Introduction

Learning a foreign language is indispensable for the economy, science, culture, technology, politics, and education of any country. For instance, Colombia implemented the free trade agreement with the United States to improve each of these aspects, taking into account the results in Chile and Mexico (Gracia & Zuleta, 2005). Therefore, since 1994, Colombia has defined English as a mandatory subject in all educational institutions (Mejía-Mejía, 2016). For this reason, the government of Colombia has proposed bilingual programs for the acquisition of foreign language competencies in English from A1 to B1 levels, especially in primary and secondary education. These programs include: Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo (2004-2019), Programa para el Fortalecimiento de Lenguas Extranjeras (2010- 2014), Ley de Bilingüismo 1651 de 2013, and Programa Nacional de Inglés (2015-2025) (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2014).

These programs are thought to increase the competitiveness and quality of education for children and youth in the country. Indeed, institutions and schools follow these programs as they design their curricula. However, in many cases, they formulate the approaches and principles for teaching and learning without considering the individual learning processes. According to Gardner (as cited in Herrera Clavero & Ramírez Salguero, 2002), in schools, all students are taught in an equal way and their learning process is evaluated using the same method, as each learner is expected to acquire knowledge at the same time and way (Martinic, 2015).

A research gap between learning strategies and learning styles

When referring to the previous gaps in terms of foreign language learning and teaching regarding institutions, individuals, and curricula design, Pimienta Prieto (2012) stated that there are an infinite number of learning strategies that teachers can use to enrich students’ learning, and in this spectrum, there is a relationship between learning strategies and learning tasks (Chiya, 2003). Such strategies focus on students acquiring knowledge more than just transferring information (Meza, 2013). In addition, understanding the learning styles of each student could make this process more efficient (Hervás Avilés, 2005). Therefore, teachers should not generalize the learning process of each student.

There are different ways to acquire knowledge or become proficient in a foreign language. The great debate today is making the teaching-learning process more striking and adapting education to the 21st century (Larrañaga, 2012). It is vitally important to change the way a foreign language is taught and learned, to one in which individuals use a variety of strategies to increase learning effectiveness, and strengthen English language instruction, as well.

On the other hand, the Ministerio de Educación Nacional [MEN] stated that with 720 hours of class given in a year students can obtain the required English level (Galindo & Moreno, 2008) as is expected to happen in primary and secondary education. Despite this, in Colombia, high school students graduate with an A- English level in public education (Sánchez Jabba, 2013). Considering the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001), students barely reach the A1 level which is insufficient for higher education or work. As a result, many students start developing stronger communicative competencies in English language, only when they enroll in a higher education program.

The purpose of revising learning strategies in the field of language teaching

Understanding how successful students make use of learning strategies, as stated by Fernández Castillo (2016), should be a subject of study in the field of education; this article examines the model of learning strategies by Oxford (1990). This model, according to Oxford, facilitates students’ acquisition of foreign language skills in local or global contexts. The local context refers to “a place and it is determined by its characteristics of department, municipality or district in terms of socio-economic, cultural issues, among others” (Otani, 2016). In this article, such a local context refers specifically to Colombia. On the other hand, the global context refers to the continents of America, Europe, and Asia.

The results of this review can contribute to mitigating dropouts, demotivation, and learning difficulties in students from Colombian educational institutions. Chiya (2003) accurately summarized the purpose explained before by saying, “If learners can find the strategies effective for studying, they will be able to study successfully” (p. 14).

A Brief Overview of Language Learning Theories

Over the years, language acquisition research has focused mostly on determining how people learn a foreign language and what facilitates this process. Several theories reaffirm this. Krashen’s theory proposed that a language is learned naturally through comprehensible input that is when students can still understand what others are saying and can understand what they are reading. He states that any language is learned only if students are exposed to it. (Krashen, as cited in Oller, 1988). Grammar, vocabulary, and speaking are gradually acquired unconsciously because of listening and reading work. According to this theory, we might say that receptive skills favor the development of productive skills.

Additionally, learning a new language is a process in which children acquire their mother tongue or a foreign language (Krashen, 2002). However, according to Brown (2007), for some children, learning a foreign language will take longer compared to the acquisition of their mother tongue. Llopis García (2007) explained that learners usually receive much more input for learning the first language. Nevertheless, this structured input facilitates the interpretation of the target language and allows a more effective development in real contexts.

A study by Nambiar (2009) in Malaysia with bilingual (English and Bahasa) Malay undergraduates majoring in English studied the similarities and differences in strategies that students used to understand the main ideas from texts. Students were given approximately three hours to read two texts: one in their native language (L1) and the other in English. Nambiar) found that students used more metacognitive strategies such as planning for the task when reading a text in English, and he also determined that students used cognitive strategies more frequently, such as summarizing each paragraph, when reading the text in their L1. This supports the argument that students do not use similar strategies for understanding texts in different languages.

Learning strategies facilitate the routes of language acquisition. According to Chamot (2014), they make it possible to match the target language to the learning process, taking the mental processes as reference. Thus, it is argued that “learning strategies help students to develop each of the skills” (Oxford, 1990, p. 57). For these reasons, this article included the Oxford taxonomy model to develop the current review, as it is still the most accepted model (Taghinezhad et al., 2016).

Learning Strategies from the Oxford (1990) Taxonomy

“Learning strategies can be useful in gaining both explicit linguistic knowledge (forms and functions) and implicit linguistic knowledge (which is required to produce spontaneous language)” (García-Ros et al., 1998, p. 258). That is why a large part of the training processes have resorted to using learning strategies in different academic subjects. However, students who study English use more strategies to acquire this language than students of other subjects (Khezrlou, 2012). This may mean the importance that learners must attach to learning strategies when they study languages.

Therefore, the research in the field of foreign language learning has focused on defining taxonomies that are directly involved. Oxford (1990) classified such strategies into direct and indirect. The former directly affect learning and the latter support and manage learning without directly involving the target language. Macaro (2001) affirmed that direct strategies are subconscious strategies being these more difficult to articulate by the learner, and indirect strategies are conscious strategies and more controlled. According to Oxford (1990) and Cohen and Weaver (2005), indirect strategies are Metacognitive: Affective, and Social, and similarly, the direct strategies are Cognitive: Memory, and Compensation.

