Cohen et al - Sp Gram Strat Web - CALICO

CALICO Journal, 29(1) A.D.Cohen,A.Pinilla-Herrera,J.R.Thompson,andL.E.Witzig

Communicating Grammatically: Evaluating a Learner Strategy Website for Spanish Grammar*

Andrew d. Cohen

AngelA PinillA-herrerA

JonAthAn r. thomPson

lAnCe e. witzig

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

ABSTRACTAfterabrief introductiontolanguagelearnerstrategiesandgrammarstrategiesasasubcategory,itispointedoutthatresearchontheuseofgrammarstrategiesbylearnersofasecondlanguage(L2)hasbeenlimited.ThearticlethendescribestheconstructionofawebsitewithstrategiesforlearningandperformingSpanishgrammar,withafocusongrammarthatwasfoundtobeproblematicforbothnonnativelearnersandteachersalike.Thewebsiteisdividedintostrategiesforlearningaspecificgrammarformandstrategieswhich are consistentwith the learners’ style preferences andwhich couldbeappliedtovariousgrammarforms.Thewebsite’sfocusisonstrategizingaboutthelearninganduseofSpanishgrammarratherthanasacompendiumofrulesforSpanishgrammar.Thearticleendswithareportonasmall-scalestudyusinglargelyqualitativemeanstodeterminetheimpactofaSpanishgrammarstrategieswebsiteon15learn-erswhoagreedtotracktheirexperienceswithselectedstrategiesoveraperiodof6-8weeks.Students’responsesonthestrategytrackingformsandintheinterviewsoverthecourseofstudyindicatedthatthelearnersgenerallybenefitedtosomeextentandinsomecasesgreatlyfromuseofthewebsite,suggestingitspotentialforsupportinglearnersofSpanishinrememberingandcorrectlyusingvariousgrammaticalformsthathadpreviouslybeenproblematicforthem.

KEYWORDSLanguageLearnerStrategies,GrammarStrategies,StylePreferences,MnemonicStrategies

INTRODUCTIONIt issafetosaythat languagelearnerstrategieshaveestablishedthemselvesashavingasignificantroletoplayinthelearninganduseofasecondorforeignlanguage(L2).None-theless,therearethosewhoareunclearastojustwhatlanguagelearnerstrategiesactuallyare.Itwasforthisreasonthatco-authorCohenconductedasurveytodeterminetheuseofterminologyby19worldexpertsinthefieldoflanguagelearnerstrategies(Cohen,2007).Itwasfoundthattherewasconsensusamongtheexpertsinanumberofareasandamodicumofdisagreementwhenitcametothefinetuningofadefinitionforlanguagelearnerstrategies.Forexample,therewasdisagreementastowhetheralanguagestrategyhastohaveallofthefollowingelements:amentalcomponent,agoal,anaction,ametacognitivecomponent,andapotentialthatitwillleadtolearning.Nonetheless,enoughofaconsensuswasfoundabout

*Paperpresentedatthe2009AnnualMeetingoftheAmericanCouncilontheTeachingofForeignLan-guages,SanDiego,CA,November20,2009.

CALICO Journal, 29(1) ALearnerStrategyWebsiteforSpanishGrammar

languagestrategiestomotivatetheplanningandexecutionofnumerousstudiesintotheef-fectivenessofemployingstrategiesinordertoenhancelanguagedevelopment.Manyofthesestudiesarecitedinrecentreviewsoftheliteratureonlistening,reading,speaking,writing,andvocabularystrategies(seeCohen&Macaro,2007).Thefollowingisaworkingdefinitionfor language learnerstrategies: thoughtsandactions,consciouslyselectedby learners, toassistthembothinlearningandusinglanguageingeneralandinthecompletionofspecificlanguagetasks.

WhenOxfordsetabouttoreviewtheliteratureongrammarstrategyresearchfortheCohenandMacarovolume,shefoundthatshehadtosettleforathinkpiecesinceshefoundgram-marstrategies tobe relativelyunexplored.The resultingchapterpromptedacolleague toconductaquestionnaire-basedstudyofreportedstrategyuse(Pawlak,2009).Whatwasstilllackingintheliteraturewerestudiesonlearners’actualuseofgrammarstrategies,beyondthereportsoftheiruseingeneral.ItwasCohen’ssensethatpartofwhatmadegrammarstrategystudiessosparsewaslackofagoodunderstandingonjustwhatgrammarstrategiesmightentail.Thiswasinpartwhatpromptedtheefforttocreateawebsiterepletewithgram-marstrategies—withthethoughtthattheexistenceofsuchawebsitemight,infact,stimulateresearchongrammarstrategies.

ArecentvolumeeditedbyGriffiths(2008)wasdedicatedtotheground-breakingarticlebyRubin(1975)onwhatthegoodlanguagelearnercanteachus.Rubin’sarticleinmanywaysjump-startedthefieldoflanguagelearnerstrategies.Oneofthekeyfindingsfromtheworkonstrategiesamonggoodlanguagelearnersisthatwhiletherewillalwaysbe“naturallearn-ers,”manylanguagelearnersstandtobenefitfromexplicitstrategyinstruction(seeRubin,Chamot,Harris,&Anderson,2007;Chamot,2008;Cohen,2008).Inotherwords,explicitstrategyinstructioncanenhancelearners’languageability.Thetenetsofsuchinstructionthatcouldapplytotheaccessingofstrategiesonawebsitewouldincludethefollowing:

• presentingandmodeling strategies so that learnersbecome increasinglyawareoftheirthinkingandlearningprocesses,and

• gettinglearnerstoevaluatetheeffectivenessofthestrategiesusedandef-fortstheymaketotransferthesestrategiestonewtasks.

Itisimportanttonotethattheeffectivenessofagiveninstanceofstrategyinstructionforagivenlearnerwilldependon

• thespecificlearningcontext,• thetaskathand,• thelearners’backgroundknowledge,• thelearners’goalsforlearningtheparticularlanguage,• thelearners’stylepreferences,and• thelearners’existinglanguagestrategyrepertoireandexperienceusingit.

Itwastheintentionofthecurrentprojecttoapplystrategiestotheareaofgrammar.Eventhoughinthiseraofcommunicativelanguageteachingthereisatendencytoplaydowntheissueofgrammarandevenrelegategrammarlearningtohomeworkassignments,therealityisthatlearnersencountergrammarformsthatareproblematicandthatcausethemrepeateddifficulties,regardlessofhowwelltheseformsarepresentedintextbooks,drilledinclass,orexercisedinhomeworkassignments.AsOxfordandLeenoteintheirreviewofgrammarstrategyissues,“grammarlearningmightormightnotoccurforaparticularstudent.Atheart,learningdependsonthestudent”(2007,p.119).

Whilemuchattentionisfocusedontheteachingofgrammar,notverymuchattentionappearstobepaidtohowlearnersaretogoaboutlearningandperformingit.Oneapproachtothelearningofgrammarwhichhasbeenpromotedbysocioculturaltheoristsistohavestudentsworkcollaborativelyonresolvinggrammarissues(seeSwain,2006).ArecentstudybyMc-DonoughandSunitham(2009),however,wouldsuggestthatstudentsdonotnecessarilyre-memberthegrammarformslateron,eveniftheyhaveasuccessfulcollaborativeexperiencedealingwiththeforms.

Theconclusiontotakeawayfromthisbriefreviewofliteraturewouldbethatgrammarformsmaynotbeacquiredeasily,evenaftercollaborativework.Consequently,thereseemstobearoleforsupportingstudentsinthesystematicuseofstrategiesforretainingthegrammaticalformsthattheyencounterandneedinordertoperforminthelanguage.

THEDESIGNOFAGRAMMARSTRATEGYWEBSITEItwaswiththeintentionofhelpingtoenhancelearners’controlofSpanishgrammarthatthewebsitewasdesigned.ThegoalwastoprovideexamplesofstrategiesthatstudentsofSpan-ishhavefoundsuccessfulforthemindealingwithproblematicgrammar.Forthepurposesofthiswebsite,grammarstrategiesweredefinedas‘deliberatethoughtsandactionsstudentsconsciouslyemployedforlearningandgettingbettercontrolovertheuseofgrammarstruc-tures.’Thewebsitefeaturesstrategiesdeployedsuccessfullybylearners,includingstrategiesfromnonnativeteachersofSpanish,whoneedtolearnSpanishgrammarinordertoteachit.So,ratherthanbeingarepositoryofSpanishgrammarrules(whichcanbefoundelsewhereontheweb),thiswebsiteofferssuggestedstrategiesprovidedbythosewhohaveusedthesestrategiestorememberthegrammaticalstructuresthattheyneeded.

