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Language learning strategies (LLS) have been a popular topic in the SLA literature since their conception by Joan Rubin in 1975. In the beginning, the focus was placed on what constituted an LLS and which learner variables affected strategy use. More recently, the field has moved to the practical application of LLS research: strategy training. Strategy training research has focused on student and teacher beliefs, classroom culture and students’ culture, explicit vs. implicit instruction, and language of instruction and has had largely positive findings. These issues are explored, then made manifest in a review of four popular strategy training models: The CALLA, Oxford, Grenfell and Harris, and SBI. Drawing on the LLS research and these four models, I propose a new model for strategy training: the 6 Steps to Success. As the title indicates, the 6 Steps to Success includes 6 steps: 1) beginning of course assessment/awareness raising; 2) continued assessment of student needs/awareness raising; 3) explicit teaching and modeling; 4) practice; 5) evaluation, 6) end of course evaluation. Five lesson plans are then given to demonstrate the 6 Steps to Success in action. / text

In an experimental study the attempt was made to examine the effects of the Reciprocal Teaching method on measures of metacognition and try to identify the effective features of this method that are necessary for the learning gains to occur. Reciprocal Teaching, originally developed by Palincsar and Brown (1984), is a very successful training program which was designed to improve student's reading comprehension skills by teaching them reading strategies. In the present study the tasks and responsibilities assumed by 5thgrade elementary students (N = 55) participating in a 16-session reading strategy training were varied systematically. Not only the students who participated in the training program in one of the three experimental conditions were compared with respect to knowledge and performance measures, but there was also a comparison to their control classmates who did not participate in strategy training (N = 86). Detailed analyses of video-taped sessions provided additional information. <br><br> The strategy training was most beneficial for measures of knowledge and performance more closely related to the content of the training program, namely knowledge about specific reading strategies taught in training and application of those strategies. No significant effects were observed for more distal measures (general strategy knowledge, reading comprehension). As for the features of the program, it could be shown that students of the two experimental conditions where the students were responsible for giving each other feedback on performance (with respect to both content and strategy application) and guiding the correction of the answer outperformed both the experimental condition in which the trainer was responsible for those tasks and the control group. <br><br> It is concluded that it is not merely the application of strategies, but the combination of strategy application with concurrent teaching and learning of metacognitive acquisition procedures (analysis, monitoring, evaluation, and regulation) in an inter-individual way as the precedent of these processes occurring intra-individually that seems to be an efficient way of acquiring metacognitive knowledge and skills. It was also shown that strategy training does not necessarily have to include the precise kind of interaction that characterizes the Reciprocal Teaching method. Instead, the tasks of monitoring, evaluating, and regulating other children's learning processes - i.e., tasks associated with the "teacher role" - are the ones that promote the acquisition of metacognitive knowledge and skills. Generally, any strategy training program that not only provides children with plentiful opportunities for practice, but also prompts them to engage in these kinds of metacognitive processes, may help children to acquire metacognitive knowledge and skills. / In einer experimentellen Studie wurden die Effekte der Methode Reziprokes Lehren auf verschiedene Maße von Metakognition sowie die Frage, welche Merkmale dieses Trainingsprogramms für die Lernzuwächse verantwortlich sind, untersucht. Beim Reziproken Lehren, einem sehr erfolgreiches Trainingsprogramm das von Palincsar und Brown (1984) entwickelt wurde um das Leseverständnis von Schülern zu verbessern, erlernen die Schüler verschiedene Lesestrategien. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden die Aufgaben und Verantwortlichkeiten von Schülern der 5. Klassenstufe (N = 55) in einem 16-stündigen Training systematisch variiert. Es wurden nicht nur das Wissen und die Leistungen der Schüler, die in einer der drei experimentellen Bedingungen an dem Lesetraining teilgenommen hatten, miteinander verglichen, sondern auch mit denen ihrer Klassenkameraden, die nicht an dem Strategietraining teilgenommen hatten (Kontrollgruppe, N = 86). Detaillierte Analysen der auf Video aufgezeichneten Trainingssitzungen lieferten zusätzliche Informationen. Die größten Trainingseffekte zeigten sich vor allem bei Wissens- und Leistungsmaßen, die einen engeren Bezug zum Strategietraining haben (spezifisches Strategiewissen über die im Training erlernten Strategien und Anwendung der Strategien). Für trainingsfernere Maße wurden keine signifikanten Effekte gefunden (Allgemeines Strategiewissen, Leseverständnis). Die Schüler der beiden experimentellen Bedingungen, bei denen die Schüler sich gegenseitig Rückmeldungen sowohl auf den Inhalt als auch auf die Anwendung der jeweiligen Lesestrategie bezogen gaben und im Anschluß dann den anderen Schüler bei der Verbesserung der Antwort anleiteten, erbrachten bessere Leistungen und erwarben mehr metakognitives Wissen als Schüler der experimentellen Bedingung, in der der Trainer für diese Aufgaben zuständig war, und Schüler der Kontrollgruppe. Die vorliegenden Befunde sprechen dafür, daß nicht die bloße Anwendung der Lesestrategien, sondern erst die Kombination von Strategieanwendung und der gleichzeitigen Vermittlung und Übung von metakognitiven Erwerbsprozeduren (d.h. Analyse, Überwachung, Evaluation und Regulation) auf inter-individueller Basis als Voraussetzung für das Auftreten dieser Prozesse im Individuum selbst (intra-individuell) eine effektive Methode für den Erwerb metakognitiven Wissens und metakognitiver Kompetenzen darstellt. Es konnte auch gezeigt werden, daß in einem Strategietraining die Interaktion nicht notwendigerweise auf die spezielle Art und Weise, wie das beim Reziproken Lehren der Fall ist, gestaltet werden muß. Stattdessen scheinen die Aufgaben der Überwachung, Evaluation und Regulation der Lernprozesse anderer Schüler - d.h. die Aufgaben, die die Kinder in der "Lehrer"-Rolle erfüllen - diejenigen zu sein, die den Erwerb von Metakognition unterstützen. Generell kann jedes Strategietraining, bei dem die Schüler nicht nur ausreichend Übungsgelegenheiten zur Anwendung von Strategien haben, sondern auch angeleitet werden, metakognitive Aufgaben zu übernehmen, hilfreich beim Erwerb metakognitiven Wissens und metakognitiver Fähigkeiten sein.