Indirect strategies

Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognitive Strategies give students the route to become successful, and those have a great perception of usefulness among secondary students of Valenciana Community (García Ros et al., 1998). This is because when students can understand and control their learning processes, they tend to take greater responsibility for their learning (Rahimi & Katal, 2012). In addition, these strategies increase learners’ autonomy and their direction towards individualized instruction (Fewell, 2010).

To some extent, metacognitive strategies occupy an important place in the field of learning. Learners not only learn how to regulate their learning process , but when using them probably find learning easier and faster (Peñuela, 2018). However, these principles cannot be generalized, as less successful students choose a strategy for convenience rather than learning efficiency (Cohen, 2011). This is because many students are unaware that metacognition is an intrinsic development. It means, to do things for pleasure and passion and know that it could affect positively or negatively their learning objectives (Oz, 2005). In other words, if the student does not know how to use the appropriate strategy, it may be more difficult to achieve any goal. Hence, we highlight the importance of knowing these types of strategies and most importantly, the teacher´s role in encouraging their use, so that they may become more effective and autonomous.

Raoofi et al. (2014) carried out a study on the importance and relationship of metacognition in language learning. The results showed that metacognitive training helped students improve their skills when learning a foreign language. Metacognition allowed them to know and implement useful strategies for each learning activity. Sandoval Zúñiga, et al. (2010) affirmed those metacognitive strategies in listening tasks improve language learning. This explains the fact that the longer students are exposed to the target language, the easier it is to understand the discourse, retain information, and increase the learning in general.

Affective Strategies

Affective strategies allow students to control their emotions, attitudes, and motivations during the language learning processes (Cohen & Weaver, 2005). There are three main sets of affective strategies: anxiety reduction, self-encouragement, and taking an emotional temperature (Oxford, 1990). A study of 100 English students from the universities of Allalamah Tabatabaei and Tehran sought to identify whether students with either of the two types of motivation (extrinsic or intrinsic[1]) choose specific types of learning strategies. To do this, Zia Hosseini & Salehi (2008) used the Academic Motivation Scale questionnaire (Deci & Ryan, 1985), the SILL questionnaire (Oxford, 1990), and a TOEFL test in English. After examining the information from the two questionnaires, the results suggested that intrinsic motivation directly influences the choice of strategies, especially metacognitive, cognitive, compensation, and social strategies.

Oxford (1990) said that good learners can know how to manage their emotions and attitudes when they are immersed in a learning process. However, there are several independent variables which may intervene in this process. These include motivation, gender, age, background and cultural differences, attitudes, learning styles, success, and the language proficiency level (Macaro, 2001). There is no single theory, formula, or methodology for learning; yet it is necessary to consider these aspects and generate self-regulated learning. According to these variables, successful learning is a slow process, which the students can approach by managing their emotions with the help of affective strategies. These strategies provide a balance between self-knowledge and learning the target language.

In a study, Riazi and Rahimi (2005) departed from the Oxford model and applied the Inventory of Strategies for Language Learning (SILL) to 220 Iranian university students of English to determine their use of strategies. The results were surprising as they found that culture and national origin influenced the use of strategies. In this case, Iranian students had limited practice outside the classroom in the target language. The results inferred that the use of social strategies is restricted when compared to affective strategies. The researchers’ highlighted that affective strategies had a greater impact on the learning process especially when there was no contact with native speakers.

However, the use of affective strategies decreases with age. Older students seem to be less flexible and open to the adoption of new strategies (Pilipović & Glušac, 2016). However, in most cases, positive emotions and behaviors facilitate the learning process and make it more enjoyable (Oxford, 1990). Despite all this, these strategies affect student’s performance in learning a foreign language positively and negatively, depending on the intensity, proportion, and use.

Supporting the previous arguments, Yang (1999) carried out a study with 505 Taiwanese students who answered two different questionnaires: his English Learning Questionnaire, and the Inventory of Strategies for Language Learning - SILL (Oxford, 1990). These questionnaires were expected to provide information about the relationship between the beliefs of English learners and learning strategies. The results showed that beliefs could affect goals, the use of strategies, and motivation. This impact is reflected in the learning process positively or negatively. In most cases, beliefs often hinder this process, especially when there are misconceptions regarding the time it will take to learn a foreign language. Other beliefs concern misunderstanding native speakers when they speak or when the learners feel they have little contact with the target language.

Social Strategies

Social learning strategies are the last sub-classification of indirect strategies according to Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy. In some other classifications, social strategies are connected to affective strategies, but, in this section, we will refer to them separately. Oxford defined social strategies as follows: “a language is a form of social behavior; it is communication, and communication occurs between and among people. Learning a language that involves other people and appropriate social strategies are very important in this process” (p. 144). From this view of language, we would say that the need for interaction with others in the process of foreign language learning is imperative. It is almost impossible for humans to acquire a language without this interaction.

There are four types of social strategies, asking, cooperating, emphasizing, and practicing (Etxebarria et al., 2012). These strategies are of paramount importance to acquire a foreign language for three reasons: First, they allow learners to interact with people who speak the target language (Alptekín, 2007). Second, they allow learners to have close contact with the reality of the target language. And third, social strategies facilitate the learning of a second language through interaction with other learners or native speakers of the language (Taghinezhad et al., 2016).

Direct Strategies

Cognitive Strategies

Cognitive strategies “enable learners to understand and produce new language by many different means” (Oxford, 1990, p. 37). According to Chamot (1987), these strategies allow addressing the management of mental processes that students go through in learning a foreign language and when they are putting it into practice. As these strategies are fundamental when learning a new language (O´Malley & Chamot, 1990), students can reflect on the manner to carry out their language learning process, due to the mental processes that allow them to organize and clarify ideas. From there they can put these ideas into action.