TheprojectcommencedinAugustof2007withaninitialeffortinvolvingthedesignofonlinesurveysforlearnersandinstructorsastowhattheyconsideredtobeproblematicgrammarformsinSpanish.Wefeltitimperativetodosome‘marketresearch’todeterminewhat,infact,wereperceivedbylearnersandtheirteachersasproblematicareasinSpanishgrammar.Fiveversionsofaninventorywereconstructedforlearnersinordertocovervariouspossibleproblematicareasandtotapperceptionsoflearnersatvaryinglevelsoflanguageproficiency.Altogether, 111 students responded to one or another version of this questionnaire (seehttp://www.carla.umn.edu/strategies/sp_grammar/students.html). Inaddition,24teachersresponded tooneof the twoversionsof the survey thatwere intended for teachers (seehttp://www.carla.umn.edu/strategies/sp_grammar/structures.html).Subsequenttothecol-lectionofthissurveyinformation,studentsandnonnativeinstructorsofSpanishwereinvitedtointerviewsessionsthatwerebothaudio-andvideotaped.Twenty-eightstudentsandeightnonnativeteachersparticipated.Questionsweredesignedtoprobetheinterviewees’accuracyofuseofthegrammarformforwhichtheyusedagivenstrategy.

Whileover45hoursofaudio-andvideotapingwereamassed,itturnedoutthatonlyalimitedportionofthismaterial(e.g.,66shortvideoclips)wasworthyofbeingdigitizedandevenasmallerportionwasusedinthewebsite.Thevideoclipsweredigitizedbyaprofessionalme-diaconsortiumtoensurehighquality.Inadditiontothevideoclips,audioclipsweresimilarlyidentifiedandpreparedforthewebsite,alongwithgraphsandothertypesofillustrations.Aspartoftheinterviewprocess,thelearnerswereencouragedtouseaCyberpadwhichmadecomputerizedversionsoftheirlistsandillustrations.Themainpurposewastohaveavisualrecordofthementalimagesthatlearnersdescribedusingaspartoftheirstrategizing.Inad-dition,classnoteswereborrowedfromthestudentsinordertoidentifymaterialthatcouldbeofbenefitinpreparingdescriptionsofstrategiesforthewebsite.Sometimesthematerials

wereusableastheywerefound.Atothertimesitwasnecessarytoenhancetheirappearancetomakethemmoreaccessibletousersofthewebsite.

Thecontentdesign teamconsistedof the co-authorsof thispaperwith thepart-timeas-sistanceoftwoUniversityofMinnesotagraduatestudents inHispanicLinguistics.ThewebdesignteamwascomposedofanundergraduatestudentandastaffmemberfromtheCenterforAdvancedResearchonLanguageAcquisition(CARLA)attheUniversityofMinnesota.Thewebsiteprojectalsobenefitedfromthevisitoftheprojectadvisor,RebeccaOxford(U.S.AirForceCultureandLanguageCenter,MaxwellAFB,Alabama)inNovember2007.ByJulyof2008,thewebsite,thoughstillunderconstruction,wasreadyforusabilitytesting,andso11studentstakingSpanishsummercoursesattheUniversityofMinnesotaparticipatedinthisprocess,whichwas conducted by co-authors Pinilla-Herrera and Thompson. The resultingfeedback included comments about thewebsite credibility, organization, clarity, language,graphs and illustrations (includingCyberpad images), video clips, audio clips, inclusion ofstudentpictures,anduserfriendliness.Atthesametime,thisusabilitytestingprovidedvalu-ablesuggestionsforreducingtheamountoftextandenhancingitspresentation,makingthenavigationeasier,reorganizingsomesections,improvingtheirappearance,andevenmakingsomeveryspecificcorrections.

Oneofthebiggestchallengesinconstructingthewebsitewasdetermininghowtoorganizeit.Withtheassistanceoftheprojectadvisor,itwasdeterminedthatthewebsitewouldbedividedintostrategiesspecifictocertaingrammarformsandthoseofgeneralapplication.Butsinceitwasdecidedthatonlyhigh-qualitystrategies(i.e.,ofpotentialbenefittoalargecross-sectionoflearners)wouldbeusedonthewebsite,welimitedourcoveragetothosekindsofstrategies.Consequently,wediscardedmuchofthematerialgatheredbecauseitdidnotfitthiscriterion.Inaddition,wemadenoefforttoelicitstrategiesinoneoranothercategory.Andneedlesstosay,muchtimewasspentwritingandrevisingthecontentforthewebsitesothatitwouldbeofhighinterestandhighreadabilityforlearnersofSpanish.Hence,eachentryneededtobebrief,tothepoint,useful,andifpossibleentertainingoratleastattrac-tive.Forthisreason,thedecisionwasmadenottouseclipartbutratherphotosoftheactuallearners.Wefeltthatthiswouldhavehigherappealtocollegestudents.

The website (http://www.carla.umn.edu/strategies/sp_grammar) was launched in July of2009.Thecontentofthewebsiteincludesanintroductionthatismeanttogivegeneralori-entationtousersofthesitesothattheycanbeginnavigatingit.Theneachsectionhasabriefpreamble,followedbystrategydescriptions,diagrams,and,insomecases,numerousexamples.Wemadeanefforttobeparsimoniouswiththeuseofaudioandvideoclipssothatuserswouldnotfeeloverloadedbythem.Inaddition,theclipsthemselveswerekeptbriefsoastomaintaintheflowofthewebsiteandavoidlearnersgettingunnecessarilyboggeddown.Astotherationaleforusingthevarioustypesofstrategies,aseparatesectionwassetupwiththisinformation.Asidebarlabeltakesuserstothisrationalesection.Thewebsitealsoincludesaglossary.

THEORGANIZATIONOFTHEWEBSITETheIntroductiontothewebsitegivesthepurposeofthewebsiteandalsodefinesandexem-plifiesagrammarstrategy.ThefollowingistheexampleofagrammarstrategyprovidedintheIntroduction:

“Iwantedtolearnwhethertouseserorestarwithadjectivestodescribehowpeople feel orwhat theyare like (feliz,emocionado, contento,alegre,opti-mista,satisfecho,triste,anddeprimido).TheproblemisthatinSpanish,some

oftheseadjectivescanbeusedwithbothserandestarandotherstendtobeusedmostlywithestar.SoIcreatedtwolistsinmymind.

Then,Icreatedamnemonicusingtheinitialsoftheverbsinthesecondgroup:CSTED.

Next,Ithoughtofsomethingsilly.

Ihavetorememberthatthereisn’tawordrepresentedbytheletter‘A’.”

TheIntroductiontothewebsitealsohasquestionstopromoteself-awarenessofcurrentlan-guagestrategyuse,alongwithalistingofthefactorsthatinfluencethechoiceandeffective-nessofgrammarstrategies.Inaddition,usersareencouragedtotakealearningstylesurveythatcanbedownloadedfromthewebsite.

TheIntroductionmakesitclearthatthewebsiteofferstwosectionsforaccessingstrategies(seeFigure1).Thefirstsectionprovidesstrategiesforaparticulargrammarformandthesecondsectionentailsstrategiesforenhancingthelearner’sgrammarstrategyrepertoire.Asindicatedpreviously,thereisalsoasectionwhichprovidesthereasonforusingonestrategyoranother.Finallyaglossaryisavailable.

Figure1TwoSectionsforAccessingStrategiesintheWebsite

The First Section: Strategies for a Particular Grammar Form “I’m looking for a strat-egy that someone has used successfully to learn a specific grammar form”Thefirstsectioncontainsthefollowingcategories:

Moods•Subjunctive•Imperfectsubjunctive•Conditional•Conditionalperfectandpluperfectsubjunctive•Commands

Pronouns•Relativepronouns•Simultaneoususeofdirectandindirectobjectpronouns•Directandindirectobjectpronounsinaffirmativeandnegativetúcommands•Reflexivepronounsinpresentperfectconstructions

Tenses/Aspect•Preterite•Imperfect•Preteriteversusimperfect

Serandestar

Porversuspara

Gender/Agreement•Genderofnouns•Genderandnumberagreement

Other•Demonstrativeadjectives•Lo+adjective•Haceranddesdeintimeexpressions•Negativewords•Superlatives

Figure2showsoneofthestrategiesfromthissection.Ithelpsstudentsrememberthesitua-tionsinwhichtheverbistobeinthesubjunctivemood.

