Short Communications

Abstract

The book under review, Language learner strategies, edited by Andrew D. Cohen and Ernesto Macaro, contains a foreword, an introduction, and brings together the contributions of 26 distinguished researchers in 12 chapters, followed by endnotes, an extensive bibliography (882 references), and an author and subject index. The book is divided into two sections, the first of which deals with the theoretical aspect of research related to language learner strategies, and the second focuses on the operationalization of the field in factual research studies dealing with such important issues as the reliability and validity of the findings of the research studies. As can be seen from the title, this book is concerned with language learner strategies. In their general introduction, the editors present the sequential organization of the chapters and the focal points of the book. They highly appreciate 30 years of research and practice in the field and provide the readers with what they call “an introspective and highly self-critical account of three decades of research endeavor” (p. 1) with a focus on the areas and issues that require further research. Chapter 1 looks at language learner strategies from a historical perspective. It gives us a full account of the historical development of this field and the impact of other disciplines, such as psychology, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, and sociology on the study of language learner strategies. Michael Grenfell and Ernesto Marco refer to the 1970s, during which there was great development in the field of psychology, the byproduct of which was behavioral psychology and its major impact on language learning. The proponents of this view held that language learning would take place as the result of “manipulating the psychology of the individual” (p. 9). The authors also elaborate on other theories that emerged throughout history, namely, Chomsky's view dealing with “an ideal speaker and perfect (purely linguistic) competence” (p. 10), Dell Hyme's view of language use, stemming from the 1960s, Canale and Swain's communicative competence of language use in 1980, and Bachman's strategic competence in 1990. They refer to the 1970s through the 1980s as periods in which there was a turning point in research of language learner strategies. One of the good advantages of this chapter is that the authors provide interested researchers with a justification to continue research endeavors in this area by bringing up pros and cons with respect to language learner strategies. With reference to the Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish; he eats for a lifetime”, they believe that learners could be helped to be lifetime learners managing their own learning themselves. © 2009, Versita. All rights reserved.