In the same way, according to Oxford (1990), cognitive strategies are classified into four main subcategories: practicing, receiving-sending messages, analyzing-reasoning, and creating an input /output structure. All these subcategories are used to develop cognitive processes like language, memory, perception, thinking, and learning, which are necessary when learning a foreign language. In addition to processes, cognitive strategies have four important features. They are goal-direct, intentionally invoked, fitful, and situation-specific (Weinstein & Meyer, 1991). The first refers to defining the steps to achieve the desired purpose. The second refers to a conscious selection of strategies. The third concerns the hard work that students should do when they use a specific strategy. And the fourth refers to the choice of a strategy depending on the setting in which the learner is immersed.

Memory strategies

Memory (mnemonic) strategies allow learners to accumulate and retrieve old and new information (Oxford, 1990). This category refers to the ability of learners to remember the language (Griffiths & Parr, 2001) by executing four activities: “creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds, reviewing well, and employing actions” (Nemati, 2009 p.15). This means that these strategies help students organize the information in a way that is accessible to them. As a result of this process, learners are more likely to recognize their learning styles according to their skills and learning preferences.

The use of memory strategies grows when students start learning a second language, then, at some point in this process, the intensity is reduced. Memory strategies are usually on-the-spot when students are learning vocabulary in the target language (Gogokhia, 2020). Oxford (1990) stated that the “mind can store 100 trillion bits of information, but only part of that potential can be used unless memory strategies come to the aid of the learner” (p. 38). We would add those memory strategies can enrich the learners’ knowledge considering their prior learning and schemata, as exercising memory and bringing together both new and old learning can trigger more efficient training.

Compensation strategies

Compensation strategies are used to solve linguistic problems in those moments when immediate linguistic and non-linguistic responses are required (Ljungberg, 2011). In most cases, this strategy used when learners use oral skills. Nevertheless, it can also be used with the rest of language skills. Oxford (1990) affirmed that “compensation occurs not just in understanding the new language but also in producing it” (p.48). Some subcategories of this type of strategy enrich language production, such as using synonyms and switching the language to the mother tongue. Poulisse (1989) added that compensation strategies should be integrated into the study of communication. According to these arguments, compensation strategies help learners make communication longer, despite lack of accuracy in terms of language used to express something in the target language at a specific act of communication.

In a study on the use of compensation strategies with Dutch students of English, Poulisse (1989) showed that a learner who opts to use compensation strategies makes use of two types of knowledge: conceptual and linguistic knowledge. The former refers to the perception and the meaning that each student gives to the universal concepts. The latter concerns the use of language in the four skills. In reading and listening skills, learners use the strategy of guessing intelligently (Oxford, 1990). In speaking and writing skills, students assume and overcome the limitations they have on these two skills.

Compensation strategies help students to overcome problems in the four skills. According to Karbalaei and Taji (2014), if students can anticipate their difficulties, they will surely look for a way to transmit the message of one way or another. However, it is not a good idea that students overuse compensation strategies. It would be great for teachers to motivate students to increase their level of proficiency in the language so that they do not depend totally on these types of strategies in the continuum of communication in the foreign language.

Naturally, compensation strategies are essential when learners are in the process of learning a foreign language at any proficiency level. Oxford (1990) claimed that beginners not only make use of guessing, but also advanced learners and even native speakers do. Good learners use proper guessing when they come across unfamiliar phrases, while those who are not so successful get into panic or look up information in the dictionary. This hinders progress in learning the language (Oxford, 1990).

A study on oral fluency with two different groups of English students attending the first grade of a secondary school in the Netherlands illustrates the importance of guessing strategies. For one year, one group of students received traditional instruction, including grammar, and the other group omitted it. Bakermans (2017) showed at the end of the process that the group who received grammar lessons produced 175 words, but the group who did not, produced 225 words per minute in a conversation. The argument is because the first group was concerned with grammar rules and accuracy, there was no room for mistakes and students worked with explicit knowledge. However, the second group felt more confident as they did not know the mistakes they could make, as they worked with implicit knowledge. In summary, the omission of grammar instruction had a positive effect on oral fluency. For this reason, Oxford (1990) stated that skillful learners communicate better than learners who know many more target language words and grammar structures.

Similarly, in a study, López Medina (2010) analyzed compensation strategies of two groups of adult learners at the Official School of Languages of Moratalaz in Spain. These learners had an intermediate English level and showed difficulties in the four language skills. They were given two different questionnaires to solve. The first intended to obtain information about the knowledge they had about the language, and the second, to find out learners’ compensation strategies. At the end, the results showed that learners had greater difficulty in speaking and listening skills when facing communication problems in any of the four skills. It was found they were very dependent on grammar books and dictionaries, and they did not take any risk to use language communicatively. Another important result showed that these learners were not willing to make mistakes, as using compensation strategies could slow down their learning process.

Method

The primary sources of information considered for this review article were mainly research articles. We selected research articles in Spanish and English. Most of these works critically present the core elements discussed in the previous sections of this article regarding learning strategies and language skills in L2 especially of undergraduate students around the world. In the end, we also selected several research articles on learning strategies and language skills regarding studies applied in Colombia to point out strengths and needs considering these global fields of knowledge, and as an opportunity to look inside the existing bilingualism policies of this country. The selection of these articles included a collection of publications over the last two decades. After having collected a considerable number of research articles, we decided to include in our analysis and discussion, those that were produced and published in the continents of America, Asia, and Europe, as there is evidence of extensive research work in these parts of the world. We used different databases, such as Dialnet, Redalyc, Eric, Proquest, and Science Direct. We also considered e-books by Pearson Education, Continuum, CIP, Longman Applied Linguistics, and Heinle & Heinle. The main search keywords were foreign language learning, language skills, learning, learning strategies, metacognitive, affective, social, compensation, memory, and cognitive strategies. We stated the previous criteria by collecting as much authentic information as possible. The selection of both complete and supporting articles, and experts in the field of learning strategies and language skills in L2 were also parameters to provide a solid and critical revision at the end.

Results

In the first part of this section, we present the results regarding the field of learning strategies and their relationship with language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing from the revision of documented studies with undergraduate students of foreign languages from countries of Asia, Europe, and America. Next, in the second part of this section, we also share an analysis focused on the perspective of learning strategies, following the most relevant studies on this field carried out in Colombia.