Figure2AStrategyfrom“Ineedastrategyforaparticulargrammarform”

The Second Section: Strategies for Enhancing the Learner’s Grammar Strategy Rep-ertoire “I’m looking for strategies that match my learning style and that can apply to various grammar forms”Thissectioncontainsthefollowingcategories:

Auditory•Rhymes•Songsandchants•Talkingtonativespeakers

Visual•Colorcoding•Decisionmaps•Drawing/mentalimages•Notecards•Playingwithverbs•Quasi-mathformulas•Quickgrammarreferences

Kinesthetic•Physicalbehaviors•Writingitover

Memoryaids•Acronyms•Initialsasavehicleformnemonics•Phrasesasmemoryaids•Phrasesasvehiclesforsyntax

Cognitive•EnglishsentenceswithSpanishsyntax•EnglishsentenceswithSpanishwordsinserted•Focusingonmeaning•Learningmaterialsasachunk•Learninggrammarbyexplainingit•Usingarchetypalsentences•UsingL1tokeepformsandfunctionsstraight

Contextbased•Makingassociations•Observinguseincontext

Other•Avoidingavoidance•Combiningperceptualmodes

Figure3illustratesoneofthestrategiesfromthissection,theuseofanotecard,whichcanbeappliedtothelearningofnumerousproblematicgrammarforms.Inthisinstancethestrategyentrygivesstudentsideasabouthowtousenotecardsforstudyingoftenconfusedtenses.

Figure3AStrategyfrom“Ineedastrategytoenhancemygrammarstrategyrepertoire”

THEUSABILITYOFTHEWEBSITEInthesummerof2008,whilethesitewasinanintermediatestageofdevelopment,asmallusability studywas conducted to determine how accessible and user friendly thewebsitewas.Co-authorThompsoncollectedthedatafrom11studentusers.Thefocuswasontheirreactionstothefeaturesofthewebsite,andmuchusefulfeedbackwasobtainedforthewebdesignteam.Subsequenteffortsweremadetomakethewebsitemoreuserfriendly.Thefol-lowingaresomeofthepositivecommentsthatlearnersmade:

• Thisisatrustworthy,friendlywebsite.• Theinformationiscrediblebecauseit’sfrompeoplewhohavestudiedSpan-

• Good,detailedintroduction.• Ilikedthewayyoupresentedthestrategies:(1)foraparticulargrammar

formand(2)toenhancemygrammarstrategyrepertoire.• Thewebsiteisprettyeasytonavigate,especiallyifyouknowwhatyou’re

lookingfor.• Thelanguageisgood.It’snottooacademic.• It’spersonable.• Ilikethatstudentsexplaintheirownmethods.Theysoundedsmart.• Ilikethepictures.• Ilikethehand-drawnstuff.• Ilikethenotepadwritingalot.It’smorepersonalthanawebsitetellingyou

howtoconjugatetheverbs.• Theaudioandvideofileskeepitinteresting.It’sbetterthanjustreading.• Thesevideosareinterestingtowatch.

Alongwith thesepositive comments, therewerevarious suggestionsabouthow tomakenavigationeasiersuchasbyimprovingtheinformationinthesidebars.Therewerealsoafewsuggestionsforimprovingthepresentationofmaterialinthewebsite.

THENATUREOFTHEWEBSITEBeforedescribingastudyaddressingtheeffectivenessofthewebsite,wefirsttakestockofwhatitisandwhatitisnot.Thewebsiteamountstoacollectionof72strategiesthatwerefoundtobeeffectiveforlearnersofSpanish.ThewebsitefocusesonstrategizingaboutthelearninganduseofSpanishgrammar;itdealsonlywithSpanishgrammarrulesastheyap-pearinthestrategiesthatarefeaturedinthewebsite.TheintentionisnottoteachSpanishgrammarbutrathertosupportlearnersinlearningandperformingthegrammarformsthattheyselect.Forthosewhowish,therearelinkstoSpanishgrammarsites(e.g.,http://spanish.about.com/od/learnspanishgrammar/Learn_Spanish_Grammar.htm).

Itisalsoimportanttorememberthatthesestrategieswereempiricallyobtainedinabottom-upfashion.InsteadofstartingwithataxonomyofSpanishgrammarstrategies,wecreatedthewebsitebypouringoverhoursofvideo-andaudiotapeddataandselectingonlythosereportedmovesthatmetthedefinitionofgrammarstrategies.Inaddition,co-authorPinilla-Herreramade sure that the nonnative-speaking students and teachers who reported thestrategieswere, in fact,genuinelyable tohandle thegrammar forms inquestion.Conse-quently,thesetofstrategiesonthewebsitedoesnotconstituteafullsetofSpanishgram-marstrategies,butratheranempiricallyderivedcompendiumofthestrategiesthatemergedfromthisdatacollectioneffort.Moreimportant,whiletaxonomiesofstrategiesexist,1toourknowledgethereisnotaxonomyofSpanishgrammarstrategiesavailable.

Whatthiswebsiterepresentsisawidevarietyofdifferenttypesofstrategies,includingstrat-egies related to perceptual styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), cognitive strategies,memory strategies, and other strategies that defied easy classification. For example, thevariousmnemonicstrategiessuchasthoseemployingmnemonickeywordsandphrasescon-stituteonlyone,albeitanimportantsubcategoryofthestrategiesonthewebsite.Someofthestrategiesarecomplex,otherssimpler.Inaddition,thestrategiesarenotindeliblylinkedtoanyparticularSpanishgrammarcontent.Thesecondsectionofthewebsiteonstrategiesforenhancingthelearner’sgrammarstrategyrepertoireinfactdemonstrateshowthesamestrategiescanapplytoanumberofdifferentgrammarpoints.Infact,thewebsitealtogetherissimplyintendedtoillustratehowsuchwebsitescanbeconstructedfordealingwithstrate-giesinanumberofskillareas;itisintendedtopromptothersuchefforts.

Withregardtogrammarrules,NegueruelaandLantolf(2006)havepointedoutthattheex-planationsthatstudentsreceiveinSpanishclassarebasedonrulesofthumb2orincompletesimplificationsoftheserulesderivedfromtextbooksandoftenrepresent listsofunrelatedsurfacedistinctions.Theycontendthatlearnersneedtobetaughttounderstandconceptuallythemeaningofgrammaticalfeaturessuchastense/aspectandcliticpronouns.Thiswouldcallforhavinglearnersmaterialize(bymeansof,say,diagrams),verbalize,andinternalizethemeanings.Whilewecanseetheadvantagesofleadinglearnerstomoredeeplyunderstandthegrammarformsthattheyareusing,ourwebsiteservessimplyasalearningaid.Studentsaretopickandchoosethestrategiesthatappealtothem,someofwhichproviderulesofthumbaboutSpanishgrammar.Thetruthisthatwhenlearnerswishtobeexpedient,theydo,infact,lookforrulesofthumb.IftheyattemptedtogaindeepunderstandingofeverySpan-ishgrammarrule,theyprobablywouldnotadvanceveryfarinproficiency.

Learnersusingourwebsitearegoingtofindnumerousstrategiesthatcouldpotentiallyassistthemincheckingovertheirwritingandinperformingwellonquizzesandtests.Yettherewillalsobestrategieswhichcouldhaveaprofoundimpactontheirdevelopmentofdeepergram-maticalunderstandings.Onesuchstrategyisreferredtoaboveas“avoidingavoidance:”itwouldappearonlynaturaltoavoidmaterialthatistoochallengingatalearner’scurentstageofdevelopment,sothisstrategyisintendedtoencouragestudentsnottodothis.

Finally,thewebsite’scontenthasbeencarefullycheckedtoensurethat it isaccuratewithregard toSpanishgrammar.Pinilla-Herreraherself teachesSpanishandSpanishgrammarandhasverifiedthatthematerialcontained inthestrategies isaccurate.WewouldarguethatawebsitesuchastheonedescribedherehasthepotentialtoassistlearnersinlearningwhateverSpanishgrammarinformationtheywishtolearn.Itisbynomeanslimitedjusttorulesofthumb.

STUDY:HOWLEARNERSUSETHEWEBSITEWiththecompletionofthewebsiteconstruction inJanuary2009,wewishedtodeterminehowitwasactuallybeingusedandalsotogetasenseofitsbenefittothelearnerswhowereusingit.Co-authorsThompsonandWitzigeachreceivedresearchfundingfromtheUniversityofMinnesotainordertoinvestigatetheimpactofwebsiteuseonstudentlearnersofSpanish.

Whatgivesthissmall-scalestudent-ledstudyauniquenicheisthatitwasresearchingstrate-giesatahighlevelofspecificity,unlikeinotherstudieswhereastrategyismorelike“Iusedadictionary.”Inthiscase,sincethewebsiteoffered72strategiesthatwereverydetailedandspecific,theresearchcoulddelveintotheparticularsofasmallgroupoflearnerswhoweredealingwithstrategiesatthishighdegreeofspecificity.

