Language learning styles and strategies are among the main factors that help determine how – and how well – our students learn a second or foreign language. The term L2 is used in

Language learning styles and strategies are among the main factors that help determine how – and how well – our students learn a second or foreign language. The term L2 is used in this text to refer to either a second or a foreign language, following the tradition in our field

Learning styles are the general approaches – global or analytic, auditory or visual – that students use in acquiring a new language or in learning any other subject. These styles are “the overall patterns that give general direction to learning behavior” (Cornett 1983, p. 9). Of great relevance is this statement: “Learning style is the biologically and developmentally imposed set of characteristics that make the same teaching method wonderful for some and terrible for others” (Dunn and Griggs 1988, p. 3).

Learning strategies are defined as “specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques – such as seeking out conversation partners, or giving oneself encouragement to tackle a difficult language task – used by students to enhance their own learning” (Scarcella and Oxford 1992, p. 63). When the learner consciously chooses strategies that fit his or her learning style and the L2 task at hand, these strategies become a useful tool-kit for active, conscious, and purposeful self-regulation of learning. Learning strategies can be classified into six types: cognitive, metacognitive, memoryrelated, compensatory, affective, and social.

Cognitive learning strategies are those which help learners process and retain information. They can also help learners apply information to new situations and improve their learning. An example of a cognitive learning strategy is: