2025 Volume 73 Issue 1 Pages 42-56
Because some learners do not adopt adaptive strategies with deep processing even when the amount of content to be learned increases, instruction on strategies is necessary. Strategy shift after instruction can be understood as a process in which the expression of both shallow and deep strategies undergoes changes. In this process, even if the use of deep strategies has increased, that increase may not be sustained over time. The present study examined learners' strategy shifts and individual differences among learners through a three-year strategy-instruction practice conducted as a collaboration between a researcher (the first author) and an English teacher (the second author). The practice focused on teaching association strategies for learning English vocabulary. The participants were 33 students in one high school class. In the first and second years, the use of association strategies increased and was maintained; however, in the third year, although some students consistently used association strategies, other decreased their use of association strategies and, instead, relied more on strategies using repetition. The results of interviews with the students suggested differences in their awareness of goals in learning English and in their self-efficacy as to how their learning might progress effectively. The results suggested that even students who had decreased their use of association strategies might increase it again after experiencing the intervention that encouraged reflection on and improvement of strategy use. Based on three years of practice, the discussion deals with factors of individual differences in strategy shift and how instruction might promote more adaptive strategy use.