Theresearchquestionsforthestudywere

1. Towhatextentdolearnersperceivethestrategiesthattheyselectarehelp-fulinimprovingtheirSpanish?

2. Whatarethelearners’reasonsforchoosingthestrategiesthattheychoose?3. Howarespecificstrategiesreceivedbylearners?4. Whatarethelearners’overallimpressionsofthewebsite?

Research DesignSampleRecruitment involvedvisits toanumberof4th-and5th-semesterclasses,aswellastoacourseaboutlanguagelearning.Theaimofthestudywasexplained,andtheemailsofinter-estedstudentswerecollected.Thebulkoftheresponseswerefrom5th-semesterstudents.TheelevenfemaleandthreemaleUniversityofMinnesotaundergraduateswhowererecruit-edinFebruary,2009,tendedtobe“intermediatemid”learners:twelvebeing5th-semesterstudents,two4th-semesterstudents,andonemoreadvanced.Amalestudentatthe4th-semesterlevelwasaddedinlatesummer2009.FiveoftheparticipantswereSpanishmajors,9wereSpanishminors,andonewasneither.Thestudentsrangedinagefrom19to22(seeTable1).Subjectsweregivena$75creditattheUniversitybookstorefortheirparticipationinthestudy.

Table1BasicDemographicsoftheStudentParticipantsName Gender Spanishmajor Spanishminor CurrentlevelofSpanishclassDrew M X MajorprojectseminarLayla F X 5thsemesterMitch M X 5thsemesterErin F X 5thsemesterDaniel M X 5thsemesterElise F X 5thsemesterLibby F X 5thsemesterMichiko F X 5thsemesterMelanie F X 5thsemesterMolly F X 5thsemesterAbby F X 5thsemesterAmber F X 5thsemesterAnne F X 5thsemesterVick M X 4thsemesterKallie F 4thsemester

TreatmentThefirst14participantsall receivedanorientation to thewebsite inFebruary,2009, thatconsistedofhowtousethewebsite,howtousetheStrategyTrackingForm(seebelow),andwhatitentailedforthemtowriteuptheirexperienceswithstrategiesfromthewebsite.Theparticipantsthenhadfreereinofthewebsiteinthattheycouldchooseasmanyorasfewstrategiesastheywishedandwerefreetochoosewhicheveronestheywanted.Thelearnersaccessedthewebsitefor1-2monthsduringSpringsemesterin2009,keepingtrackofthestrategiesthattheychosetoaddtotheirstrategyrepertoire.

InstrumentationStrategy Tracking Form.TheStrategyTrackingFormdirectedsubjectstoindicatethestrate-giesthattheyaccessed,theelementsinthestrategyinformationthattheyused(e.g.,audio,video,orwrittencontent),rateitsutilitytothem,andindicatewhethertheyhadaddedittotheirrepertoire(seeStrategyTrackingFormintheAppendix).Theywerealsoaskedtopro-videaninstanceortwowhentheyhadactuallyusedthestrategyandtheextenttowhichitassistedthemornot.

Interview #1.DuringthesecondvisitofprojectadvisorinearlyApril,2009,RebeccaOxfordprovidedhelpfulsuggestionsaboutwhattoincludeinthestudentinterviews.Thefirstinter-viewcalledfordemographicinformationsuchastheclassesthatthestudentsweretaking,theirmajors,andtheextentandnatureoftheiruseofSpanish.Theywerealsoaskedabouttheir motivation for studying Spanish, their attitudes about studying grammar, why theywantedtolearnSpanish,andtheirlearningstylepreferences.Thediscussionthenfocusedontheresponsestothespecificstrategiesselectedbyparticipants,usingtheStrategyTrackingFormasareference.

Interview #2.Thisinterviewreviewedthestrategiesthatthelearnershadselectedforthefirstmeetingtoseeifthestrategieshadbeenofadditionaluse.Afterthisreview,thediscus-sionmovedtothenewstrategiesselectedbytheparticipantsandclosedwithadiscussionoftheparticipants’generalthoughtsonthewebsiteandideasforimprovingit.

DatacollectionproceduresThedatacollectionperiodwas6-8weeks,varyingfromsubjecttosubject,startingforsomeinFebruaryof2009andcontinuingintoMarchorApril,andforothersstartinginAprilandcontinuingintoMay.Forthemostpart,studentsreportedonapproximatelyfourstrategiesduringeachinterview.Theinterviewslastedroughly20-25minutes,thoughsomewereonlyfor15minutesandothersupto35.Witzigaudiotapedhisinterviewsandthentooknotesfromtheaudiotapes,whileThompsonjusttooknotes.

ProceduresfordataanalysisA3-pointscalewasusedforratingtheperceivedassistanceinlearningSpanishgrammarthatagivenstrategyprovided:helpful,nothelpful,orunclear.Theratingfocusedonthegoodnessoffitbetweenagivenstrategyandaparticularstudentwhoselectedit,ratherthanspeakingtothequalityofthestrategybecauseitwassomuchapersonalmatterhowitwasusedandtowhatextentitsusewaseffective.Theratingsweremadebasedontheself-accountsofthelearners’experienceswiththestrategies.Whenlisteningtothesubjects’explanationoftheirstrategyuseininterviewsandontheresponseforms,welookedforexpressionsthatposi-tivelydescribedtheutilityofthestrategyforthem,aswellasevidencethattheyhadactuallyusedthestrategy,todeterminewhetherthestrategyimprovedthesubjects’Spanishability.AnexamplewouldbewhenEliseusedarhymetokeepdemonstrativeadjectivesstraightandstatedthattherhymehad“completelyclearedupanyconfusionIhadbeenhaving”andthatsheusedit“allthetime.”

ResultsQuestion1:Towhatextentdidlearnersperceivethestrategiesthattheyhadse-lectedtobehelpfulinimprovingtheirSpanish?TheparticipantsthoughtthatmostofthestrategiestheyselectedwerehelpfulandimprovedtheircontrolovercertainaspectsofSpanishgrammar.Ofthe106strategiesselectedbythe15learners(themostbeing9andtheleastbeing3),thelearnersconsidered73%ofthemtobeofassistance,withonly17%beingclearlyunhelpful.Foranother10%,itwasunclearhowbeneficialtheywerethoughttobe.AsTable2indicates,learnerstendedtoperceivethem-selvesasgainingsomethingfromthestrategyuse.Thefindingsalsoshowedsomevariationintermsofhowbeneficialparticularstrategieswereperceivedtobe.

Table2Students’PerceptionsoftheHelpfulnessoftheStrategiesName Strategy

perceivedasbeneficial

Strategyperceivedasunhelpful

Unclear Totalnumberofstrategies

Michiko 9 0 0 9Elise 8 0 0 8Molly 8 1 1 10Kallie 7 0 0 7Melanie 6 0 0 6Drew 5 1 3 9Mitch 5 3 0 8Erin 5 4 0 9Amber 4 0 3 7Layla 4 1 0 5Abby 4 1 2 7Daniel 3 1 0 4Anne 3 2 0 5Libby 3 2 1 6Vick 3 2 1 6Total 77(73%) 18(17%) 11(10%) 106(100%)

Thelearners’writtenreportsandinterviewaccountsprovidedmorein-depthinformationre-gardingthestrategiestheyselected.Alloftheparticipantsinthestudy,eventhosewhohadalesspositiveoverallimpressionofthewebsite,claimedthatcertainstrategieshadhelpedthemimproveelementsoftheirSpanishgrammarperformance.Theyweregenerallyabletotestoutthestrategiesthattheyselectedinclassroomactivities,whichweremainlywritten.AnexampleisthestatementbelowbyKallieexplainingtheusefulnessofanacronymtohelpdistinguishmasculineandfemininenounsonaquiz.

Itreallyhelpstojustrememberafewirregularendingsformasculineandfemi-ninenouns.Weweretestedonthegenderofsomeirregularnounsonourfirstquizandrememberingtheseendingsreallyhelped.Igot100%.

The usefulness of strategies to the learnerswas alsomanifested by increased confidencewhenusingaspecificform.Libbyprovidedanexampleofthiswhensheexplainedhowanacronymforthebasicdifferencesbetweenserandestarhelpedher.

This strategyhasassistedmeboth insideandoutside theclassroom. Iwasnever100%surewhenIshoulduseserversusestar,butnowIfindmyselfgoingbacktotheacronymsnotonlyforin-classwritingandspeaking,butwithoutofclasscompositions.