The development of language skills through learning strategies

Learning strategies can separate the four language skills and develop them step-by-step. These strategies suit better some language skills than others and vice versa. However, we admit that the connection between learning strategies and language skills happen in many ways, as we cannot define specific strategies for each specific language skill. They work appropriately at the same time for several language skills. Leaver et al. (2005) stated that receptive skills may share the same number of strategies that productive skills do. Similarly, most people make use of handling strategies to enrich the learning process of the linguistic skills of a foreign language (Oxford, 2002). For these reasons, the following studies in the literature review of Asian, European, and American continents justify this connection of learning strategies with the development of language skills.

The receptive language skills

The receptive language skills consist of “the abilities to successfully read and listen, and consequently comprehend a foreign language” (Ivančić & Mandić, 2014, p.2). They are entry skills where the learner receives information in the target language and their proficiency level is demonstrated when they understand what they are reading or listening to. In addition, receptive language skills provide learners with resources to practice, and produce language based on what they have learned. Al-Jawi (2010) suggested that if exposing learners significantly to receptive skills, will lead them to make use of productive skills. This language exposure requires teaching these receptive skills effectively, so this will help them develop, acquire, and implement other skills.

The reading skill

Reading comprehension is one of the most important skills when acquiring a foreign language. It allows the improvement of other language skills, and language aspects such as vocabulary, pronunciation, language functions, and fluency. According to Muhaimin (2019), reading aloud improves fluency and pronunciation. Students themselves notice their mistakes during and after reading, and next time they do better if practicing repetitively, even imitating and increasing the knowledge in general of systematic speech.

In addition, reading provides the reader with input. Fernández Castillo (2013) referred to input as the foreign language to which the learner is exposed to when a student reads and listens. Learning a foreign language can be more effective using comprehensible input, and better if this input is above the students’ level, and still understandable (Krashen, 1998). When students receive extensive information, the development of their communication can become more natural. In this sense, students need to learn and recognize the words in most cases and other parts of the language to communicate and produce messages. Ellis (1994) showed in her language acquisition model that learning begins with input. It passes through the intake, which are the parts of the linguistic system that students are unaware of. Then, it passes to the knowledge of these parts, and finally, the production of language occurs.

Considering that reading skills should occupy an important place in the spectrum of language skills, the implementation of cognitive strategies is imperative to fulfill the process of language acquisition successfully. The study in which Elihami & Ismail (2017) evaluated the reading comprehension skills of fifty senior high school students from Sidenreng Rappang Regency helped him identify the influence that cognitive strategies have on this skill. One conclusion of this study revealed that the application of these types of strategies increases the achievement of reading skills more than non-cognitive strategies.

On the other hand, training cognitive strategies can be useful for developing reading comprehension skills (Mehrdad et al., 2012), but these skills can be also developed by metacognitive strategies. A study conducted by Sanhueza Campos (2012) three university students from Chile took a TOEFL examination, the taxonomy questionnaire of O 'Malley and Chamot (1990), and the good learner’s principles questionnaire proposed by Ellis (1994) to examine the metacognitive strategies students used during reading comprehension tests. From his observations and analysis, he concluded that successful students in reading comprehension are more effective if using metacognitive strategies. We might add that metacognitive strategies are “those activities that make students aware of their thinking as they do reading tasks” (Meniado, 2016 p. 119).

In addition to knowing cognitive and metacognitive strategies, identifying the types of texts can contribute to the development of reading comprehension skills. Frønes et al. (2013) classified the main texts as argumentative, descriptive, expository, and transactional. Students should learn to use these texts strategically. In addition, determining the type of text and even combining strategies (Cohen, 2011) might be a necessary activity for developing critical reading skills. Meyer et al. (1980) demonstrated that students tend to ignore the strategies and do not perform adequate reading processes when they are not aware of the type of texts they read.

For this reason, students should practice different types of strategies. Translating a text into their native language to understand and produce a foreign language (Li & Munby, 1996) is an example of this. In a study, Meniado (2016) used descriptive surveys to determine the relationship between metacognitive reading strategies, reading motivation, and performance in reading comprehension of 43 students from Saudi Arabia. The results showed that a frequent strategy used by these students when reading academic texts was problem-solving. In addition to problem-solving, the study showed that there was a relationship between strategies and motivation, and students felt highly motivated, even if their reading comprehension levels were below the average. According to these results, we might say that the level of success developing reading skills may depend much on which metacognitive and cognitive strategies are used. The learner must determine the most suitable strategy or strategies according to any specific type of text.

The listening skill

Comprehensive listening is a verbal reception skill. As learners listen, they receive and understand the language that allows the learning process of a foreign language to improve more naturally. In this sense, listening activities can be carried out in the target language considering the learner’s interests and their learning styles. In this process, motivation plays an important role because it is the internal process that sustains, arouses interest, and organizes the proposed objective (Salazar Ríos, 2010). Vandergrift (1999) claimed that “metacognitive strategies are crucial to success in listening comprehension” (p.174) and learners must be motivated (Yusria et al., 2013). Thus, the work of implementing learning strategies is not successful unless the learner’s motivation grows.

We need listening comprehension to promote and improve the learning of foreign languages (Vandergrift, 1999), and in doing so, we need to promote the use of direct and indirect strategies. According to Vandergrift (1999), listening strategies allow the learner to gain information through input and achieve greater success in their learning process. However, Graham (2007) clarified that “it is not the number of strategies employed that is crucial, but the manner in which they are employed” (p. 65). We admit here that it will not be an easy task for the learner to receive this information and adapt strategies to their learning experiences, all in one; it is the teacher's support that will determine the success this learning process.

Some studies favor the importance of learning strategies in developing listening skills. A study by Yulisa (2018) on the influence of metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective strategies in listening comprehension with a heterogeneous group of Islamic senior high school students from Babussalam Payaraman showed that the implementation of this group of strategies for all levels produced a significant effect on listening comprehension. These strategies had a significant influence on the students’ listening performance in general.

