Verbal report in research on learner strategies

Resumo

This article draws attention to research on strategies used by learners and the significant role that verbally reported data play in such research. Observing a variety of research methods to describe such strategies and an increase in the use of verbal reporting as one of these methods in describing cognitive processes in areas such as communication, translation, assessment and language learning.
The present study focuses on the use of verbal reporting in describing the strategies employed by the student in learning a language. Information on these strategies has evolved from largely intuitive lists to empirically derived taxonomies that aim to train students to achieve greater language learning success. Three techniques are defined: self-report, self-observation and self-disclosure. The article ends with a discussion of the criticism of measures taken from verbal reports.