AILA Review - Volume 37, Issue 2, 2024

Scholarship on language learning strategies has evolved from small-scale, practitioner-oriented studies to predominantly large-scale, questionnaire-driven research. This general shift has been instrumental in contributing to the field’s increased popularity. Robust quantitative studies are valuable. However, many scholars have called for more qualitative research to understand learners’ strategic behaviors in greater depth. Similarly, research on self-regulated learning can also benefit from qualitative inquiry. While self-regulated learning was once considered a replacement for language learning strategies, it is now commonly researched as a complementary construct within the same domain. As such, this special issue showcases recent qualitative studies that explore the complex “why” and “how” of language learning strategies and self-regulated learning. Originating from a symposium at the 2023 AILA World Congress, this collection brings together a range of methodologies, illustrating diversity within qualitative approaches and providing empirical insights that advance both theory and practice. In this introduction, we explain our rationale for proposing this special issue, discuss key issues it addresses, and conclude by providing future directions for research.

Strategic behavior for self-regulated learning (SRL) is crucial for academic success in L2 writing. Yet little is known about how learners’ motivation-related factors develop as their strategic behavior progresses during classroom instruction in L2 writing contexts. Informed by SRL theory, this longitudinal case study adopted multiple assessment approaches to explicating the development trajectories of two Chinese L2 writers’ motivational factors relating to expectancy, value, and goal orientation (i.e., self-efficacy, task value, and goal orientations) and strategic behavior in the classroom ecology of self-regulation strategies-based instruction. Participants were one high-proficiency writer and one low-proficiency writer who were enrolled in the self-regulation strategies-based writing course. They voluntarily participated in this study and completed semi-structured interviews and reflective journals at the beginning (T1), the middle (T2), and the end of the instruction (T3). Field notes were used to complement the primary data sources. The qualitative analyses revealed both students’ limited understanding of SRL strategies at the initial stage. Their strategic behavior progressed with the social and metacognitive scaffolding at T2, but only the high-proficiency writer sustained active engagement at T3. With different goal orientations and linguistic self-efficacy at the initial stage, both students reported noticeable increases in their intrinsic goal orientation, task value, and self-efficacy in classroom performance at T2 and T3. Their motivational states were also affected by linguistic proficiency, metacognitive scaffolding, and social interactions during the instruction. This study is expected to provide insights into how L2 writers’ strategic behavior progresses with their changes in motivations.

The development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its associated tools has revolutionised the learning and use of foreign languages (L2). One such tool is machine translation (MT), which has become increasingly popular among university students worldwide, spurring research on MT use in L2 writing. However, previous research has primarily focused on the writing products of intermediate or advanced L2 learners, neglecting the writing process with MT of students with limited L2 proficiency. Therefore, this case study aimed to qualitatively explore how the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) A2 university students employ strategies for L2 writing with MT and how their strategies change after strategy instruction. Seven participants completed writing tasks on a PC before, immediately after, and four weeks after three one-hour out-of-class instruction sessions based on the Strategic Content Learning (SCL) approach. Their writing process was screen-recorded, followed by stimulated recall interviews to elicit their strategies, which were coded and categorised using a framework by O’Malley and Chamot (1990). The results showed an increase in students’ elaborate use of strategies after instruction. In particular, strategy clusters were observed for all participants, demonstrating their cognitive engagement in the writing process. Furthermore, first-language (L1)-related strategies were used more frequently post-instruction, indicating learners’ efforts to create translation-friendly L1 input for MT. The findings suggest that teaching MT-use strategies is crucial to fostering learners’ active engagement in the L2 writing process in a technology-enhanced learning environment.

This study explored the strategy use of 12 high-school learners of English within a vocabulary teaching intervention which exposed three groups of learners to one of three types of oral vocabulary explanations: L2 explanations; codeswitched explanations (CS); and contrastive focus-on-form explanations (CFoF) giving cross-linguistic information. Unlike previous studies of vocabulary interventions, which have tended to focus solely on quantitative outcome measures and therefore give arguably limited insights into why different interventions have the impact that they do, the study implemented stimulated recall interviews to explore strategy use in order to better understand the learning outcomes from the intervention. A qualitative analysis was undertaken to explore how learners used strategies and whether patterns of use emerged by intervention group and proficiency level. Compared with the CS and L2 groups, learners from the CFoF group attended more specifically to the target words and engaged in more metacognitive reflection and evaluation of the explanations, leading potentially to deeper processing and hence greater vocabulary gains. Such strategy use also seemed, however, to explain their smaller gains in listening comprehension. Finally, strategic behaviour was found to be related to levels of vocabulary knowledge and listening proficiency. The value of exploring qualitative data on strategy use for evaluating the effects of an intervention is discussed, alongside the theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings.