I föreliggande uppsats var syftet att i en mixad design med kontroll- och behandlingsgrupp, undersöka om psykofysiologisk strategiträning kan hjälpa individer att hantera stress samt förbättra sin prestationsförmåga i pressade situationer inom golfputtning. Strategiträningen innefattade en kombination av andning-, rörelse och kognitivt beteende. Resultatparametrar var a) fingertemperatur som indikerar förändringar i det sympatiska nervsystemet och b) ett protokoll som mätte prestationsdata. Data har analyserats med hjälp av ANOVA ”repeated measures” i SPSS.Huvudresultatet visar signifikant fingertemperaturskillnad mellan behandlings- och kontrollgruppen. Slutsatsen i denna studie är att denna intränade strategi sannolikt kan användas för att reducera risken att bli stressad i en pressad situation och därmed öka prestationseffektiviteten. / In the present study the aim was to investigate, in a mixed treatment- and control design, effects of a behavioral strategy on coping with stress in stressful situations and particularly golf putting. The behavioral strategy contented integrated breathing-, movement and cognitive behaviors. The outcome parameters were a) finger temperature indicating changes in the lymphatic nervous system and b) a protocol measuring performance results. Data was analyzed with help of ANOVA”repeated measures” in a SPSS-program. The main results showed significant differences in finger temperature between the treatment and the control groups. The conclusion was that training of the strategy used in this study probably can be used to increase efficacy in golf putting.

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a strategy training approach that was followed during a course. The purpose of the study was to determine whether students who received strategy training on reading skills would score better on a reading test as compared to those who did not receive such training but followed the book only. Two upper intermediate level EFL classes at Bilkent Universith School of English Language participated in the study. The data were collected through quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments. The pre-test and the post-test results provided the quantitative data, and the qualitative data came from the students&#039 / feedback journals and the interviews held with the students. The comparison of the means of the pre-test scores of both control and experimental groups showed that the two groups were not significantly different in terms of their reading proficiency. However, the post-test results of the groups yield significant difference in favor of the experimental group. The results indicated that the training the experimental group received contributed to students&#039 / reading skills development.

This study aims to investigate the effects of the &ldquo / PLEASE&rdquo / (a general paragraph writing strategy ) writing strategy instruction through the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model on descriptive writing of fifth grade English language learners studying in a private primary school in Istanbul. The current study specifically focuses on if instruction on pre-writing planning through the SRSD model results in improvements in students&rsquo / written products, planning behaviors and self-beliefs as writers. For the study, eight fifth grade students participated in a writing club activity offered by the researcher at school. They were taught strategies for planning and drafting descriptive paragraphs, and the procedures for regulating the use of these strategies and the writing process itself. The data collection tools included comparison of students&rsquo / final pieces of writing in terms of overall quality and length, retrospective verbal protocols, individual interviews, and questionnaires all of which were conducted both at the pre-intervention and the post-intervention phases. As a result, the pre-test and the post-test writing scores indicated that each student experienced improvement in terms of overall quality and length of the written products. The strategy training helped students become more aware of the need for pre-writing planning and they started to engage in planning prior to writing in real practice. After the treatment, the students also experienced increased self-confidence.