Similarly, another study with forty upper-intermediate TEFL undergraduate students studied the relationships among categories, such as: physical appearance (gender and age), motivation, language learning strategies, and personal traits (reserve, shyness, and confidence of individuals). All these categories were studied across the spectrum of cognitive, metacognitive, and social strategies in listening comprehension. The study showed that “there is a significant relationship between learners' level of motivation and the use of cognitive, metacognitive, and social strategies” (Serri et al. 2012, p. 847). If students are aware of what their objectives are, what they want to achieve, and how they can achieve these objectives. Then, they will make greater use of strategies to achieve such goals.

The productive language skills

Foreign language learners must acquire productive skills, also known as active skills. These are defined by Davies (1976) as “the ability to communicate actively in the foreign tongue, to speak it and write it” (p. 441), in which speaking and writing complement each other and help individuals acquire a foreign language; as “facing a real communicative situation, it is necessary more than one skill” (Muñoz Bastías, et al. 2011, p. 38). This means, even if productive skills neither occur in the same scenario nor at the same speed, the two have the purpose of communicating. So, it is necessary to combine them for successful learning.

The speaking skill

Speaking is essentially a “deliberate practice, a special kind of language production activity in which explicit declarative knowledge about language is put to use” (VanPatten & Williams, 2015, p.261). In addition, speaking is considered one important skill since there is “a need for a language to communicate with others who live all around the globe” (Rao, 2019, p.8). Thus, the interaction occurring within the educational setting, individuals, and contexts, in this case, is essential to promote such practices.

Conversely, students do not support the idea of being forced to speak in a foreign language (Krashen, 1998), or even in their mother tongue, as this usually provokes frustrated and unmotivated learners. Studies have demonstrated the importance of learning strategies for developing oral skills, for example, regarding the impact of some foreign language lessons about metacognitive strategies in the improvement of language mastery, confidence, and oral production. It was conducted with a class of five advanced learners of French in a secondary school in England. In the results, Forbes and Fisher (2015) determined that metacognitive strategies had a positive impact on the proficiency level, the student’s confidence, and even on the development of all language skills, especially when students needed to express oral messages. It is necessary for teachers to introduce strategies so that the students are equipped and aware of their learning. Additionally, metacognitive strategies allow learners to strengthen their speaking skills over time and become more autonomous and successful. Rahimi and Katal (2012) affirmed that successful students understand their learning process, and use different strategies.

Yunus & Singh et al. (2014) studied the use of indirect strategies in the Mengubah Destini Anak Bangsa Program, MDAB, offered to poor students in Bumiputera, State of Malaysia. According to the initial results, social strategies were the most used and affective strategies the least used by these students. However, the study also revealed that students were unaware of the strategies they used. In one way or another, indirect strategies are essential to improve oral speech, even though many of the language learners are unaware of their use. Similarly, a study by Shen and Chiu (2019) on social strategies used by successful students who communicated efficiently in the second and third year of English as a foreign language studies in Taiwan also had important results. They reported that successful students practiced pronunciation, intonation, eye contact, and facial expression to improve their ability to communicate orally. According to this, communication is not only given verbally, but it also non-verbally for more effective meaning negotiation.

The writing skill

Writing demands other types of communication skills, as well as other linguistic systems (Scott & Ytreberg, 2008). Many people may think that learning to write is a demanding process, and this is probably true if they do not have the right tools to approach it. According to Rao (2019), this process requires a lot of patience, time, and practice. Thus, writing skills and learning strategies should be developed interconnectedly. A study conducted by Sethuraman and Radhakrishnan (2020) at the Seshasayee Institute of Technology (SIT), a polytechnic institution located in Tiruchirappalli, India, focused the efforts on developing writing skills in 51 pre-final year diploma students. The researchers stated that the use of cognitive strategies guided the students in achieving consistency in their writing. As teachers, it might be necessary to point the importance of knowing the students’ actions and developing cognition that helps them reach the writing goals.

We should pay attention to the five strategies Anderson (2005) proposed for developing writing skills: planning, monitoring, and evaluating, revising, retrieving, and compensating. Besides, any learner, at any proficiency level, should be taught to use them. Raoofi et al. (2017) carried out a study to identify the relationship between the writing strategies and the writing proficiency level in 312 first and second-year undergraduate students from the University of Malaysia. These students were given a writing strategy scale questionnaire and a writing proficiency test. After evaluating the test, the researchers reported that students with better writing ability mostly used metacognitive, cognitive, and affective strategies; however, social strategies were kept at a minimum by these same students. This means, successful learners use conscious and unconscious learning strategies when writing.

Likewise, an empirical study was applied at Laiwu Vocational College in Colombia to know the effect of training students in metacognitive and cognitive strategies. The participants were divided into two groups: an experimental group (EG), who received training and a control group (CG) who practiced writing routines. Both groups took a before, during, and after writing test, and they also wrote journals in which they gave an account of their progress. According to the results, Lv and Chen (2010) determined that training students in metacognitive and cognitive strategies generated positive effects on their writing performance in a foreign language. In the analysis of each test, the EG showed significantly higher effects compared to the CG. It would be necessary then to say that the role of teachers in the instruction of writing strategies is important for helping learners to be successful in developing writing skills. As stated by Alamri (2019) to focus our attention on students who struggle with writing.

A brief review of learning strategies in Colombia

In Colombia, a few studies have been carried out in the field of learning strategies and foreign language learning. However, these studies are of great help to understand the need and the importance of making emphasis in Colombian contexts, considering the knowledge and research we can find in global contexts.

Paredes (2010) carried out a study at the MDC InterAmerican Campus in South Colombia. Twelve Colombian adults with advanced English level participated. They were interviewed about their experiences of learning English, the selection and use of strategies, and the meanings these strategies had according to their experiences. The researcher found that the context is determined by language learning due to the quality and quantity of opportunities students have when being exposed to the target language. As well, other studies have paid attention to the improvement of linguistic skills. For instance, a study by González Muñoz (2009) identified the strategies that students use for developing oral production at all English proficiency levels. Metacognitive and social strategies are the most used to improve oral production skills, especially strategies such as paying attention to mistakes, learning from these mistakes, and being aware of the speaker’s feelings and thoughts. These results give us the chance to think of teachers as strategy administrators if the aim is to develop fluency in the language classroom.

