Role of Metacognitive and Social Strategies in Learning a Foreign Language: A Case Study of Indian and Chilean students

Abstract

The language learning strategies has emerged as a new field of research in the language pedagogy. In the last forty five years there have been lot of debate over defining, classifying and developing a theoretical framework for the language learning strategies (LLS). This also seems true because there has been a paradigm shift in the role of the learners who are now seen as active collaborators in the knowledge creation. In the present paper, the researchers would like to investigate the role of metacognitive and social strategies employed by the learners in two different classroom settings; one in learning Spanish as foreign language in India and the other in learning English as foreign language in Chile. After providing a little explanation of theoretical framework, the researchers would try to present a comparative study between the these two types of learning strategies employed by the Chilean students and Indian students while learning English and Spanish as foreign language respectively. The researchers have carried out a qualitative research and based on the response provided by the learners they have attempted to see the similarities and dissimilarities between the learning approaches in the aforementioned learning environments. By doing so, they have made an effort to throw light at some of the problems faced by the students while learning a foreign language in non-native context.