Understanding the Selection of Vocabulary Learning Strategies: The Impact of the Language Teaching Approach

Abstract

This paper presents a study on how the selection of vocabulary learning strategies is affected by the kind of instructional programme followed. A total of one hundred thirty-eight secondary-school learners – seventy-two CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and fifty-six mainstream EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners – took part in the study. They were asked to respond a vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire. The data were examined looking into how the use of strategies differed when comparing CLIL and EFL learners. Results permitted to develop two clear learner profiles that were compared. These findings will be discussed in relation to their possible implications for vocabulary development.

Learning Strategies Instruction in CLIL Textbooks and Teacher-Authored Materials: A Qualitative Study

“…In the specific field of CLIL research, studies on strategies and strategic instruction are still limited (among recent papers, Castellano Risco, 2019; Macaro, 2018;Macaro et al, 2019;Menegale, 2018Menegale, , 2019aPsaltou-Joycey et al, 2014;Ruiz de Zarobe & Zenotz, 2018), "even though [they] are an integral part of the curricular elements that help students to learn" (Ruiz de Zarobe & Zenotz, 2015, p. 319). Reflecting on the characteristics of a CLIL curriculum, and informed by the taxonomies formerly proposed by other scholars in relation to bilingual programmes like CLIL (i.e., Chamot & O"Malley, 1994;Coonan, 2012;Macaro, 2018;Navés et al, 2002;Wolff, 2010), a copious strategy repertoire can be outlined which include, for example: strategies for reading comprehension (Ruiz de Zanobe & Zenotz, 2015;Macaro, 2018); strategies for preparing and structure writing (Papaja, 2014); communication strategies to overcome linguistic difficulties encountered when trying to communicate in a foreign language with a reduced interlanguage system (Garcí a Mayo & Lá zaro Ibarrola, 2015; Martí nez-Adriá n et al, 2019); vocabulary-related strategies, namely, inferring, networking, working with dictionaries (Castellano Risco, 2019;Eldridge et al, 2010;Macaro et al, 2019); strategies to favour learning transfer (cf. Menegale, 2019b).…”