Aging, also in the absence of pathological conditions, is associated with cognitivedecline, especially in so called fluid abilities, such as episodic memory andexecutive functions. Due to an ongoing demographic shift, a larger part of thepopulation will reach higher ages, and more people will be affected by age-relatedcognitive decline. Finding ways of counteracting this development have the potentialof having large benefits for both individuals and society. It has long beenknown that living in environments that are rich in terms of cognitive challengescan affect cognitive ability in old age. In this regard, intervention studies in whichthe amount of cognitive stimulation is manipulated can therefore generate insightsto the causality of such effects in specific cognitive functions. Cognitive trainingas means to counteract negative effects of aging on cognition has received a lot ofscientific interest in the last decades.This focus of this thesis is cognitive training interventions, which is studiedfrom several perspectives. In Study i, the aim was to investigate the extent towhich executive functions can be strengthened by training in younger and olderadults, and to which degree such training generalize to other measures of cognition.Although a large body of research has been investigating training of workingmemory and executive functions in recent years, the results are diverse, and fewhave been targeting executive functions broadly with training programs based ontheoretical models of executive functions. Study i showed that despite a broadtraining program targeting three executive functions (updating, shifting and inhibition),it did not lead to transfer beyond the very near in old adults. The youngerhowever showed transfer effects to measures of working memory.In Study ii, the focus was on studying how the effects survive across time.There is limited knowledge about long-term effects of process-based training andthe results showed that the training effect was stable after 1.5 years, while only thenearest transfer effect was still significant in both younger and older adults.Study iii focused on individual factors affecting gain and maintenance thereofin a sample of older individuals. We used a strategy-based intervention focusingon episodic memory performance with a number-consonant mnemonic which is amnemonic for memorizing digit-codes. A different set of predictors was observedfor baseline episodic memory performance and training gain. Those that are betteroff in terms of episodic memory performance, also gain more in the episodic memorycriterion task. Further, a higher rate of processing speed was also important.Lastly, better verbal knowledge also influence gain beyond the other factors. Theresults have both theoretical implications regarding how plastic cognitive functionsare, and practical, in terms of how to best design training programs. / Över hela världen blir vi äldre. År 2050 kommer en femtedel av jordens befolkningvara 60 år eller äldre, att jämföra med en knapp tiondel år 1950. Det är förstås enpositiv utveckling men en åldrande befolkning innebär också att vi står inför flerautmaningar. En sådan rör det kognitiva åldrandet. Vi vet att åldrande kan leda tillnedgång i vissa kognitiva förmågor, såsom det episodiska minnet samt exekutivafunktioner. Episodiskt minne är vår förmåga att komma ihåg upplevda händelserknutna till tid och rum. Exekutiva funktioner är ett begrepp som inbegriper vårförmåga att hålla en plan aktiv medan vi utför den, utan att distraheras av tankareller externa störningsmoment. Genom att studera effekter av träning hos yngreoch äldre vuxna på sådana kognitiva funktioner kan vi få kunskap om till vilkengrad de kan förbättras och om denna förbättringspotential är olika beroende påålder. Vi vet sedan tidigare att människor som under sin livstid lever ett kognitivtstimulerande liv också till viss del är skyddade mot nedgång i kognition underåldrandet. Träningsstudier kan ge kunskap om kausaliteten i sådana fynd.Studie i i denna avhandling behandlar träning av exekutiva funktioner föryngre och äldre vuxna. Träningsprogrammet konstruerades utefter en teoretiskmodell som beskriver exekutiva funktioner som bestående av förmågan att inhiberastörande stimuli eller överlärda responser, förmågan att uppdatera informationi arbetsminnet, och förmågan att skifta mellan att utföra olika uppgifter. Resultatenvisade att de yngre kunde generalisera träningseffekten också till otränadearbetsminnesuppgifter, medan de äldre endast visade förbättring på otränade uppgiftersom hade stora likheter med de tränade.I Studie ii undersöktes hur mycket av träningseffekterna som kvarstod ettoch ett halvt år efter träningen. Resultaten visade att både för yngre och äldreså kvarstod effekten på tränade uppgifter samt en av uppgifterna som hade stortöverlapp med träningsuppgifterna, för både unga och äldre.I Studie iii studerades ett strategibaserat träningsprogram för episodisktminne. Fokus låg på att undersöka vilka individuella kognitiva faktorer sompåverkar förbättring som följd av träning. Resultaten visade att de med högre förmågai kognitiv bearbetningshastighet samt verbal förmåga var de som hade bästförutsättningar för förbättring.Resultaten från dessa studier är av både teoretisk relevans i och med att deökar förståelsen för träningsbarheten av exekutiva funktioner, samt har praktiskrelevans för utformning av träningsprogram.