According to Paris and Paris (2001), teachers have two possibilities to teach the strategies: implicitly or explicitly. The first refers to teaching something without expressing it directly and the second refers to teaching something directly. However, teachers are autonomous to make decisions and choose the way that best fits the students’ needs and goals. In this sense, teachers can introduce the strategies to students and even help students to plan these strategies. Oxford (1990) proposed a three-step model training strategy for this case. The first step is to make a diagnosis of strategies students already know. The second step is to set a number of tasks and ask students for the strategies they used to develop these tasks. And the third step is to model new strategies and make students practice them. If these practices are included in the classroom, the impact on the instructional processes of both teachers and students might be surprisingly positive.

Teachers can start promoting the importance of learning strategies in very practical ways. Teachers can do this by increasing teamwork in the classroom, providing students with spaces where they can use the language in real situations, such as role-plays and problem-solving situations to make students leave their comfort zone, and allowing them to evaluate their own learning and their classmates’. All these are ideas that can be incorporated into the teaching practice daily, and much better if students are explained the purpose of using learning strategies. A possible impact of these classroom practices would be learners using these strategies outside the academic setting or school, as well. In the same way, in a reflection on learning by Klimenko and Alvares (2009), there is evidence that it is necessary that learners develop cognitive and metacognitive strategies and constantly use them for self-regulated learning.

Another research at Antioquia inquired about ways of perceiving the learning of English and French by teachers and students through individual and group interviews, and their frequency when using learning strategies through the Inventory of Strategies for Language Learning Questionnaire (SILL). In this study, Orrego & Díaz Monsalve (2010) found that undergraduate students used strategies for learning their mother tongue and a foreign language with the same frequency and in the same way. Cognitive, compensation, and social strategies are the most prominent learning strategies in this process.

Similarly, a study at the public school La Despensa in Soacha, Colombia with twenty-six tenth grade students, intended to explain the role of the instruction of social strategies in the interaction between students and teachers. Ballén (2017) concluded that a pedagogical implementation of social strategies allowed students to use more natural expressions and opinions in situations, where communication was required and increased their autonomy.

Regarding social strategies, a similar study with seventeen students enrolled in a Basic English course from a well-known language center called Centro Colombo Americano in Colombia contribute with interesting results. The study was focused on socio-affective activities. Students answered a questionnaire at the beginning and another at the end. The results showed the impact of socio-affective strategies on students’ beliefs, attitudes, anxieties, and motivations. Fandiño Parra (2010) pointed out that when socio-affective learning takes place in the classroom, students know they do not necessarily need to work more. Nevertheless, they need to be more aware of affective factors, use language strategies better, and organize their efforts more effectively. According to this, we would reflect that it is not the type of strategy that leads to success, but rather the regulation and combination that is given to each learning process, understanding that pedagogy can enrich this.

In summary, these local studies demonstrate that learning strategies are important to boost the learning process of foreign languages. Particularly social, cognitive, and metacognitive strategies as these are the most effective in use (Ballén, 2017; Fandiño Parra, 2010; González Muñoz, 2009; Klimenko & Alvares, 2009; Orrego & Díaz Monsalve, 2010; Paredes, 2010). Some examples of activities that teachers could conduct in class for students to practice these strategies are a) teaching how to make a schedule to organize their learning style, b) carrying out a self-monitoring program of learning in which students can identify their process and identify any possible gaps, c) identifying the purpose of activities in and out of class, and d) giving students confidence, so that they can ask for clarification any time they need to.

Discussion

The discussion is divided into three main parts. The first part relates to the influence that strategies have on the development of language skills. The second part corresponds to the motivational factor and how determines it when students are learning a foreign language. And the third part refers to the impact that the Oxford model has had in the Colombian context and some suggestions regarding the learning strategies in the educational policy.

The impact of learning strategies on the development of language skills

According to the review of learning strategies and language skills development, we identified that metacognitive, cognitive, and social strategies are the most predominant strategies in terms of language skills and learners’ performance. Strategies can be used for developing any language skill, such as reading, listening, writing, and speaking, as learners can link either individual or combined strategies with each one of the skills (Oxford, 1990). In this sense, the more students know about how to use these strategies, the more successful they become (García Ros et al., 1998), so this principle states that it is not enough knowing, but regulating the learning process. Mariani (2002) somehow summarized the previous argument as he argues that “there are no good strategies because people need to discover their own” (p.45).

As there is no specific set of successful strategies for foreign language learning, “strategies are conditioned by individual differences - so the right question to ask is not,” Is this strategy good?“, But rather, “Is it good for me?” (Mariani, 2002, p. 51). In this sense, strategies should be selected according to the learning styles, interests, and proficiency level of the learner. Wong and Nunan (2011) clearly stated that learning styles are approaches for learning a language and the strategies are steps that complement those learning styles if strategies have correctly matched them.

Determining strategies for the development of language skills

There is also a relationship between metacognitive strategies and language skill development. In most cases, this sort of strategies allows learners to be more autonomous, increase their self-regulated learning, and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This sense of self-awareness should occur “early in […] childhood to be more successful in school and later in their lives” (Flavian, 2016, p. 90). Consequently, if students know their learning process and become aware of metacognitive strategies, they will be more likely to shape it according to each of their learning styles and study habits. Kolarić (2017) reports that these types of strategies allow the understanding of how to increase knowledge considering the learners’ characteristics as a starting point in the journey.

According to Oxford (1990), cognitive strategies are the most popular in language students and, together with metacognitive strategies, they have a positive influence on language skills, especially in reading and writing. However, Cross and Vandergrift (2018) stated that it is difficult to separate these two when teaching. For instance, in the writing process Wischgoll (2016) affirmed that the structural knowledge of the text (cognitive strategy) and the self-control of the same (metacognitive strategy) support academic writing and improvement it. Therefore, it is convenient to teach them simultaneously to perceive better results since they are essential to learn a language. In short, it can be said that these strategies can increase knowledge and are essential in the process of learning new languages.

