Measuring and evaluating language learning strategies: Evolving methodologies in the age of self-regulation

Abstract Summary

Abstract :

This presentation explores current and future directions in strategy research in order to establish a future research agenda that investigates strategic learning behaviour in instructed language learning contexts. Language learning strategy research has been subjected to two substantial waves of criticisms in the past—the last of which culminated in greater theoretical integration with the psychological construct of self-regulation. As a result of this renewed attention in applied linguistics, the field of language learning strategies is experiencing a research resurgence, which has culminated in a growing need for new methodologies to capture evolving conceptualisations of strategy use. This talk focuses on the methodological findings of a recent systematic review of learning strategy research in the wake of self-regulation to evaluate emerging ways to measure strategic behaviour. In its review of over 40 state of the art research papers in the area, it highlights important studies that are currently driving the field forward, and enhancing methodological rigour in the area. These include studies that apply structural equation modelling to improve our understanding of existing instruments, as well as studies that use advanced quantitative methods to create bespoke measures of strategy use in context. It further highlights the importance of research methods that move away from self-report assessments of strategy use, such as the increasing use of stimulated recall tasks and think aloud protocols, and the important contributions of eye-tracking and keystroke logging technologies to explore strategy use during learning processes. Overall, the presentation calls for more context-situated methods to assess strategic behaviour, which embrace the multiple ways in which strategies are now being investigated in the interrelated fields of language learning strategies and self-regulation.