AnotherissuewastheextenttowhichparticipantsperceivedimprovementintheirSpanishgrammarperformanceasaresultofusingstrategies fromthewebsite.Studentsreportedimprovementinclassroomactivities,ontests,andonwritingassignments.Thestudents’im-provementinSpanishperformancewaslimitedtoclassroomuse,consistentwiththeirreportthattheydidnotuseSpanishmuchoutofclass.Inaddition,sincealmostallofthestudentswereinSpanishreadingandwritingclasseswithlittleifanyfocusongrammar,reportedgainsingrammarwereattributedtotheinfluenceofthegrammarstrategies.Studentsreported,forexample,thatthestrategieshelpedtheirwriting.Erin,forinstance,explainedthevaluethatshefoundinastrategydealingwithdemonstrativeadjectives.

Therhymewascatchy.Itwasverybriefanditwaseasytorememberdemon-strativeadjectives.ThisisoneoftheproblemsIencounterwhenI’mwritingessays.Ican’tdeterminewhentouse‘estos’and‘esos’orif‘estes’evenex-ists.Ithelpsmewithmanyofmywritingassignments.ManywordsIuseinmypapersareestos,estas,esos,ese,etc.NowIcaneasilyapplythisfun,catchylinetohelpme(remember)whentousesuchwords.

MelaniementionedthatsheusedthePRINTversusLITEacronymwhilewritingdraftsofherpaperstohelpdistinguishwhentouseserorestar.Shealsonotedusingthislaststrategyonatest.

OnourlastSpanishexamwewereworkingwithserversusestar.Itwasonourstudyguidetogooverthetwoinourbook,butIfoundthisstrategymorehelp-fulsoIaddedittomystudyguideinsteadandrememberedPRINTandLITEonourtest.Ireferredbacktoitduringthetesttooandithelpedmetocorrectlydeterminethesituationswhereserwasneeded,andthesituationswhereestarwasneeded.

Furthermore,somelearnersnotedimprovementsintheirabilityandconfidencetousegram-marformsthathadbeenproblematicorunclear.Forexample,Abbynotedthatsheconscious-lyusedamnemonicdevicedealingwithtúcommandswhensheorderedfoodinSpanish.Fi-nally,someoftheparticipantsperceivedgeneralimprovementinbeingmorestrategicintheirlearningprocess.Forexample,Kalliereportedthataccessingthewebsitechangedhowshestudied.Asacaseinpoint,shehadalreadybeenusingnotecards,butthewebsitechangedherapproachandshenowusedthemmoreoftenandtogreatereffect.

Question2:Whatwerethelearners’reasonsforchoosingthestrategiesthattheychose?In the study’s orientation, participants were explicitly encouraged to use the website asthoughtheywereusingitfornormaluseratherthanjustforthestudy.Atthesametime,however,theyweregivenorientationregardinghowtousethewebsite—thatthereweretwo

majorpathwaysthroughstrategiesforspecificgrammarformsorthroughgeneralstrategiesforenhancingtheirstrategyrepertoire.Itisimportanttonotethatsomestrategiescouldbereachedthroughbothpaths.

Astronginterestamonglearnerswasfoundinseekingstrategiesforspecificgrammarforms,andparticularlyforthoseformsgivingthemthemostdifficultyorthoseformsthattheywereworkingon inclass.The learnershad twooptions forsearching forstrategies; theycouldsearchforthemwiththeintentionoffindinghelpwithaspecificgrammarform,ortheycouldsearchmoregenerallyforstrategiestoaddtotheir“grammarstrategyrepertoire.”Sixty-five(61%)ofthestrategieswereselectedwiththeaimofhelpingwithaspecificgrammarform,and41(39%)wereselectedasgeneralstrategies.Itneedstobepointedout,however,thatthedistinctionisabitmisleading.Inreality,afairportionofthestrategiesfoundthroughthegeneralstrategyroutenonethelessprovidedassistancewithspecificgrammarforms.HereisanexamplefromKallie.

IoftengetconfusedwhenItrytofigureoutwhethersomethingisindicativeorsubjunctive.Thisstrategylookedlikeitwouldclearupmyconfusion.

Formanyofthelearners,themainintentionofthegeneralstrategiessectionofthewebsite—toprovide learnerswithgrammarstrategies thatwereconsistentwith their learningstylepreferences—seemedtogounnoticed.Afewstudentsmentionedthatusingthewebsitemadethemthinkabouthowtheylearnedandthelearningstylestheyfavored,butnoneseemedtomethodicallyseekoutstrategiesbasedontheirownlearningstyles.Inafewcases,studentssearched forstrategiesbasedontheir learningstyles,suchasMichiko,whenshe foundastrategythathelpedlearnerswithagreementbyrelatingittoanalgebrapolynomial.

Thefactthatthisstrategywasmathematicalappealedtomealot.Myfavoriteclassinmiddleandhighschoolwasalgebraandmathcomesprettyeasilytome.Therefore,thinkingofagreementasapolynomialwasuniquebutinterest-ingtome.Ittotallymakessensetoo.

Therewasalsoafairamountofindividualvariationintermsofhowstudentsactuallyusedthewebsite.Somestudentscasuallybrowsedthewebsitelookingforstrategiesthatappealedtothem,otherswentdirectlytostrategiesthattheyneededforspecificforms,andstilloth-ersspentaconsiderableamountoftimelookingthroughallthestrategiesandthenchosethestrategiesthatpiquedtheirinterest.Forexample,whileMelanieinitiallyspent4-5hoursgoingthroughthemajorityofthestrategiesonthewebsiteandthenfocusedononlythosethatreallyappealedtoher,Abbyusedthewebsitefor15minutesnowandthenlookingforstrategiesthatsheneededforspecificgrammarforms,andespeciallywhenwritingpapers.Erinobservedacouplestrategieseverydayforaweek.Amberusedthewebsite“inchunks”lookingforstrategiesinareaswhereshesoughtimprovement.Danielinitiallyvisitedtheweb-siteseveraltimesandwentstraightforstrategiesforspecificforms,particularlyrelatingtothesubjunctivemood,andeventuallybrowsedforsomegeneralstrategies.

Consciousofthetypeofstrategiesthatappealedtoher,Annelookedthroughallthestrate-giesinonesittingbutspentmostofhertimeworkingwithrhymesandacronyms.LikeAnne,somestudentswereawareof the learningstylesbeforetheyusedthewebsiteorbecamemoreawareofthembyusingthewebsiteand,asaresult,wentforstrategiesthatcoincidedwiththesepreferences.BothMelanieandMolly,forexample,reportedbeingvisuallearners.ThefirststrategythatMelaniedecidedtoworkwithwasadecisionmaptodistinguishbe-tweenthepreteriteandimperfecttenses.Uponfurtheruseofthewebsite,sherealizedhow

muchshelikedcatchystrategiesthatwereeasytointernalize,andconsequentlyfourofthesixstrategiessheselectedwerewithacronyms,rhymes,ormnemonics.Mollyalsoindicatedinherfirst interviewthatawarenessofhervisual learningpreference“wasabig factor inchoosingstrategies.”Herpreferenceforvisuallearningwasunderscoredbyherstrategicde-cisiontowriteallofthestrategiesthatshefoundappealingonnotecardssothatshecouldlookatthemandconvenientlyhavethemwithher.

Question3:Howwerespecificstrategiesreceivedbylearners?Thefocusofthisresearchquestionwasonthestrategiesthemselvesandwhethertherewassuchathingasa“good”strategy.Wewillconsideronlystrategieswhichwereselectedbyatleast4to5learners.DrawingonexamplesfromtheStrategyTrackingForm,letusfirstlookatinstancesoffourstrategiesthatwereconsistentlyreportedtobeofassistance.

1. Arhymetokeepthedemonstrativeadjectivesstraight

Michiko:EventhoughIhavebeenstudyingSpanishforsolong,Istillhavetroublewithdemonstrativeadjectives,specifically“this”and“that”becausetheyarespelledsosimilarly….Recentlywhilewritingmyessay,insteadofgoingwithmy instinct on “this-that,” I try to remember this rhyme.Al-thoughI forgettouse itsometimes,InoticedthatImake lessmistakeswith thesedemonstrativeadjectivesand I don’t accidentally switchbackandforthbetween“this-that”either.

Elise:ThisisasimplyrhymethathascompletelyclearedupanyconfusionIhadbeenhaving….WhenIamwritinganyofthedemonstrativeadjectives(este,esta,ese,esa…),Iconsciouslythinkaboutthis.