Oxford (1990) also claimed that “a language is a form of social behavior, it is communication, and communication occurs between and among people” (p. 144). In this sense, social strategies are significant in the improvement of students' oral production and communication. When students interact with other people, they improve their pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. Simultaneously, these strategies allow the student to improve affective strategies, such as confidence, self-confidence, and thus, develop better communication skills.

As previously stated, metacognitive, cognitive, and social strategies are the most frequently used strategies for developing language skills, say reading (Elihami & Ismail, 2017; Meniado, 2016; Mehrdad et. al, 2012; Sanhueza Campos, 2012), listening (Vandergrift, 1999; Yulisa, 2018), speaking (Ballén, 2017; Forbes & Fisher, 2015; González Muñoz, 2009), and writing (Alamri, 2019; Lv & Chen, 2010; Raoofi et. al., 2017). However, other strategies such as compensation, memory, and affective cannot be ignored. In fact, the entire group of strategies proposed by Oxford (1990) is relevant, but some of these with greater preference by students themselves.

The importance of strategy choice

Despite the predominance of cognitive, metacognitive, and social strategies, both teachers and students might not properly make correct decisions when selecting the right strategies. According to Kunasaraphan (2015), metacognitive, social, and cognitive strategies are generally used by students with high proficiency levels; “when teachers and students understand how they learn and their preferred ways to learn, the probability for learning increases” (Csapo & Hayen, 2006, p. 132). We admit it is not easy to detect the types of strategies to use, as these are determined by many different factors. However, if strategies can be found and put into practice safely, learning will be significantly enriched.

A quantitative study with twenty teachers and 263 English students with heterogenous proficiency levels up to B1 from a language school at a public university in Northern Mexico focused on knowing the activities that students prefer, and those that teachers carry out in the classroom. Samperio Sánchez (2017), who is the researcher, used a 62-item questionnaire taking literature books as reference. The results show that teachers implemented activities according to what they perceive students needed. Therefore, there was a gap between the activities implemented and the ones learners preferred doing. Learners favored activities in which the teacher provided and facilitated knowledge, however, there was a similarity in speaking activities.

Considering the previous study, the challenge is for teachers to accommodate what students need to what they like. Teachers can make use of the strategies, even grouping students according to their tastes, age, level of a foreign language, and learning styles. Similarly, teachers can motivate students to explore and identify learning strategies, so that they can apply them and be more aware of their learning procedures (Palacios Martínez, 1996). The influence of students’ strategy practice in the classroom impacts the results of the whole educational process of them.

We have discussed the following points so far. Strategies are effective for developing language skills in the way the learner approaches them. In addition, learners should discover the most effective strategies considering individual characteristics and probably with the help of the teacher. Oxford (1990) and her taxonomy of learning strategies, in the whole sense, have a positive influence on foreign language learning. We have identified that the most used and valuable learning strategies by students are cognitive, metacognitive, and social and it is possible to connect them with the development of any language skill. However, it is essential to include the motivational factor for various reasons, as it will be presented in the next section below.

Approaching the relationship between motivation and learning a foreign language

Understanding the relationship between motivation and learning a foreign language, we should start this section by recalling a definition of what motivation means. Ollero Ramírez (2014) defined it as a “force that moves a person to initiate an action and to keep on until the goals are achieved” (p. 698). It means that part of the actions that learners carry out are linked to motivation, whether these are bad or good to achieve what they want.

As motivation can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic, we will look briefly at how these two types connect to language learning. Intrinsic motivation refers to the purpose a student has for learning and extrinsic motivation as the reason or situation that leads the student to learn a foreign language (Leaver et al., 2005). Reinforcing intrinsic motivation on students will allow them to choose actions and activities based on their tastes. It means that teachers need to consider affective strategies for students if we want them to be comfortable learning a foreign language.

Motivation also promotes effort in students, allows them to persist when facing any difficulties, and increases their performance in the target language as being exposed to it (Lou et al., 2005). In the same way “motivation can affect the choices in the learning strategies used” (Leaver et al., 2005, p. 105). In this sense, metacognitive, cognitive, and social strategies should be used when students are engaged to generate a positive impact on their learning (Meniado, 2016; Serri et al, 2012; & Yusria et al., 2013). All in all, motivation can have either positive or negative impacts on the learning process depending on how students and teachers approach the learning experience.

According to the evidence introduced above, we might say that learning strategies and motivation are interconnected. Clayton et al. (2010) stated that “learners’ motivation has been consistently linked to successful learning” (p. 350). In this sense, if learners are interested in learning, this interest will allow them to look for new alternatives and tools to achieve their goals. Thus, “motivational beliefs and learning strategies influence academic outcomes” (Clayton et al., 2010, p.351), in which the increase of self-confidence allows learners to develop any learning task more effectively.

In the first part of the discussion, it was defined that even though the taxonomy by Oxford (1990) has had a positive effect on learning, especially the cognitive, social, and metacognitive strategies influence the development of language skills, there is also a varied menu of strategies that offer learners many different alternatives, so it is the learner who builds their own collection of strategies. In the second part of the discussion, we introduced the argument that learners need to have a high level of motivation to make use of learning strategies since this factor can benefit the development of foreign language skills. This means if learners are motivated, they can become more autonomous in searching for tools that help achieve their goals. In the upcoming section, somehow, we suggest the necessity in Colombia to expandthe field of learning strategies and language skills through research and teaching practices, as it is necessary to carry out instruction in the educational field so that students are more aware of these factors for successful learning. According to this, some research studies developed in our country will be introduced below, in which the Oxford model of learning strategies is part of the discussion.

A look from the Oxford model in Colombian

The Oxford (1990) model has been a reference for the research in Colombia since most of the studies are conducted according to the Inventory of Strategies for Language Learning (Cohen, 2011; Mohammad 2008; Orrego & Díaz Monsalve, 2010; Yang 1999). The research has focused on knowing the strategies that successful students use; however, some students are unaware of their use, as Cohen (2011) argued that “language users may also be unaware of when they are using a given strategy and even more importantly, how they are using it” (p. 72), which might be a crucial factor for successful learning.

