Plan and Organize

Monitor their Own Work

Self-Reflect

Direct their Own Learning

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Metacognitive Strategies
The following reading strategies involve learners taking an active role in their own learning
process.

1. Relate the text to oneself

2. Relate the text to the world
3. Think aloud to interact with the text Strategies
4. Make inferences from the text
5. Create mental images of what was read
6. Guess the meaning of new words in context
7. Identify main ideas in a text
8. Monitor text comprehension
9. Summarize and synthesizing texts
10. Predict what happens next This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
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Metacognitive Strategy Example

Think Aloud and Self-Reflect

Technique
• Think-aloud requires readers to
stop and reflect on what they do
and don’t understand when
listening or reading.
• Teachers model think aloud
strategies to make their own
thinking and comprehension “Untitled” by Mohamed via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

process visible.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Metacognitive Strategy Example

Teachers can model their thinking process using the Think Aloud
strategy, such as:
Teacher reads: ‘’We had to vacate the house.’’
Teacher says: “When I see the word vacate, I think of vacation,
which means to go away somewhere. So maybe vacate means
they had to go away or leave the house.”

Students are taught to respond using prompts such as:

“This reminds me of . . . ,”
“I wonder if. . . ,” “Untitled” by Mohamed via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

“I got stuck on the word . . .”

They can also reflect in writing by responding to the following
prompts:
“What I learned…”
“I would like to learn more about….”
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Ways to Teach Metacognitive Strategies
• Incorporate metacognitive strategies into lessons.
• Model and explain the usefulness of strategies, so students will agree
to the added effort that strategies require in the learning process.
• Continue training students to monitor their own use of metacognitive
strategies using lesson exit slips and self-checklists.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Critical Thinking Skills
Learners can use metacognitive
strategies to develop critical thinking skills.

Critical thinking is the ability to

think clearly and rationally about
what to do or what to believe.  “Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

(Lau & Chan, 2019)

It is important to think critically to be successful in learning and in life.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
 Critical Thinking Skills
Some examples of critical thinking skills
include the following :
• Understand the logical connections between ideas
• Identify, construct and evaluate arguments
• Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• Solve problems systematically
“Untitled” by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.
• Identify the relevance and importance of ideas
• Reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values (Lau & Chan, 2019)

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funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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Foundations for Critical Thinking Skills
• The Bloom’s taxonomy of learning
presents 6 levels of thinking by which
teachers can categorize student
learning experiences.
• It starts at the bottom with basic
skills like remembering facts, which
have a low level of critical thinking.
• Understanding the topic and applying
it requires more complex thinking.
• At the top are the activities that “Bloom’s Taxonomy” by Tiera Day for University of Maryland Baltimore County is licensed under CC BY 4.0 for use in the AE E-

require the most critical thinking: Teacher Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

creating and evaluating.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Foundations for Critical Thinking Skills

• By providing a hierarchy of levels,

this taxonomy can assist teachers in
designing learning tasks, drafting
questions and assignments, and Insert image if Danae is able to create one.
providing feedback on student
work that increases their thinking
and problem solving skills.
• Consider the activities used in your
class. Are students using higher “Bloom’s Taxonomy” by Tiera Day for University of Maryland Baltimore County is licensed under CC BY 4.0 for use in the AE E-

