Metacognitive

Model of
Strategic
Learning,
Chamot 1999
http://www.nclrc.org/teaching_materials/ass
 etacognitive Model of Strategic Learning
Chamot 1999
The MMSL organizes learning strategies in
such a way that they become manageable and
helpful to students and teachers.

describes ways to transfer strategy use to other sub

as, as well as to real life situations.

Students can use these strategies for all the

modalities- reading, listening, writing and
speaking-as well as the
relation of vocabulary and content information.
e model consists of four metacognitive processes:

Planning

Monitoring Problem solving

Evaluating
Planning Strategies
It is similar to how people plan, organize
and schedule
events in their lives.
It helps people develop and use
forethought.
It encourages thinking and reflection.
It helps people to set goals.
Students focus their attention on the task
and ignore
distractions.
lanning Strategies

) Set Goals
) Directed Attention
) Activate Background Knowledge
) Predict
) Organizational Planning
) Self-management
 Monitoring Strategies
They are used to measure their
effectiveness while
working on the task.

Students monitor how they are doing as

they work.

Students monitor by making adjustments

to how they are working as necessary.

Students monitor their comprehension and

production
Monitoring Strategies

1) Ask If It Makes Sense

2) Selectively Attend
3) Deduction/Induction
4) Personalize/Contextualize
5) Take Notes
6) Use Imagery
7) Manipulate /Act Out
8) Talk Yourself Through It
Problem-Solving Strategies

They are used when the students have

difficulty at any time during the task.

Students use any resource available to

them to solve the problem.

Students that use them appropriately are

more successful at learning tasks.
roblem-Solving Strategies

) Inference
) Substitute
) Ask Questions to Clarify
) Use Resources
Evaluating Strategies

Evaluating Strategies allow the students

to see if they carried out their plans

And to check how well strategies helped.

The students evaluate the

appropriateness of their predictions and
guesses.

Students can verify if they met their goals

or not.
Evaluating Strategies

1) Verify Predictions and Guesses

2) Summarize
3) Check Goals
4) Evaluate Yourself
5) Evaluate Your Strategies
 Workshop 5
k in pairs. Read about the Metacognitive Model of
ic Learning. (from page 11 to page 33)

are an activity based on any of the strategies

bed in the Model. Think about the type of students yo
nd the level of their English.

w the activity to the class.

Framework for Strategy
Instruction
Framework for Strategies Instruction
Teacher Responsibility
Preparation
Activate background knowledge
Presentation
Explain
Attend
Model
Participate Practice
Prompt strategies Apply
------------------------------------------------------------
strategies
---------- Give feedback with
guidanceEvaluation
Assess strategies Assess strategies
------------------------------------------------------------------
---- Expansion
Support Use strategies
independently
Transfer

Transfer strategies to
new tasks Student Responsibility
amework for Strategies Instruction Features

Strategies instruction starts out as more

teacher-directed.

Students take more responsibility over time.

The teacher presents the idea that good

learners plan, monitor, problem-solve and
evaluate during language tasks.

Instruction that makes the strategies explicit

helps students think about their strategies so
they can develop conscious control of their
 Independent learning happens when students
practice strategies and try strategic thinking
themselves.

Students need the support of remainders to use

the strategies they have learnt.

Teachers can ask students to explain how

they figured out
they responses they gave in class.
 Teachers can provide feedback by praising
effective thinking and by pointing out the
strategies that students are using.

The teacher should ask students to evaluate

how well the strategy is working and which
strategies might be best for a given task or
problem.

After students have internalized the use of the

strategies, the teacher can encourage them to
expand their use by transferring it to other
situations.
Phase 1: Preparation
eating the Learner-Centered Classroom
t learning responsibilities, that is the teacher and th
nts share responsibility in the learning process.
her model, facilitator
ents active participants

ate a Classroom Contract, that is an arrangement

en teacher and students about how each will contrib
behave in the classroom.
 Sample Student-Teacher Classroom Contract
Characteristics of a good Characteristics of a good
teacher learner
Interesting Pays attention
Intelligent Does homework
Understanding Cooperates
Patient Asks questions
Friendly Independent
Organized Listens to teacher and
Good listener classmates
Active in class
analogies with students to explain the roles of teach
dents in the learning process.

e:
Learning a language is like playing on a soccer tea
cher is the coach who presents different kinds of pla
dvice and opportunities for practice, and provides
ck and support when it comes time to play a game.

s are the team players who actually play and must

ecisions and evaluate themselves during the game.
ning Reflections: The learner-center classroom requi
ts’ awareness of their learning process.

students to think about the different types of learnin

es they find useful when studying a language.

students to reflect on how learning a language is

to and different from learning in other subjects.
 Self-Reflections on Language Learning (page 56)

do you learn a language?

w do you like to learn a language? What is successfu
u?

ding with a dictionary ___Translating

ding a textbook ___Studying with friends
king vocabulary lists ___Watching TV
eaking with native speakers ___Writing stories
ening to the radio ___Speaking with classmates
ening to tapes and repeating ___Learning songs
dying grammar ___Studying by yourself
ting letters ___Focusing on pronunciation
and intonation
 c) Setting Personal Language Goals
Get students involved in learning by having
them set
language goals for themselves.
ng –term goals are usually a result of students’
vation for choosing the language of study. They may
nated from these areas:

ssional (I need to know the language for a career)

ational (I want to be able to use the language on
lege level)
al (I want to participate in conversations with friends
speak this language)
onal (My family heritage is related to this language)
 Short –term goals, which are set more often,
are used as
enabling steps toward long-term goals.

