TITLE: Learning Strategies in Foreign and Second Language Classrooms SOURCE: The Modern Language Journal 87 no3 469-70 Aut 2003 The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited. To contact the publisher: www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk YASUKO ITO WATT MACARO, ERNESTO. Learning Strategies in Foreign and Second Language Classrooms. New York: Continuum, 2001. Pp. viii, 282. $85.00 cloth; $31.95 paper. ISBN 0-8264-5134-9, cloth; 0-8264-5135-7, paper. Macaro's discussion of language-learning strategies can benefit anyone involved in the field of language learning. Beginning with the belief that "the main purpose of language teaching and learning is for students to become increasingly competent at speaking and writing second or foreign language," his focus here is on strategies for "learning to learn" (p. 1). Macaro first identifies in chapter 1 various problems that arise in language classrooms and relates them to the larger topic of learning strategies. In chapter 2, he introduces tools for evaluating student learning strategies (diaries, questionnaires, interviews, task-based self-reports, and student observation). Readers may be aware of these tools but he explains why they are helpful in learning how students learn. Chapter 3 is a review of past studies of learning strategies, and in chapters 4 and 5 he focuses on "the skills and processes involved in oral interaction, memorization and writing" (p. 107) and on ways of bringing about changes in learning strategies. He considers in chapter 6 how learning strategies may be introduced into the classroom and in 7, he provides ways to evaluate the various strategy training tools introduced. In the final chapter, he gives 10 recommendations for the development of learning strategies and for their implementation in the classroom. Macaro frequently draws on two strategy studies, the Oxford Writing Strategies Project and the Lingua Project. He was involved in both studies. Their focus was 13to 15-year-old students in England and Italy. Although he often bases his arguments on these studies of adolescent-age students and cognate languages, the findings and examples can be applied to a wider group of language learners, including college and university students. Indeed, this study has a great deal to offer to those who are not involved with cognate languages. Macaro invites us to take charge in learning how students learn, and he urges us to come up with a list of strategies that best suit our own students as we progress through the book. He also encourages us to discuss issues raised in the book with colleagues who teach languages. Learning-strategy theories are briefly presented early in the volume. However, the author's intention is to distance this book from theoretical discussions of learning strategies and to focus on more practical approaches, although not ignoring their theoretical background. Macaro succeeds in this regard. He cleverly involves the reader in "Pause for Thought" boxes throughout the book. Pertinent and useful questions in these sections give readers a chance to review and reflect on what they have read. The author claims that this volume is different from ordinary language-learning strategy books in three ways. First, this book is intended for language learners, teachers, and researchers, as well as for those who train future teachers. Second, the author believes that good research enhances classroom teaching, and he structures the
book as though readers were involved in action research. Third, he claims that this book is one of the first to emphasize "combinations of learning strategy training rather than individual strategies" (p. 5). In Macaro's mind, it is not possible to separate the four groups of people mentioned above in discussing strategy training. Whether language learners will read and appreciate this volume is unclear, but language teachers and trainers of teachers will find their work enriched by considering the issues Macaro raises, and students will therefore benefit. Macaro succeeds in involving readers, without their consciously noticing it, in the cycle of rich action research. He provides numerous examples that involve combinations of learning strategies that teachers can use in their classrooms. The author is aware that strategy training is not without problems. He discusses, for example, the pros and cons of first language (L1) use in language strategy training. Macaro ultimately supports L1 use in strategy training, although in general he resists giving strong recommendations. Although technology has already enriched the field of language learning and will enable us to understand learning strategies more fully, the author limits his references to technology to the use of email and clip art. We will have to wait to see how the author will incorporate technology in his future treatments of learning strategies. This volume is an excellent addition to the field. The author makes us look at students and our teaching in a new way. I share the author's belief that "strategy training is a gradual, recursive and longitudinal process" (p. 266) that may cultivate flexible and resourceful language learners. ADDED MATERIAL YASUKO ITO WATT Indiana University