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Dear Reader,

In true Northern English form, let me greet you with a¹:

How's it going? I don't know if you've missed me, but I've certainly missed you these past couple of weeks.

I promise I haven't pulled a disappearing act; I just took a little time off for Easter and to cope with my impending house move.

Speaking of which: does anybody look forward to house moves? I think I did at one point months ago, but now that it's getting close, it's feeling more akin to the mountain of stairs in Kung Fu Panda:

Will I reach the end of the metaphorical stairs or perish trying? Stay tuned to find out.

These past few weeks, I've had a few lessons with teachers and a few consultations. In some of them, we talked about the topic of learner autonomy and doing things in the classroom that foster learner autonomy.

I also had a few everyday life experiences which, while unremarkable in themselves, made me reflect on the topic of autonomy. One of these was me trying to book a place for an upcoming birthday party I'm trying to organise (yes, it's perfectly timed with the house move. What can I say, I'm a master planner).

Even after living in British society for a good chunk of my life, there are still things I'm not 100% sure about, for example: can I reserve outdoor seating? Can I bring my own cake? Why do I have to pay for my own drinks when I go to a wedding?² OK, the last one is maybe tangential, but it always baffles me how many things I still seem to be unsure of.

Which, together with the topic of learner autonomy, made me reflect on how many things may seem banal to us... but not to our students. So, in today's newsletter, I will tell you about:

• what language learning strategies are (and which ones are more popular)
• 3 things that are connected to language learning strategies which seem banal but aren't, and once you reveal them, there is a chance that a lightbulb will go off in your learners' minds.

So, what are we waiting for? Grab your Sunday breakfast and let's dive in 💡

Language learning strategies (very, very briefly)

A useful lens to look at learning is that of language learning strategies. Various definitions exist, but one of the most accredited (not to mention, clearest) ones is this one by Wenden and Rubin:

Language learning strategies have been categorised in different ways, but the one I personally still find easiest to remember is the categorisation in 3 groups: cognitive, metacognitive and socio-affective strategies.

Cognitive strategies are mental techniques used to manipulate the material to be learnt or apply a specific technique to the learning task: for example, summarising, repeating, highlighting, drawing on the context.

Metacognitive strategies, which I'm now probably infamous for banging on about a lot, are used for planning for, monitoring or evaluating the success of a learning activity.

Socio-affective strategies include social strategies, with which learners collaborate with others to enhance learning, and affective strategies, which learners use to manage their emotions in learning (e.g. taking a calming breath before starting an exam).

But which strategies do learners actually use? While I can't speak for the totality of learners in the whole world, in my own research, I asked Italian secondary school learners what strategies they normally used in their listening. Can you guess which were the most popular?

[Insert thinking time 💭]

[And some more thinking time 💭]

Ready to check your answer?

Now, although this doesn't reflect learners at large, it is encouraging to see that so many learners used metacognitive strategies, which by this point I probably don't need to tell you are the crème de la crème of strategies. What you might notice, however, is that socio-affective strategies weren't used quite as much by these students, which begs the question: why on earth not?

1. Not knowing how to ask

The first possible explanation I have for this is, particularly when it comes to social strategies like asking for help, is that learners simply don't know how to ask and/or, more worryingly, don't know that they can ask. So as much as it may seem banal to us, verbalising socio-affective strategies may help learners a) learn the language to use them and b) understand that they are allowed and even encouraged to use them.

So, for example, we can:

• set aside time (especially at the start of the year) to go over simple phrases that learners can use to ask for help, e.g. "what does X mean?"; "could you repeat/rephrase that?"; "I didn't catch it". We may think these are simple phrases, but learners might not know them or remember them when they need them (and to be fair, hasn't that happened to all of us - needing a specific word/phrase but not remembering it just when you need it in a conversation?). This discourages them from taking initiative, so they don't bother asking the question.
• display prompts around the room and point to them whenever learners need that language:

• model those clarification/reformulation/asking for help questions. Teacher modelling is an underestimated tool, but I think it deserves a lot more attention. By modelling how to ask those questions - even better if you can model how you've used them in real life situations! - you show your learners how a competent person can ask for help. If you've learned how to do it, surely they can too? There's also the pesky problem that students may be actively discouraged from asking for help by other teachers, so they may have internalised a rather different model that doesn't allow for interruptions. This may work for other subjects (and I'm being very diplomatic here because I believe this as much as I believe in Santa Claus), but it certainly won't work for language learning, where negotiation of meaning is a key ingredient.

2. Not knowing what it all means

Moot question that will likely be met with derision and a stern "duh?!": have you ever had the experience of giving your learners instructions for how to do a task in pairs or groups, repeat it, ask instruction checking questions, write it all on the board, [insert other drastic measure]... only to find that they haven't got a clue what to do?

Right, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you (otherwise there would be something wrong with 100% of teachers); more likely, it means students genuinely don't know what they are supposed to do in the pair/group work you've set up.

In pairs, the instructions "work in pairs/read in pairs/discuss in pairs" may simply be insufficient: what is it that they have to do exactly? If it's a speaking activity, choose a volunteer and model the task with them: if a picture is worth a thousand words, a one-minute modelling is worth a thousand "prof, cosa dobbiamo fare?". If it's a reading activity, explain it in steps: first, you read individually and complete the true/false; then, you compare your answers with your partner.

In groups, you might like to pre-assign roles or give students specific roles and let them decide who is going to do what. In any case, giving them step by step instructions and roles may help them better understand what they are supposed to do.

3. Not knowing what worked (and what didn't)

You can think of metacognition like a 3-stage cycle: planning, monitoring and evaluating.

In the third stage, it is really important to evaluate what strategies worked and what didn't: if, for example, the learners tried to ask for help, did it work? If it didn't, how could they do it better the following time? If they used the strategy of repeating content to memorise it, did it work? If it didn't, what could they change the next time? Using the strategy isn't enough: if learners don't reflect on their effectiveness, they may keep using ineffective strategies.

These skills may feel rather more abstract than "doing the present continuous" or practising multiple choice for the INVALSI tests; however, they are a central part of becoming autonomous, lifelong and - most of all! - effective learners.

And with that hopefully hopeful thought, I will conclude today's newsletter. What things that may seem banal have you tried to do with your students? How did they work out? I'm all ears.

And a final note: if you have your oral exam soon, André and Emma's calendars for individual consultations are now full. I'm stepping in and opening a few time slots for consultations for late April and May: if you need one, let me know the specific date and time window that works for you so I can check my availability.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

Take care, dear teacher ✨

¹ It used to freak me out how complete strangers would address you as "love" or "my love" in this part of the world. But after a while, I came to understand and even appreciate this little term of endearment. It still feels to weird to use it, but hey, hearing it may just be enough for me.

² For the record, the answers are: no (apparently because it could always rain); yes; and for the wedding thing, it's a cultural thing as this Reddit thread illustrates.

P.S.: My weekly suggestion for things to listen to/watch/read to improve your English while relaxing: How cool is this short video with ski champion Eileen Gu?

✨Cool things I heard this week

Thank you for helping me get a 94 at the oral exam. It's the first time I've passed it with such a high score and I feel so confident and happy with myself.

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