Listening strategies have mostly been investigated in contexts where learners listen to audio recordings. However, a much more prevalent and indispensable listening task in the classroom is listening to teacher input, particularly in the English Medium Instruction (EMI) classroom where the goal of learning is directed towards comprehension of content subject knowledge (e.g., science, geography). Research has also shown that teacher talk dominates EMI classroom interaction, making it even more important to understand how learners comprehend teacher input. However, little research has been conducted in this area, and even less attention has been devoted to exploring how learners can learn to listen in this classroom context through strategy instruction. This paper reports on a study that implemented a listening strategy instruction programme for a class of secondary school EMI students. The study started with a needs analysis, followed by strategy instruction sessions, and lesson observations and stimulated recall interviews. This paper presents data from two EMI students as focal participants and explores how they improved their strategic behaviour when comprehending teacher input in the EMI classroom. Both students widened their strategic repertoires, but the high achiever benefited more from the strategy instruction programme than the weaker student. This paper ends with pedagogical implications, highlighting the importance of listening strategy instruction for EMI learners.

Learning the host country’s language(s) is a necessary step toward social and professional inclusion for migrants. However, it is often regarded as a challenging task that depends heavily on the sociocultural context in which migrants are situated. This study explores the Norwegian language learning strategies of highly educated Indonesians outside the classroom, particularly in the workplace, in Norway. Following the social turn in second language learning research, the study aims to investigate how social context influences migrants’ strategies for learning Norwegian. The data were collected through a combination of qualitative methods consisting of sequential in-depth interviews, language diaries, and focus group discussions with four focal participants, including both recently arrived and long-term migrants. Based on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) investment model, participants’ narratives of their reported language learning strategies are analyzed in relation to language ideology, identity, and capital in their language learning experiences. The findings from this study suggest that migrant learners’ ideal learning strategies are influenced by their language ideologies. However, different contextual factors, such as work tasks and roles, have a considerable impact on their learning opportunities, and consequently, on why and how they end up using certain learning strategies but not others. Migrants’ professional identities also play an important role in their strategy choice and use. By analyzing migrant learners’ narratives, this study provides a nuanced and learner-centered understanding of language learning strategies in the context of migration in the globalized world. This study also contributes new insights into the use of learning strategies of languages other than English by adult migrant learners inside and beyond the classroom.

This qualitative study explores the experiences of 22 Grade 11 students, aged 17–18, studying science subjects at highly selective English medium instruction (EMI) schools. The study is guided by Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (namely, the ideal/ought-to L2 self concepts) and Hajar’s (2019) distinction between compulsory and voluntary strategies. Specific focus was paid to the participants’ English learning challenges, language learning strategies (LLSs) and future selves. The data were collected from two rounds of semi-structured individual interviews with 22 participants. The interview data revealed that most students indicated that although it was their parents’ decision to send them to outstanding English-medium schools, they gradually realised that studying at this type of school fostered their identity formation as users of English and helped them visualise their ideal end state. This end state related to professional, intercultural and academic gains. The students reported that they sometimes faced challenges in understanding new terminology in science, along with using English to answer their teachers’ questions. Despite these challenges, the students exercised their agency by valuing studying in a resource-rich EMI environment, using certain effective strategies, and receiving fee-charging private tutoring. This study highlights the importance of understanding language learners’ motivations for attending English private tutoring and how it impacts their LLS use and future vision. Also, it reveals how educational policy and the distribution of language learning resources can affect individuals’ LLS choices and use, and their identity development.

