Introduction

“Give a man a fish, and he will not go hungry for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will never go hungry for a lifetime.” This ancient Chinese proverb, as cited by A.Wenden, indeed finds a clear reflection in the field of language teaching and learning: if students are simply given the answers to questions, the problem is solved immediately. But if they are taught strategies to develop the answers themselves, they gain the ability to take control of their own learning (Griffiths, 2004; 3) Indeed, it emphasizes the long-term value of teaching skills over providing immediate solutions. In language learning, giving students answers may solve short-term problems, but teaching them strategies to find answers empowers them to manage and direct their own learning. 

Before starting the analyses of the process of acquiring learning strategy and its steps we intended to recognize the notion of learning strategies given by some authors.

The following definition is given by A.Wenden: “First of all, the term learner strategies refers to language learning behaviors, learners actually engage in to learn and regulate the learning of the second language. Secondly, the term learner strategies refers to what learners know about the strategies they use, i.e. their strategic knowledge” (Wenden & Rubin, 1987; 6)

“Learning strategies are commonly defines as the skill, tactics and approaches which learners adopt in dealing with their language learning” (Harris & Grenfell, 2004; 120).

“Learning strategies are steps taken by students to enhance their own learning. Strategies are especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence. Appropriate language learning strategies result in improved proficiency and greater self-confidence” (Oxford, 1990; 1).

The provided definitions from Wenden, Harris and Grenfell, and Oxford collectively highlight the multifaceted nature of language learning strategies, emphasizing both behavior and awareness. All definitions stress that learning strategies are initiated and controlled by learners themselves, not imposed externally. This learner autonomy is central. Strategies are not just about learning but also about regulating and managing that learning process. Beyond actions, effective strategy use also requires awareness – learners knowing what strategies they use and why. Moreover, learning strategies aim to develop specific skills, particularly communicative competence in language learning.

Teachers should not only teach how to use strategies but also help learners understand why and when to use them. Strategy training must include developing metacognitive awareness and encourage active involvement. Learning strategies should be made explicit in instruction to foster autonomy and self-regulation. 

Learning strategies should belong to learners, not remain hidden within teachers’ methods. However, teachers often present strategies as their own tools, and students rarely recognize them as personal learning tools. Without explicit guidance, students struggle to apply or transfer strategies independently. This confusion stems from unclear roles – students see strategies as the teacher’s, not theirs. To fix this, strategies must be made explicit: clearly taught and connected to student ownership. Only then can students develop awareness, autonomy, and effective self-regulation in learning (Mariani, 2002; 6-7).

By making learning strategies explicit, teachers empower students to take ownership of this learning. When learners understand why and how to use strategies, they are more likely to engage with them and incorporate them into their own learning process. This approach shifts the focus from passive reception of knowledge to active participation, where students become responsible for their progress. 

Teachers should not simply “dispense” strategies but help students discover and internalize them. Rather presenting strategies as ready-made solutions, teachers can guide students to explore various methods and reflect on their effectiveness. This can involve encouraging metacognitive awareness – students should think about their thinking, identify challenges, and find appropriate strategies to overcome them.

One of the challenges students overcome is transferring learned strategies to new contexts. A strategy that works in one learning scenario may not automatically apply to another. Teachers can enhance strategy transfer by encouraging learners to reflect on past experiences and adapt strategies to new tasks. This flexibility is important for lifelong learning, where students need to adjust strategies as they come across new difficulties in and outside of the classroom. 

Reflection is important to ensuring that learners can use strategies effectively. Teachers should regularly prompt students to reflect on the strategies they have used: What worked? What did not? Why? This can be done through journaling, group discussions, or self-assessment activities. Reflecting helps students internalize their strategic knowledge and makes it easier for them to regulate their learning in the future.

Not all learners will benefit from the same strategies. Teachers can encourage a personalized approach by guiding students to choose or adapt strategies based on their individual learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses. Providing choices in how students learn can increase engagement and ownership, leading to more effective and sustained use of strategies.