They are more immediately reachable than

mple:
long-term goals.
g-term goal read detective stories in the targe
language

t-term goal read short detective stories

focus on vocabulary to law and cr
d) Self-Assessment of Language Abilities

To evaluate one’s own strengths and

weaknesses is a critical step toward learning
how to regulate learning.

It increases students’ motivation by

increasing involvement in language learning.

Students think about what worked and did

not work and why one learning approach was
more or less successful than another.
ersonal Language Goals and Self-Assessment (page
Short-term goals
Please rate your current ability in English (0=no ability, 5=
excellent ability)

Reading: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Listening: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Speaking: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Writing: 0 1 2 3 4
5

Realistically, What are your goals for this term?

Reading: 0 1 2 3 4
Long-term goals
How do you want to be able to use English in your life?

What ability level do you need for your goal?

Reading: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Listening: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Speaking: 0 1 2 3 4
5
Writing: 0 1 2 3 4
5
dentifying Students’ Existing Learning Strategies

nd out what strategies students already use.

helps students to become aware of their existing
tegies use.
helps the teacher decide which strategies to focus o
instruction.
lass discussion about learning strategies
roup discussion and structured interviews (page 18)
hink-Alouds (page 19)
iaries
uestionnaires (pages 19-20)
Phase 2: Presentation
eral Guidelines for Presenting Learning Strategies

her Modeling: demonstrate how the strategy is used

eling it on a similar task.
ing the Strategy: The strategy name should be
out for students on a board, a poster, or a strip of
ard that the teacher can raise every time the strateg
s mentioned.
aining the Importance of the Strategy: Students may
lize the value of strategic learning for themselves
ey have practiced it over time.
d) Telling When to Use the Strategy: describe
typical situations in which the focus
strategy may be helpful.

e) Asking Students to Describe Their Use of

the Strategy:
teachers should give students an opportunity
to share
ways in which they have already used the
strategy.
gested Activities for Presenting Learning Strategies
Learning strategies can be presented:
Introduction of a new topic.
When the teacher perceives students are
experiencing difficulties with a task.

1) Sample Lesson for Introducing a Strategy

(pages 20-21)
2) Teacher Think-Alouds to Present Strategies
(page 21)
3) Follow-up Strategy Instruction Based on the
Think-Aloud
Workshop 6

• Choose one of the activities for presenting

learning strategies and adapt it to one of your
classes.
Phase 3: Practice
General Guidelines for Practicing Learning Strategies

ntegrate Strategies Practice into Regular Course Wo

Students should practice strategies while
working on authentic, meaningful language
tasks that are part of the language class.
Select Appropriate Challenging Tasks
The task should be :
Authentic
Moderately challenging
Based on real communicative needs
ncourage Students to Practice the Strategies Introdu

Teachers need to explicitly guide students

to practice
strategies during language learning tasks.
(page 25)

Add instructions to the task that remind

students to
use the strategy. (page 25)

Model strategies by thinking aloud.

ncourage Students to Choose Their Own Strategies a
elop a Repertoire of Strategies

Students need opportunities to practice

choosing strategies for themselves.

As students become more independent in

using strategies, cues should be less
frequent and less explicit.
Suggested Activities for Practicing Learning Strategie

a) Cooperative Learning and Group or pair

Work
b) Reciprocal Teaching (page 26)
c) Role-playing Activities (page 27)
d) Problem-Solving Activities
Phase 4: Evaluation
ggested Activities for Evaluating Learning Strategie
xpanding through discussions
lass Discussions
earning Strategies Checklists (page 28)
harts and Graphic Organizers (page 29)
earning Logs (pages 29-30)
ournals and Diaries (page 30)
Questionnaires (page 31)
nterviews (page 32)
ortfolio Assessment
Phase 5: Expansion
Suggested Activities for Expanding the
Application of
Learning Strategies

Expanding through discussions (page 33)

Expanding through other Language
Activities (page 32-33)
Expanding to Other Academic Subjects
(page 34)
Expanding to Nonacademic Situations
(page 34)
Expansion Through Positive Feedback
Workshop 7

• Use the 5 phases of the Chamot

Metacognitive Model of Strategic
Learning to teach one of the units you
teach in your classes.