Drew:Ialwaysconfusethedemonstrativeadjectives.IhavelookedthemupahundredtimesbutwhenitcomestousingthemIalwaysmessup,sothat’swhyIfeltthiswouldbeuseful….Icanseeaslightimprovementinmyuseofthedemonstrativeadjectives.Idon’thavetocontinuallylookthemupasmuch….TheotherdayIwasworkingonmyseniorpaper,andIwastryingtosay“thismethod”andIcouldn’tconvincemyselfthat“este”wascorrect,soIthoughtoftherhymeasareassurance.

Melanie:Rhymesaregenerallyeasytorememberforme,andagoodref-erencetokeephandy.Iwouldsaythatthisstrategyhelpedinandoutoftheclassroom.Iusuallydon’tusedemonstrativeadjectivesthatmuch,butnowseeingthisstrategymademefeellikeIshouldtrytoincorporatethemmore,soinclassIhavebeenthinkingaboutthem.Irememberwantingtousethestrategyjusttoenhancemyoveralluseofdemonstrativeadjectives.

Erin:Therhymewascatchy.Itwasverybriefanditwaseasytorememberdemonstrativeadjectives.ThisisoneoftheproblemsIencounterwhenI’mwritingessays. Ican’tdeterminewhen touseestosandesosor ifestesevenexists.Ithelpsmewithmanyofmywritingassignments.ManywordsIuseinmypapersareestos,estas,esos,ese,etc.NowIcaneasilyapplythisfun,catchylinetohelpme(remember)whentousesuchwords.

2. porversusparadistinctionbyusingEnglishequivalentsforpor

Kallie:Iusedthisstrategyonmytestlastweekfortheporversusparasec-tion.Foreachblank,ItranslatedwhatthesentencewassayingandchosetherightwordbasedontheequivalentsIstudies.Igotmytestbackandgotthemallright!

Libby:It’saverysimplemethodforrememberingtheusesofpor,andtheninferringwhentouseparabasedonthoseconclusions….It’sawaytore-memberthedistinctionwithoutmemorizingextensivedefinitionsforbothporandpara….IconsciouslyrememberthedefinitionswhenIamwriting.

Vick:Itwascolorcoded,whichkindofmadeitmoreaestheticallypleasing.Ithinkitwasnicebecauseitwasshort,andithad…equivalentslike‘by,’‘through,’ ‘inexchange for.’Thiswouldhavebeensuperusefulespeciallyduringthetest….Afterseeingitandpracticingwithitalittlebityoukindofstarttogetafeel:Insteadofthinkingofporasalways‘by,’ifyouthinkofitas‘through,’…or‘inexchangefor,’itmakesmoresenseanditwouldprobablyhelpkidsoutalot.

3. DUWITacronymforrememberingwhentheusetheimperfecttense/aspect

Libby:…I’vereferredtotheacronymtodecidewhichtensetouse.My%correctoffill-in-the-blankconjugationquestionsincreasedafterusingthisstrategy….Mypre-testworksheet=50%correct[beforeaddingthisstrat-egy],myexam=100%correct.

4. Endingsasbandnamesforrememberingimperfecttense/aspect

Elise:Ihaven’tusedthisstrategyintheclassroomyet,butIhavebeenabletouseitinoutsidecompositions.Suddenly,everythingjustmakessense.:)

Now,soastounderscorethepointthatthestrategiesonthewebsitewerenot inherentlybeneficial,we lookat threestrategies reportedbymost students tobeofassistance,butnonethelessreportedbyonestudentineachcaseasbeingunhelpful.

1. AmnemonicdeviceaboutactorVinDieselforrememberingaffirmativetúcommands

Reported to be helpfulDrew:ItisanacronymthatIcanrememberfairlyeasily….Ihavenoticedthat I am lesshesitantwhenusing theaffirmative tú commands….TheotherdayIwastryingtotelloneofthechildreninmyclassto“doit,”butIcouldn’tthinkoftheaffirmativetúcommandforhacer,soIrecalledtheacronymandgothaz.

Abby:Iwaslookingforawaytoremembertheirregularcommands.Mne-monicsareusuallyagoodwayformetorememberthings,sothisstrategyworkswellforme.ThisstrategyhashelpedmemoreinsidetheclassroomthanoutsidebecauseIdon’thavemanyopportunitiestouseSpanishout-sideofclass.Inclass,I’veuseditafewtimeswhenconversingwithclass-mates.Ihavealsouseditwhentalkingtomyyoungerbrotherwhois in

Spanish classes inhigh school.When Iwashomeover springbreakmybrotherandIweretalking,andIusedthemnemonictorememberhowtotellhimtoputmybaginmyroom.

Erin:Itissuchabrightideathatshewouldcomeupwithsomecatchyandmemorable (phrase) like this. It iseasy to retainandunderstand.Somephrasesarehardtocomprehendanddon’tmakesensebutthisoneisamaz-ingbecauseIactually(understand)whatthey’retalkingabout.Ithelpedmewithexamsandwritingessays.Someirregulartúcommandsarehardtorememberbecausetheydon’tsoundthesameastheirindicativeform.CommandsareoneofmyweakestpointsinSpanishbecausetherearejusttoomanyruleswiththepositiveandnegativeincludingtheagreement,el,ellos,formalandinformal.WhenIfirstsawit,IwasimpressedandIstartedsaying[it]out loudoverandover.I’veusedthis inmyessaysbecauseIhadtowritesomedialogueforthecharactersandIusedthecommandsforirregulartú.

Reported to be unhelpfulLayla: Iknowtherearea few irregularcommandssoIwantedtofindastrategyforthemall….What’sinterestingisthatIdorememberthisde-vice;itstickswithme.Ijustchoosenottouseit.Thewayitsoundsinmyheaddoesnotatallrelatetotheirregulars:ven di sal haz ten ve pon sé….

2. Anacronym—PRINT+LITE—fortheser-estardistinction

Reported to be helpfulElise:IjusttookaSpanish3015testyesterdayandhadtowriteapara-graphonreligioninAmérica Latina.IusedtheacronymPRINTtoremember“religion”usedser,soIwasabletocorrectlyformthesentence,Muchas personas en América Latina son católicas.

Kallie:IdefinitelyusedthisstrategywhenIwaswritingmymesa redonda[composition], especiallybecause Ihad toalsodecidebetweenpretéritoandimperfecto,soitwasnicetobemorecertainaboutwhich(serorestar)touseandthenfigureoutwhichtense.

Melanie:Ilikedtheeasilyrememberedacronymof“PRINTandLITE”andIcouldalwaysusesomehelpwithserandestar ….Ithashelpedmebothinsideandoutsideoftheclassroomwithmyspeakingandwriting.Icon-stantlyreferbacktoitifIgetconfusedbetweenthetwowordsandaslongasIneedtouseiteverynowandthen,itiseasyformetoremember….Ifindthisstrategyusefulformetoobecauseinmyclass,SPAN3015,wedonotreallyhavegrammarbooksoutsideofourcomposiciónbook,whichismoreusefulforspecificwritingtechniques,notasmuchspecificgrammar,andsinceideaslikeserversusestarareeasytoconfuseithasbeennicehavingthiswebsitetocometowhenIfeltIneededanewwaytolookatcertainconcepts.Also,outsideofthetest,Iusedthisstrategyonalmostallofmycompositionsinthisclass.IfIeversecondguessedmyself,orthoughtsomethingsoundedfunny,Iwouldlookatthestrategyandcompareittomywritingtoseeifitmakessense,whichhasbeenusefulformetocorrectmypapersandimprovethemthroughdrafts.

Reported to be unhelpful Mitch:Ithoughtitcouldbeuseful,butrealizedthatIhavetroubleremem-beringwhatthelettersstandfor….I’llrememberwhattheacronymisbutnotwhateachletterrepresents.

3. Anacronym—WEIRD—fordealingwithsubjunctivemood

Reported to be helpful Elise:Thisstrategyhashelpedmeoutside theclassroomwhenI’mwrit-ingSpanish.SituationswhenIshouldhavebeenusingsubjunctive,Ioftenwasn’t.NowthatIhaveaneasytooltoremember,Iamusingsubjunctivemoreandmore.

Reported to be unhelpful Vick:Ididn’tfindthisstrategyusefulbecauseforme,acronymsarekindofdistracting.Forstudyinganything,Ineedthingstobesimpleandstraighttothepoint.

