The first book-length treatment of strategies for learning second language (L2) vocabulary, this book provides a timely, thoughtful, and welcome contribution to the current surge of articles and edited volumes on L2 strategies (e.g., Cohen & Macaro, Reference Cohen and Macaro2007; Graham & Macaro, Reference Graham and Macaro2008; Hurd & Lewis, Reference Hurd and Lewis2008; Ranalli, in press).
This work opens with a brief introduction to learning strategies situated in the framework of prominent teaching methodologies and theories of SLA, both past and present. The first chapter surveys a wide range of topics related to vocabulary and vocabulary acquisition. Here, Takač introduces sometimes loosely related constructs drawn from linguistics, psychology, education, and SLA. Stated early on, the disparate traditions and models (or lack thereof) from the various disciplines are a clear challenge to the cohesion of this introductory chapter.
After a review of topics central to vocabulary and vocabulary learning, chapter 2 focuses on different theories of SLA, with particular attention devoted to the importance each theory allocates to learning strategies. Although it is interesting to note the role of strategies across models, readers may be surprised at the inflated importance these strategies are occasionally attributed: Because, in contrast to first language acquisition, “L2 acquisition is governed by the use of learning strategies” (p. 46). This chapter culminates in a discussion of how language learning strategies have been defined as well as a thorough description of the inconsistent, overlapping taxonomies that have been proposed for categorizing these strategies.
The empirical thrust of this book, and the area of greatest interest for most researchers, is found in the next two chapters. Chapter 3 presents an authoritative review of the different strands of L2 vocabulary strategies research (e.g., mnemonics), highlighting key papers and topics (e.g., computer-assisted vocabulary learning), and suggests areas for future investigations. The section on strategy instruction is regrettably brief, as it largely ignores the extensive body of empirical research in this area; instead, it focuses almost exclusively on pedagogical suggestions for teaching L2 strategies. The discussion then shifts back to research, by thoroughly problematizing the methods and instruments that have been employed to study L2 strategies. Continuing with this topic, the first of three original studies presented in chapter 4 deals with the development and implementation of an instrument for measuring L2 learners’ strategy use. This brief report outlines a principled, replicable approach to designing the strategies questionnaire used in the two subsequent investigations. The second study takes a novel approach to understanding L2 students’ learning strategies by comparing them with the teaching strategies employed by their instructors. Takač explains the small relationship found between teaching and learning strategies as evidence that teachers’ classroom practices cannot be assumed to influence the strategic behaviors of their students and echoes previous calls for explicitness in strategy instruction (see Chamot, Reference Chamot2005; Oxford, Reference Oxford1989). The third study compares strategies used crosslinguistically and erroneously claims to be the first study of its kind; differences between the two groups were small, thus replicating the findings of Wharton (Reference Wharton2000). Although strong in areas such as the reporting of data (e.g., reliability, effect sizes), transparency in instrument design, and large sample sizes, readers may question the external validity of these studies’ instruments and findings beyond the context of Croatian elementary schools.
This book contains several significant contributions to SLA, most notably its theory-driven approach to learning strategies and its discussion of the relationship between the strategies used by teachers and those used by students. Not without shortcomings, however, this book’s scope is occasionally forsaken for excessive breadth on topics normally covered in introductory SLA textbooks, which may not be appropriate for a specialized tome of less than 200 pages. Additionally, although a very useful bibliography is provided, researchers who focus on L2 learning strategies may notice the absence of certain key references (e.g., Chamot, Reference Chamot2005; Grenfell & Harris, Reference Grenfell and Harris1999). Nevertheless, this work will strike a chord with a variety of audiences. Researchers interested in vocabulary and strategies will appreciate its concentrated, theoretical accounts of vocabulary learning, whereas classroom practitioners will value the pedagogical applications it provides on topics such as L2 strategy instruction.
