Joan Rubin

Bio: Joan Rubin is an academic researcher from George Washington University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Language planning & Comprehension approach. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 25 publications receiving 4944 citations.

What the good language learner can teach us

Abstract: The differential success of second/foreign language learners suggests a need to examine in detail what strategies successful language learners employ. An indication is given of what these strategies might consist of and a list of several widely recognized good learner strategies is given. In addition to the need for research on this topic, it is suggested that teachers can already begin to help their less successful students improve their performance by paying more attention to learner strategies already seen as productive.

A Review of Second Language Listening Comprehension Research

Abstract: ing activities in student textbooks and even in methodology texts designed specifically for listening (2; 99; 120; 121). In the past decade, scholars have reviewed the factors that may influence second language (L2) listening comprehension (19; 38; 39; 44; 68; 69; 84; 98; 99), referring, in some cases, to factors isolated for first language (L1) learning (2; 29; 36; 37; 42; 43; 70; 72). Surprisingly few of the myriad of factors listed in these reviews have been researched and, of those that have, even fewer have been subjected to adequate experimental controls. In the main, many factors are cited as relevant either because they are suspected on logical grounds to affect listening or because they are thought to be relevant based on parallels found in reading research. Of those factors that have been researched, most have been the object of only a limited number of research studies, often only on one of the more commonly taught languages. Finally, most of the research results are based on listening comprehension measures that have not been standardized, making it difficult to compare results. There is, however, a small-but growingbody of research on listening comprehension that forms a lively, ongoing dialogue about how learners interact with oral input. How and when do learners rely on top-down factors (background knowledge, semantics) and on bottom-

How to be a more successful language learner : toward learner autonomy

Abstract: Part I: BEFORE YOU BEGIN. 1. You, the Language Learner. 2. The Language Learning Process. 3. Clarifying Your Objectives. 4. Planning Your Language Study. 5. The Communication Process. 6. The Nature of Learning. 7. Language Learning Resources. Part II: ONCE YOU BEGIN. 8. Take Charge of Your Learning. 9. What You Know Can Help You. 10. Assessment of Strategy Use. 11. Vocabulary and Grammar. 12. Listening. 13. Reading. 14. Speaking. 15. Writing.

How to be a more successful language learner

Abstract: How to Be a More Successful Language Learner incorporates the latest thinking about learner strategies and language learning. Language learners and teachers alike discover the psychological, linguistic, and practical aspects of the successful acquisition of a new language.

Identity and language learning : gender, ethnicity and educational change

Abstract: Fact and fiction in language learning researching identity and language learning the world of adult immigrant language learners Eva and Mai - old heads on young shoulders mothers, migration, and language learning second language acquisition theory revisited claiming the right to speak in classrooms & communities.

Motivation: Reopening the Research Agenda

Abstract: Discussion of the topic of motivation in second-language (SL) learning contexts has been limited by the understanding the field of applied linguistics has attached to it. In that view, primary emphasis is placed on attitudes and other social psychological aspects of SL learning. This does not do full justice to the way SL teachers have used the term motivation. Their use is more congruent with definitions common outside social psychology, specifically in education. In this paper, we review the standard applied linguistics approach to this topic, and go on to provide an overview of research into motivation in mainstream education. This is used both to demonstrate the utility of other concepts of motivation to the SL field and as the basis for a research agenda for SL investigations of motivation thus conceived.

Variables Affecting Choice of Language Learning Strategies by University Students.

Abstract: Learning strategies are operations used by learners to aid the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information (52). Outside of the language learning field, research comparing experts to novices indicates that experts use more systematic and useful problem-solving and native-language reading comprehension strategies.2 A similar finding occurs with more successful language learners as compared to less successful ones.3 Better language learners generally use strategies appropriate to their own stage of learning, personality, age, purpose for learning the language, and type of language.4 Good language learners use a variety of learning strategies, including cognitive strategies for associating new information with existing information in long-term memory and for forming and revising internal mental models; metacognitive strategies for exercising "executive control" through planning, arranging, focusing, and evaluating their own learning process; social strategies for interacting with others and managing discourse; affective strategies for directing feelings, motivations, and attitudes related to learning; and compensation strategies (such as guessing unknown meanings while listening and reading, or using circumlocution in speaking and writing) for overcoming deficiencies in knowledge of the language." Appropriate learning strategies help explain the performance of good language learners; similarly, inappropriate learning strategies aid in understanding the frequent failures of poor language learners and even the occasional weaknesses of

A Closer Look at Learning Strategies, L2 Proficiency, and Gender

Abstract: This study builds on previous research using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). Most previous SILL research has made comparisons across the entire survey or in terms of strategy categories and has stressed proficiency level at the expense of other variables. The present largescale (N = 374) study of language learning strategy use by students at three different course levels at the University of Puerto Rico relates strategy use to gender as well as to L2 proficiency level and includes analysis of variation in the use of individual strategies on the SILL. Like previous researchers, we found greater use of learning strategies among more successful learners and higher levels of strategy use by women than by men. Our analysis, however, revealed more complex patterns of use than have appeared in previous studies. With both proficiency level and gender, only some items showed significant variation, and significant variation by proficiency level did not invariably mean more frequent strategy use by more successful students. The strategies reported as used more often by the more successful students emphasized active, naturalistic practice and were used in combination with a variety of what we term bedrock strategies, which were used frequently or moderately frequently by learners at all levels. The study's generalizability and its implications for teachers and researchers are discussed.

Computers and language learning: an overview

Abstract: Recent years have shown an explosion of interest in using computers for language teaching and learning. A decade ago, the use of computers in the language classroom was of concern only to a small number of specialists. However, with the advent of multimedia computing and the Internet, the role of computers in language instruction has now become an important issue confronting large numbers of language teachers throughout the world.