order thinking skills (HOTS)? Teacher Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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Bloom’s Taxonomy
The following academic language functions fall under the levels of
Bloom’s taxonomy:
[lowest] Remembering: Recalling information, listing, describing, naming,
Understanding: Explaining ideas, summarizing, interpreting,
classifying.
Applying: Using information in another familiar situation.
Analyzing: Breaking information into parts and exploring
relationships between parts.
Evaluating: Justifying decision, critiquing, judging,
[highest] Creating: Designing, planning, producing, inventing.
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Higher Order Thinking Tasks
• Research shows that most classroom
instruction and assessment only
activates the two lower levels of
cognition, understanding and
remembering.
• To develop critical thinking and problem
solving skills, students need to practice
self-reflection and employ metacognitive
strategies at the analysis, synthesis and
“Untitled” by Junah Rosales via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.
evaluation levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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Higher Order Thinking (HOT)Tasks
To develop critical thinking, students need repeated
exposure to Higher Order Thinking (HOT) tasks,
assignments and assessments.
Tasks designed at the higher levels (analysis, synthesis
and evaluation) use some of the following action verbs:
Analyzing: Analyze, examine, investigate, explain,
categorize.
Evaluating: Judge, decide, argue, debate, recommend,
criticize.
Creating: Create, invent, predict, plan, imagine, propose, “Untitled” by Junah Rosales via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

formulate.
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HOT Strategy Example
“Untitled” by AxxLC via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

Think about the type of writing prompts you create and ensure they are written to
engage students’ higher order thinking skills.
Examples:
Essay prompt written an the remembering level of Bloom’s taxonomy:
Write an essay to describe your last shopping trip. Provide as many details as possible.
Essay prompt written an the analyzing level of Bloom’s taxonomy:
Write an essay to recommend ways to shop in your local supermarket that would save
someone time and money.
Essay prompt written an the creating level of Bloom’s taxonomy:
Write an essay to critique consumer shopping habits and suggest ways they can improve
them.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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Helpful Tip
When developing small group tasks or
whole group questions that elicit higher
order thinking and involve problem solving,
provide sufficient wait time.
“Untitled” by Gerd Altmann  via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to use and share.

Language learners need time to think and

to process both the ideas and the
language.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with

funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
by FHI 360
Conclusion
• Strategies-based instruction is designed to…
• raise awareness about strategies
• train students in strategy use
• give them opportunities to practice strategy use
• encourage them to personalize these strategies for themselves.
• Metacognitive strategies help students understand the way they learn and help
students “think” about their thinking.
• Critical thinking skills allow learners to think clearly and rationally and to better
understand and function in the world around them. 
• Metacognitive strategies and critical thinking skills can be taught via strategies-
based instruction.
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with
funding provided by the U.S. government, and administered
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Reflection
How can you adjust your
everyday teaching methods to
include learning strategies and to
foster metacognition and
critical thinking skills?

“Untitled” by Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay is licensed under a Pixabay License. It is free to

use and share.

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by FHI 360
References (Copyright)
This content is copyrighted, and cannot be adapted in any way, or distributed after the end of this course. It is not Public Domain or Creative Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use.
Please do not save a copy for your personal use, and do not use it after the course ends.

• Cohen, A. D., & Dörnyei, Z. (2002). Focus on the language learner: Motivation, styles, and strategies. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), An introduction to applied
linguistics (pp. 170-190). London: Arnold.
• Lau, J., & Chau, J. (2014-2019). What is Critical Thinking? Retrieved from: https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php
• Lessard-Clouston, M. (1997). Language Learning Strategies: An Overview for L2 Teachers, Retrieved from TESL Journal, Vol. IX, No.4
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Currie-MITheory.html.
• Mango, C. (2010). The Role of Metacognitive Skills in Developing Critical Thinking. Metacognition Learning , 5, 137-156
• O'Malley, J.M. & Chamot, A.U. (1990), Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, CUP
• Oxford, R. (1993). Language learning strategies in a nutshell: Update and ESL suggestions, TESOL Journal, 2(2), 18-22.
• Oxford, R. L. (2013). Language learning styles and strategies. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed).
Boston: Heinle & Heinle/Thompson International.
• O'Malley, J.M. & Chamot, A.U. (1990), Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, CUP.
• Rahimi, M. & Katal, N. (2011) Metacognitive strategies awareness and success in learning English as a foreign language: an overview. Procedia -
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 2012, 73-81.

References (OER)
• Anderson, N.J. (2002). The role of metacognition in second language teaching and learning, Eric Digest, April. Retrieved from:
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED463659
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