By making learning strategies explicit and boosting student ownership, teachers guide learners toward becoming independent, reflective, and adaptable individuals, capable of taking control of their own learning both in and beyond the classroom.

Getting a learning strategy is the first step because it gives independence to the learner when dealing with academic challenges. Thus, a learning strategy is defined as a method or set of methods a learner uses to solve a given academic problem and to capture it so that their understanding resonates deeply. Planning and organizing them is one of the problems that educators face when helping learners incrementally. Learning strategies must be taught episodically, with defined task boundaries, within coherent, cohesive units, and over time. This article outlines the relatively straightforward and detailed steps to be taken to master the skill of performing the strategy using the strategy over time. Fostered self-regulation aims to optimize academic performance and goal-directed independent learning. With the application of these self-regulated processes, the remarkable shift of controlling one’s own learning is gradually attainable. 

Regardless of how long it takes to learn a learning strategy; it is unavoidable that the time could be function of depth to be learned of the strategy and learning rate and students’ background knowledge. However, it is also important to begin each lesson with a complex organizer that sets up context and expectation for the strategy to be learned. Similarly, each lesson will need to have a review of achievement at the end so that teacher and students alike can see improvement. In the process, the students should be tracking their progress, checking their own assessment of how the strategy is improving their performance, this article examines the seven basic steps in teaching learning strategies and the role played by the student and teacher at each step.

According to the professor T. Lombardi there are 7 steps in acquiring a learning strategy: 

Step 1: Determine if the strategy is needed

Step 2: Describe the strategy

Step 3: Demonstrate the strategy

Step 4: Practice the strategy

Step 5: Use the strategy

Step 6: Generalize the strategy

Step 7: Adapt the strategy (Lombardi, 1992; 11-12).

The initial phase in developing a learning strategy involves assessing whether there is a genuine need for a new approach. Not all learning challenges stem from ineffective strategies, sometimes; they may arise from factors such as a lack of motivation, insufficient foundational knowledge, or limited cognitive abilities. Consequently, educators should start by conducting both formal and informal assessments to identify the root cause of the difficulties the student is facing. This process may include observing how the student currently approaches tasks to evaluate the adequacy of the existing methods. By employing observation techniques and diagnostic assessments, teachers can ascertain whether a student’s struggles are due to the absence of an effective learning strategy. If it becomes evident that the student is relying on an inadequate or inefficient strategy, this is the point at which intervention can be most impactful. 

Once the necessity for a new strategy is established, it is crucial to communicate this to the situation. The rationale behind the need for a new approach should be articulated clearly, ensuring that the student comprehends why a change is essential and fostering their engagement in the process. Following this, the teacher should outline the new strategy, highlighting its distinct features compared to the previous method. It is important for educators to clarify the objectives of the strategy and explain how it can enhance performance, thereby setting realistic goals and motivating the student to learn the new approach. At this stage, the teacher should also provide a detailed explanation of how the strategy functions, breaking it down into manageable components. This may include specific memory aids, note-taking techniques, or methods for organizing information, all of which should be described comprehensively to facilitate understanding and implementation.  Teachers also need to specify wanted outcomes, for instance, improved understanding, improved retention, or more effective time management. By listing these details, the teacher allows the student to see the value of learning the skill, thereby creating commitment to learning on the part of the student. 

Modeling the strategy is the most crucial part of teaching strategy. In this step, the strategy is modeled, which is the key part of the learning process. Educators are often uncomfortable with this step because it requires thinking out loud and modeling cognitive and metacognitive behavior. Modeling provides the students with the physical model of the strategy and how it needs to be applied, though. Teacher modeling allows the students to observe the thinking process along with the steps of strategy application. The teacher must then show the strategy multiple times in a manner that makes it clear to the students exactly how the strategy is implemented. This can be through example demonstration of the strategy example problem, modeling one’s own thought processes, or verbalizing steps one is understanding in deciding when to apply the strategy. In this way, the students will internalize the thinking associated with the strategy. Practice does make perfect, however, so the majority of students will require observing the strategy practiced several times before they will be prepared to begin practicing the strategy for themselves.