The study focuses on the language learning experiences of adult migrants from refugee backgrounds with limited educational experiences before migration. This group is often referred to as LESLLA learners; LESLLA is an acronym for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults. The study used Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) — a data-driven, bottom-up methodology for qualitative research — to gain understanding of the conditions that help or hinder LESLLA learners’ language development and of the strategies they use to enhance learning and to overcome obstacles. The dataset is comprised of thirty interviews with adult refugees from Syria and Eritrea learning Dutch in the Netherlands. The analyses identified self-efficacy, which has been described as ‘the soul of strategies’ (Oxford, 2017), as a core category, differentiating between learners who showed contentment about their language learning achievements and expressed confidence in further learning, and those who expressed little confidence and a sense of failure. Conditions hindering self-efficacy include the cognitive conditions ‘forgetting’ and ‘stress’, and the social condition ‘isolation’. Facilitative conditions in the cognitive realm are ‘motivation’ and ‘language learning strategies’. ‘Social strategies in new social networks’ is the condition that stands out as strongly supportive for self-efficacy. The data showed how LESLLA learners are often not in the position of power to build their networks. This means that social strategies are not an individuals’ asset but rather a condition that is distributed in a social system.

Digital mediation strategies are key soft skills to develop amongst students as they prepare to interact in increasingly collaborative settings, socially and professionally. Defined as a set of communication strategies deployed to reach mutual agreement over a dispute, mediation enables students’ cooperation in task-based language teaching settings. However, there is an absence of research investigating learning practices in digital social spaces that allow students to develop mediation strategies while using foreign languages to achieve group task goals. In this article, we will outline and compare the results of two case studies exploring the interaction potential of digital educational activities: Digital Storytelling and Digital Social Reading. The analysis of students’ multimodal conversations during the activities shows that while there are intrinsic interactional affordances related to the technologies (StoryMaps, izi.Travel, ThingLink, Immerse and Glose for Education) used in educational contexts, fostering students’ mediation strategies has only been feasible through a sound instructional methodology. Starting from the data analysis, pedagogical implications are drawn to help language teachers implement virtual technologies to boost students’ digital mediation strategies to act successfully in their professional and social lives. Considerations include pre-activity tech and strategy training and the integration of asynchronous and synchronous moments of reflection. Further discussion pertains to creating a community of practice collaborating to understand tool usability for attaining activity goals.

The present study explored different types of task value and their associations with the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies across various English as a foreign language (EFL) learning scenarios. The application of SRL strategies is supported by motivational beliefs, including task value. Although prior research has demonstrated the importance of motivational beliefs in SRL, there remains a need for further clarification regarding the characteristics and role of task value, particularly the cost (i.e., a negative aspect of task value) in relation to SRL. Furthermore, given the context-dependent nature of SRL, both values and strategies should be adapted to specific learning environments. In this study, 12 Japanese EFL university students participated in two rounds of semi-structured interviews. The first session focused on their English learning experiences, expectations, and perceptions of the value and cost associated with learning English. In the second session, they roleplayed four scenarios — a homework assignment, an in-class task, preparation for an English certification exam, and learning for personal growth — while using a think-aloud protocol to express their thoughts and feelings. Follow-up interviews were conducted after each roleplay. Thematic analysis was used to identify the participants’ values and costs and to analyze their use of SRL strategies. The findings revealed that participants concurrently hold multiple types of task value, which were tied to and shaped by their past learning experiences. Several patterns were also identified for SRL strategies in each scenario, corresponding to task value.

This article reports on a two-phased research study on the promotion of learner autonomy conducted in a teaching college in Madagascar. Phase one aimed to help English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers improve their writing and simultaneously develop their self-regulated learning (SRL) skills through journal writing in a bespoke nine-week reflective writing course. The course was designed with the belief that promoting learner autonomy necessarily involves reflection on the learning process, goals, and outcomes of learning, and that successful SRL results in increased learner autonomy. In addition, teachers who have experienced learner autonomy are more likely to promote it in their teaching. The collected data from the course consisted of the participants’ journal entries related to each writing task and written reflections on the course, which were submitted to thematic analysis. Phase two took place two years after phase one. Data collection for this phase consisted of Google Form questions and email exchanges that were intended to investigate the long-term impact of the reflective writing course on the pre-service teachers’ ways of learning and on their preparation for their teaching practice. To illustrate the impact of the two phases in detail, this article focuses on two case studies. They were chosen because these two participants showed lack of self-confidence and struggles with writing at the beginning of phase one, and yet, were able to develop their SRL skills, in particular, their goal setting and self-evaluation. This paper provides a unique contribution to the field, since not much research has investigated learner autonomy or SRL in education in Madagascar, and few studies have returned to participants after some time to assess long-term impact.