In Colombia, English proficiency is regulated according to basic standards of foreign language competences (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2006). Such standards have positively impacted bilingual education in most public and private schools around the country, however this is not enough. Schools and educational institutions should keep focusing on effectively adapting institutional goals and even national bilingualism policies according to learners’ needs and local contexts to improve individual competences in foreign languages acquisition. Evidence of this is the implementation of Programa Nacional de Bilinguismo in Colombia, that when compared to similar programs in other countries reveals a necessity to improve the existing standards (Sánchez & Obando, 2008), as these foreign programs show greater emphasis on time, language exposure and content to be taught.

Colombia adopts models of learning strategies from other countries regardless of whether they are effective or not for students to learn a foreign language in our local contexts. For example, a reference of this is Chile, where secondary education was intensified by increasing language exposure to the students. There, effective results were found in terms of English improvement (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2016). However, teachers and educational entities need to be more aware of learning strategies work. As shown in a study in a rural area in Antioquia that examined the degree of relevance of language policies. Documentary analysis and interviews with educational representatives who lived in this part of the country were applied. The results showed that Colombian linguistic policy was nothing more than an ageless discourse, without realistic objectives for achieving the educational plan foundation (Roldán & Peláez Henao, 2016).

We recognize that the government has been making great efforts to formulate bilingual policies and programs promoting the importance that citizens become competent English language users. Language teachers have also been working hard to help children and teenagers use English in any context (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2016), following the basic standards of competencies in foreign languages in Colombia, but to ensure the progress of the teaching-learning process of English at all levels, Roldán and Peláez Henao (2016) claimed that the government ought to consider effective mechanisms to improve these issues. The need for implementing learning strategies in the classroom would imply, at first to make such strategies more noticeable in the official documents and policies formulated by the National Ministry of Education. If the consolidation of strategies is more visible in pedagogical terms in such documents, then it would be more ‘approachable’ to teachers and students at institutions.

In the revision of the bilingual policies Colombia, there is no explicit information about learning strategies; nor guidelines for teachers to approach them. The basic standards of competencies in foreign languages: English formulated by Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2006) in Colombia explained that English instruction to students must be staggered. So, it is for this reason that students are expected to reach certain proficiency levels as they go from one grade to the next, starting from first grade in primary education and finishing with eleven grade in secondary education. Even though it is mentioned that the use of learning strategies in language skills development is essential, no detailed information is provided on these.

Conclusion

The learning strategy model proposed by Oxford (1990) improved the development of language skills in a foreign language, especially those concerning metacognitive, cognitive, and social strategies since they support the effort of learners when learning a new language. However, there are neither good nor bad strategies, as learners should decide on the most suitable according to their traits. On the other hand, it is important to promote the pedagogy of strategies to facilitate the development of the four language skills, say reading, listening, writing, and speaking (Ballén 2017; Forbes & Fisher 2015; Mehrdad et al., 2012; Raoofi et al. 2014), in this way, students can identify which strategies facilitate learning better.

Learning strategies can be tailored to the four language skills. For instance, social strategies are considered only for listening and speaking, which is a mistake, since they are useful and necessary for the rest of the skills (Oxford, 1990). For example, she said, “indirect strategies are useful in virtually all language learning situations and applicable to all four language skills” (p. 135).

On the other hand, motivation is a potentially influential factor in the choice and use of learning strategies. So, it might have a positive or negative impact on the development of foreign language skills and on the learners' autonomy. This means that motivation is a factor that can intervene directly in the foreign language learning process.

In Colombia, the research on the field of learning strategies, and the inclusion of strategies in the teaching practicum of pre-service and in-service teachers need extra work at all educational levels. Then, the production of knowledge on this subject requires the community to continue formulating procedures and models according to the needs of students and contexts.

Recommendations

This section elaborates a couple of recommendations considering the efforts that have been done in the field of learning strategies and foreign language teaching and learning in the local context in Colombia. An invitation is made to the educational system to research and implement learning strategies in each of the educational institutions in conjunction with all educational entities. Also, teachers should take training workshops and monitor students' strategies to generate a greater impact on learners and educational policies in general.

Non-native English-speaking countries such as Colombia should suggest a new model of learning strategies that consider the context in which it is applied or adjust the existing one to students’ needs and individual characteristics of educational settings. This could be accomplished by implementing exploratory studies to recognize silent weaknesses and strengths in the teaching-learning process of English as a foreign language. Moreover, the Ministry of National Education in Colombia should promote the use of strategies and make this more explicit in their bilingualism programs. Similarly, the need of space for teachers to discuss and look at their practices that makes them aware of the implications of strategy-based instruction for language teaching. Additionally, the attention that indirect strategies deserve especially metacognitive strategies to involve students more in their learning.

In accordance with the bilingualism policy, “teachers should detect the language learning strategies of their students and help them compensate the missing areas in their strategy preference and use” (Gerami & Baighloub, 2011, p. 1575). In this sense, teachers can do some action research in the classroom concerning learning strategies and learner’s profiles. This can be done by administering questionnaires to students and monitoring their learning activities to find out their styles, levels of proficiency, interests, and learning tastes. In general, primary, and secondary teachers in Colombia should devote time in class for helping students use strategies effectively.

Finally, we recommend governments, educational institutions, and the academic community in general to work together to make the learning experience of students more significant, inclusive, and motivating. Many students find learning English or any other foreign language hard, so teachers can contribute significantly to make this learning experience more relaxing and less constrained if they are willing to do so. Similarly, in countries such as Colombia, there is a great chance to expand knowledge regarding learning strategies if more studies are formulated and even if language teachers, in general, consider in their teaching practices the implementation of ways to help learners be more independent language users.

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[1] According to Döryei (1994), “extrinsically motivated behaviours are the ones that the individual performs to receive some extrinsic reward (e.g., good grades) or to avoid punishment. With intrinsically motivated behaviours the rewards are internal (e.g., the joy of doing a particular activity or satisfying one’s curiosity” (p. 275).