After the teacher has modeled the strategy, the next step is to have students begin practicing the strategy on their own. This step is important because it shifts students from observing to practicing. Assignments should first be presented below the level of the difficulty so that the students can direct their energy towards learning the method without invading the level of difficulty of the material. Gradually by steadily, as the students become accustomed to the method, the difficulty level of the activities must increase. By this time, students will be progressing at different rates. Some will learn the strategy with ease, while others will do so slowly and will receive extra support. One-to-one teaching is thus required at this point so that the students receive an appropriate level of support. Educators now need to be prepared to provide feedback, explain, and deal with whatever difficulties students will encounter when implementing the strategy. 

At this stage, students should be able to capable of independently applying the strategy in the area for which it was originally designed. The strategy should transition from being a demonstration by the teacher to a resource that students can use to solve problems or complete tasks on their own. Students ought to be motivated to create their own hints or cues to assist them while using the strategy, thereby reducing the teacher’s involvement. However, the teacher’s responsibilities do not conclude at this point. Educators should continue to observe how students are applying the strategy, intervening when necessary to ensure proper usage. At this stage, students should start to recognize the benefits of the strategy, which should be reflected in improved performance. Additionally, teachers should allow students to monitor their own progress and evaluate how effectively the strategy is aiding their learning. 

A key factor for the strategy’s success is its applicability across a wide range of situations. If a student has mastered a strategy through generalization, they can utilize it not only to complete the specific task but also to address a wide range of other educational or real-life situations. This generalization enhances the strategy’s effectiveness as a tool for problem solving across various subjects and levels of complexity. Teachers should guide the class in demonstrating how this strategy can be applied in different contexts, such as solving math problems, learning to read, or completing assignments in other subjects. Experiments has shown that the strategies will be efficient if the students feel that the use of the strategy will improve their performance by themselves. For example, when the students see that using a strategy results in better grades or better study skills, they will find it motivating to use the strategy in other situations. The teacher must monitor the process of generalization and provide continuous feedback to enable the student to use the strategy efficiently in novel situations.

Fitting is the final step in acquiring the learning strategy. After the learner applies the strategy consistently, they will tailor the strategy to meet their individual needs or refine it. The process may involve skimming some of the steps, employing tools, or integrating the strategy with other methods. The student’s capacity to adopt a strategy indicates that they have learned it to the point that it is now a component of the routine manner in which they solve problems. For instance, when a student no longer has to employ mnemonic aids because they have built their own effective strategies for recalling facts. The instructor should facilitate this adaptive process, making the students change the strategy in such a way that enhances their learning experience.

To conclude, learning a problem-solving method in theory is a complex process that necessitates collaboration between the student and instructor together to facilitate academic success. The seven phases revealed – being aware that there is a need for the strategy, establishing the strategy, demonstrating, practicing, applying generally, and adapting – are a process undertaken in sequence and can assist learners to gain appropriate problem-solving practices. This way, the teachers can be sure that the students are not only acquiring the particular strategy, which is being taught, but also learn to apply it to a variety of situations in order to promote autonomy and lifelong learning. Developing a learning strategy is a growing process and might vary based on the student’s needs and level of learning. Nevertheless, successful communication, in combination with focused coaching and persistent reinforcement, enables students to effectively implement these strategies as learning tools. The end vision is to facilitate students to be more efficient, independent learners capable of facing emerging challenges with self-confidence and learning competence. 

The process of developing learning strategies id dynamic and multifaceted, involving clear communication, modeling, guided practice, and reflection. By improving metacognition, offering personalized support, and encouraging peer collaboration, teachers can help students internalize strategies that promote autonomy and effective problem solving. Furthermore, by integrating technology and enhancing a culturally responsive approach, educators can create a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. Ultimately, the goal is to equip students with the tools they need to become lifelong, independent learners capable of adapting to new difficulties.