Thefindingsforthisquestionunderscorethefactthatstrategiesarenotnecessarilyinher-entlybeneficialbutratherpotentiallyofbenefitdependingonthelearners’characteristicsandpreferences.Thisstudyprovidedspecificinstancesofhowitdependedlargelyonthelearnerastowhetherhighlydetailedstrategieswouldwork.ThenegativeaccountsreportedbyLayla,Mitch,andVickwouldemphasizethispoint.Vick,forexample,reportedsufferingfromatten-tiondeficitdisorderandthatthiswaswhyhefoundstrategiessuchasacronyms(whichimplymemorizingwhateachletterstandsfor)distractingandconsequentlynotsuitableforhim.

Question4:Whatwerethelearners’overallimpressionsofthewebsite?Thesubjectsforthisstudyweregenerallypositiveaboutthewebsite.Subjectswhohadfoundmostof the strategies that theyselected “helpful”planned togoonusing them through-outtheirSpanishstudies.MelanienotedthatincreasedconfidenceinhercontrolofSpanishgrammaractuallyincreasedhermotivationtolearnandusethelanguage.Mostlearnersalsoexpressedadesiretocontinueusingthewebsite.Mollysaidthatshewould“definitelyrecom-menditforothers.”Abbyexpressedthat,inadditiontohelpingherwithgrammar,thewebsitehelpedherbecomemoreawareofherlearningstylepreferences.

Incontrast,therewereafewstudentswhofoundthewebsitetobetoosimplisticandfeltthatitwouldbemoreappropriateforbeginninglearners,despitehavingfoundsomeofthestrategiestohavebeenhelpfultothem.ThesestudentsfeltthattheirexperienceinclassroomSpanishhadtakenthembeyondthelevelwheretheyneededtoworkongrammar.Thisper-ceptionseemedtosourtheirattitudetowardthewebsiteandmadethemlesswillingtosearchforhelpfulmaterial.Oneparticipantthoughtthatthegeneralstrategieswerenotthathelp-ful,aviewsomewhatechoedbyanotherparticipantwhofeltthatthestrategiesforparticularformsweremoreinteresting.

Here,forexample,isanobservationfromAnneabouttheuseofthewebsitebylearnersatdifferentproficiencylevels.

Ifeltlikesomeoftheones[strategies]thatwouldpossiblybehelpfulweren’tdirectedtowardsacollegestudent.Iwouldthinkthat itwouldbebetter forsomeonewhojuststartedlearningSpanishatayoungerage.

ThenherearesomecommentsfromMitch.

I’mbiasedinthefactthatIalreadyknewmostofmygrammar,andwasre-allyproficient,soIwasreallyjustlookingmoreforperfection….Idon’tthinkIlearnedalotgrammar-wise…(Forme)nowSpanishisjust(about)perfectinggrammarasopposedtolearningitbrandnew,exceptforIguessthere(are)somemoresubjunctive(forms)Ihavetolearn….Ithink(thewebsiteprovides)moreofageneralintroduction….Ithinkthatdefinitelybeginnertointermedi-ateleveliswherethisisuseful.

ButthentherewastheobservationofDrewwhostartedwiththeviewexpressedbyMitch,butwhounderwentachangeinhisposition:

Atfirstglance,IthinksinceIamjustabouttograduatewithmySpanishmajor,Ithoughtitdidn’treallypertaintome.IguessIlookedatsomeofthosestrate-giesandfelt,“Wow,whatisthepointofhavingthese?”ButafterwemeantthatfirsttimeIrealizedthatImighthavebeenalittleoverconfidentinsomeofmyabilitiesandafterIwentthroughandexaminedsomeoftheseIreallysawthebenefitsofsomeofthem.

Although learnersvaried intheirperceptionsastohowuseful thewebsitewastothemingeneral andas to thehelpfulnessof specific strategies,most if notall of theparticipantsdevelopedasensethat,insomeareas,theircontrolofSpanishgrammarhadimprovedasaresultofusingstrategiesfromthewebsite.Acommonperceptionamongtheparticipantswasthatthestrategiesweremosthelpfulwhenitcametowritingtasks.ThismayhavehadtodowiththeirlimitedopportunitiestospeakSpanishandbecausegrammaticalcorrectnesswasviewedasmoreimportantinwriting.

Vicksaidinhisfirstinterviewthateventhoughhehadfoundthestrategiesinteresting,hewould probably not use thewebsite because he preferred electronic resources that actu-allytaughtgrammarthroughverblists,explanations,exemplification,andopportunitiestopractice.Hesaidrepeatedlythatthestrategiesseemedhelpful,butbecausethewebsitewasmissingstrategiesformanyofthegrammarpointsforwhichheneededassistance,thesitewasnotthatappealingtohim.HeassertedthathepreferredwebsitessuchasSpanish.combecauseitofferedthefeaturesthathewanted.Ashespentmoretimeusingthewebsite,itwasclearerforhimthatourpurposewasnottogobeyondthestrategypresentationsandtoalsoprovidegrammaticalexplanationsandexercises.Consequently,eventhoughhekeptsuggestingthatanall-inclusivewebsitewouldbeevenbetter,hiscommentsaboutthecur-rentwebsitebecamemorepositiveinsubsequentmeetings.Thequotebelowisfromthelastinterviewwithhim.

Thewebsite…isverymultidimensionalanditcaterstoavarietyof learnersbecauseyouguyshaveacronyms,songs,videos,chants….Withallthecriti-cisms,onecomplimentthatIhavetosayisthatit’sgotaverygoodvariety,andIthinkit’snotjustforonetypeofperson….It’sgonnabeusefulforalotofdifferentpeople.

DiscussionSummaryandinterpretationofthestudyThe studyused largelyqualitativemeans todetermine the impact of aSpanishgrammarstrategieswebsiteon15learnerswhoagreedtotracktheirexperienceswithselectedstrate-giesoveraperiodof6-8weeks.Students’responsesontheStrategyTrackingFormandintheinterviewsoverthecourseofstudyindicatedthatthelearnersbenefitedtosomeextentandinsomecasesgreatlyfromuseofthewebsite,suggestingitspotentialforsupportinglearnersofSpanishinrememberingandcorrectlyusingvariousgrammaticalformsthathadpreviouslybeenproblematicforthem.

Theresultsofthestudyprovidedsomeevidencethatstudentscouldusethestrategiesonthewebsitetoimprovetheirgrammaticalcontrol.Whiletherewerestrategiesselectedbyasmanyasfivestudents,thestudentstendedtoselectabroadrangeofstrategiesoutofthe72thatwereavailable.Justwhichstrategiesappealedtoindividuallearnersdependedonvariousfactors,suchaswhattheyneededtolearnorimproveonandwhatwasavailableontheweb-siteontheonehand,andtheirpreexistinglanguagestrategyrepertoire,theirlearningstylepreferences,andtheirpersonalityontheother.Thefactthatstudentshadthefreedomtoselecttheirownstrategiesmeantthattheywerealreadymotivatedtohavetheselectedstrat-egiesworkforthem.Anotherpointisthatthestudywaslimitedtoonlythefirst6-8weeksofaccessingthewebsite.Wewouldexpectthatwithtimethelearnerswouldfindvariousotherstrategiesthatwouldcontributetoenhancingtheirgrammaticalcontrol.

SincethelearnersindicatedlittleifanyuseofSpanishoutofclass,itisnotsurprisingthattheirreportofimprovementinSpanishperformancewasreportedtobelimitedtoclassroomuse.InthecaseswhereitwasnotcleartothesubjectswhetherastrategyhadimprovedtheirSpanish,itwastypicallyafunctionofnothavingtheopportunitytousethestrategy.

LimitationsFirstandforemost,thiswasasmall-scalestudyinvolvingonly15students.Inaddition,therewaslittleornoverificationastowhetherthestudents’Spanishgrammaractuallyimprovedbyvirtueofusingthewebsite.TheintentionwastohavePinilla-Herreracollectthesedatathrough focused interactionwith the students,but it became logistically impossible toar-range.Withoutthisverificationofgainsinproficiency,theresultsremainbasedonlyonthestudents’accountsofbenefitsfromstrategyuse.

Sincethebookstoregiftcardsprovidedasignificantmotivatorforstudentstousetheweb-siteandtoaccessthestrategies,thequestionremainsastohowmotivatedstudentswouldbewithoutthisextraincentivetomakeuseofthewebsite.Anotherpossibleconsequenceofpayingtheparticipantswasthattheymayhavefeltobligatedtosaywhattheythoughtthattheresearcherswantedtohear.Ifthetwoundergraduatestudentinvestigatorssensedthatcertainstudentswerehesitanttobenegativeintheirdescriptionsofthewebsite,theyas-suredtheparticipantsthattheyhadnopersonalstakeinitandthattheywereonlycuriousastowhattheirhonestreactionswere.Inaddition,theprimaryfocusoftheinquirywasontherelativebenefitofusingeachspecificstrategythatthelearnersselectedandonlysecondarilyonthevalueofthewebsiteoverall.

