The impact of strategic competencies on l2 learning outcomes

This presentation will report the findings of a study on the use and transfer of academic strategies by students for whom English is a foreign language (EFL). To determine the relationship between strategy use and transfer in developing second language (L2) proficiency, 338 freshman students at a Japanese university participated in the study. The relationship was explored through the following two questions. First, what is the effect of learning strategy use on task performance; and second, how readily can these strategies be transferred and to what effect? Significant relationships between learning strategy use and transfer on task performance were observed, and it was noted, that the teaching of cognitive learning strategies in the FL classroom provided learners with greater opportunity for success. In addition, by identifying the learning strategies used and the role of transfer in this process, insight was gained into the juxtaposition between language specific needs and cognitive learning issues. These relationships remind us that the L2 learning process is complex, and that a number of variables are involved, including, but not limited to, L2 proficiency.