Weneedtobearinmindthatparticipantsactuallyhadonlyalimitedamountoftimetoaccessthewebsite,say,upto2months.Itcouldbethatlearnerswouldneedmorelikeasemestertomorefullyexercisetheiruseofthewebsite,toexploremorecompletelythestrategyoptionsavailabletothem,andtohaveachancetoseetheeffectsofthataccess.

Finally,thefactthattherewasnocontrolgroupforthisstudycouldbeseenasalimitationinthatnoclaimcouldbemadethatimprovementinSpanishgrammarwasdefinitivelyrelatedtouseofoneoranotherstrategyonthewebsite.Learners’improvementingrammarcouldhavebeenduetootherfactorsaswell,suchascertainclassroomorout-of-classexperiences,generalmaturation,orcorrectivefeedbackfromteachersorothers.

SuggestionsforfurtherresearchItwouldbevaluabletocomplementstudents’self-reportofstrategyuseeffectivenesswithanassessmentoftheactualgainingrammaticalcontrolasaresultofusingcertainstrategies.Also,sincethisstudyfocusedonintermediatemidlearners,itwouldbeofinteresttocon-ductthisstudywithelementary-levelSpanishstudents.Itwouldalsobeusefultodeterminetheexperienceofstudentsusingthewebsitewhentheyarenotremuneratedfordoingso,perhapsbymakingitarequirementinagivenSpanishcourse,andideallyoverasubstantialperiodoftime(e.g.,asemesterormore).Finally,itwouldbeofbenefittoconstructwebsitesforahostofotherlanguages,especiallyforlesscommonlytaughtlanguages.

PedagogicalimplicationsTheintentionofcreatingsuchawebsitewastogivelearnersanout-of-classvenueforim-provingtheirgrammaticalcontrolontheirown.Itwasourobservationthatperhapstoomuchclasstimeistakenupwithpracticinglanguageforgrammaticalcontrol,whenstudentscouldeasilydealwiththisontheirowniftheyhadadequatesupport.Whileawebsiteofthisnatureisintendedtoprovidethatsupport,itremainsforteacherstodeterminehowtobestincorpo-ratesuchawebsiteintotheircurrentinstructionalprogram.

Anotherpedagogical implicationwouldbetoensurethat learnersareadequatelyawareoftheirlearningstylepreferencesinordertobenefitfromthegeneralstrategiessectionofthewebsitecateringtothesepreferences.Withproperorientation,itishopedthatlearnersusingthewebsitewillgaingreaterbenefitfromthesectionwithgeneralstrategiesgroupedprimar-ilyaccordingtolearningstylepreferences.

ConclusionsThedatafromthelearnersinthisstudywouldsuggestthatastrategieswebsitesuchastheonedescribedhere—whetherfocusedongrammar,reading,writing,andsoon—hasapoten-tialforsupportinglearnersintheireffortstoperformlanguageskillsmoreeffectively.Theuseofstrategiescanhelptoshoreupknowledgesothatitcontributespositivelytoperformance.Asreflectedinthesestudents’accountsofstrategyuse, learnersmaybeawareof, inthiscase,grammaticalproblemsbutnotderiveadependablewaytodealwiththemwhenlefttotheirowndevices.Havingstrategiesreadilyavailablethroughawebsitesuchasthisonecanhelptoremediatesomeoftheseproblemareas.

NOTES1Forexample,seeOxford(1990)andO’MalleyandChamot(1990)forgeneral,somewhatoutdated,taxonomies;seealsoCohen,2005,foramorerecenttaxonomyoflearningandperformingstrategiesforL2pragmatics.2SeeBerman(1979)foranearlytreatmentofthisphenomenon.Bermanindicatestheneedforbothrulesofgrammarandrulesofthumb.

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Oxford,R.L.(1990).Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know.NewYork:New-buryHouse/Harper&Row.

Oxford,R.L.,&Lee,K.R.(2007).L2grammarstrategies:ThesecondCinderellaandbeyond.InA.D.Cohen&E.Macaro(Eds.),Language learner strategies: 30 years of research and practice(pp.117-139).Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.

Pawlak,M.(2009).Instructionalmodeandtheuseofgrammarlearningstrategies.InM.Pawlak(Ed.),Individual differences in language learning and teaching: Achievements, prospects and chal-lenges(pp.267-290).Poznań-Kalisz,Poland:AdamMickiewiczUniversityPress.

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Rubin,J.,Chamot,A.U.,Harris,V.,&Anderson,N.J.(2007).Interveningintheuseofstrategies.InA.D.Cohen&E.Macaro(Eds.),Language learner strategies: 30 years of research and practice (pp.141-160).Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.

Swain,M.(2006).Languaging,agency,andcollaborationinadvancedsecondlanguageproficiency.InH.Byrnes(Ed.),100(pp.95-108).London:Continuum.

APPENDIXStrategyTrackingForm

SpanishGrammarStrategiesWebsiteEffectivenessEvaluationResearchForm

Name: Email:

STRATEGYNAME: (e.g.,asong)

LOCATION: £ “Ineedastrategyforaparticulargrammarform.” Subsection: (e.g.,Preterite)

£ “Ineedtoenhancemygrammarstrategyrepertoire.”

Subsection: (e.g.,songsandchants)

1. Checktheelementsinthedescriptionyouaccessed. £Writtenmaterial £Audio £Video

2. Howusefulisthisstrategy? £Extremelyuseful £Useful £Notsure £Notusefulatall

3. Haveyouaddedthisstrategytoyourrepertoire? £Yes ? £No

4. Whatistheappealofthisstrategyforyou?Why?

5. Doyouhaveanyindicationthatthisstrategyhasassistedyouinoroutsidetheclassroom?

6. Doyourememberatimethatyouactuallyusedthestrategy?

AUTHORS’BIODATAAndrewD.Cohen (Second LanguageStudies,University ofMinnesota) served as a PeaceCorpsVolunteerinBolivia,aFulbrightScholarinBrazil,andaprofessoroflanguageeducationattheHebrewUniversityofJerusalemfor17years.Hispublicationsincludearticlesonlan-guageteaching,learning,testing,andresearchmethods,aswellasbooksonbilingualedu-cation,languagelearnerstrategies,languageassessment,andresearchmethods.Hisrecenteffortsincludeco-editingLanguage learner strategieswithErnestoMacaro(OxfordUniversityPress,2007),writingofanonlinecourse,AssessingLanguageAbility inAdultsandYoungAdults(CengageLearning,2006),andco-authoringTeaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meetwithNorikoIshihara(PearsonEducation,2010).HisnewestbookisStrategies in learning and using a second language(2nded.,PearsonEducation,2011).

AngelaPinilla-Herrerawasborn inBogota,Colombia.ShereceivedherBA inModernLan-guagesfromUniversidaddeLosAndesandherMAinSpanishLinguisticsfromArizonaStateUniversity.SheiscurrentlyadoctoralstudentandinstructorinHispanicLinguisticsattheUni-versityofMinnesotaandhasworkedasaResearchAssistantforCARLA.HerareasofinterestareSpanishlanguagemaintenanceanduseintheUS,conversationanalysis,andpragmatics.

JonathanThompson,bornandraisedinRochester,MN,isaSeniorattheUniversityofMin-nesotainMinneapolis,MN,majoringinLinguisticsandGeography,withminorsinLatinandTESL.HehasstudiedSpanishandArabicfor3years.

LanceWitzig,ofDuluth,MN,graduatedfromtheUniversityofMinnesotainJune2011,havingmajoredinEnglishwithminorsinAncientGreekandTeachingEnglishasaSecondLanguage.LancestudiedSpanishfor4yearsinhighschoolandforasemesteratthecollegelevelandhasalsolivedandtraveledinElSalvadorworkingonimprovinghisSpanishatvarioustimesoverthepast5years.HealsostudiedAncientGreekfor2years.

AUTHORS’ADDRESSESAndrewCohenPrograminSecondLanguageStudiesUniversityofMinnesota214NCCE315PillsburyDriveSEMinneapolis,MN55455Phone:6126243806Fax: 6126244579Email:adcohen@umn.edu

AngelaPinilla-Herrera100329thAveSEApt.DMinneapolis,MN55414Phone:6126163758Email:pinil001@umn.edu

JonathanThompson100018thAveSEMinneapolisMN55414Phone:5073987978Email:thom2532@umn.edu

LanceWitzig1059WoodhillDriveRoseville,MN55113Phone:2182133366Email:witz0043@umn.edu

Cohen et al - Sp Gram Strat Web - CALICO

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