The classroom environment plays a critical role in learning outcomes. Students become motivated to learn when the learning environment is both positive and supportive. Strategies Based Learning-SBL creates a supportive and positive environment where learners think critically. Learning a new language requires the use of new techniques and pedagogical approaches that make learning fun but also eventful. SBL aims to equip learners with a set of skills that helps them to develop their own unique pathways to successful learning.
Strategies-based Instruction creates a stimulating class environment where students learn through exploration. Unlike a traditional classroom setting where teachers give long lectures, SBI uses creative techniques that promote critical thinking. One of the techniques in SBI techniques that promotes positive learning is using pictures and images (Suwartono, 2017). According to the YouTube video: Strategies-based instruction in chapter 5 , images and pictures are critical in a learning environment because they help learners to create long-lasting memories about what they are taught. In the traditional learning environment learning situation, teachers give long lectures that are easy to forget. In SBI, pictures and images are used to help students grasp faster a new language or subject since images are easily memorized.
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Through SBI, students take charge of their learning which speeds up their progress. Through participative learning, students fully immerse themselves in their classroom activities. Students ask questions, participate in role-play, and engage each other and their teacher in meaningful discussions. Active participation in learning makes a student easily and quickly grasp what they are taught, it also improves the progress of learning. In the traditional classroom setting, there is minimal active participation by students because the teacher gives a lot of information in one sitting. Strategies-Based Instruction uses lectures, followed by intensive discussions and further readings as well as self-check tests. Using this approach makes students recognize their style tendencies of learning and possible success roots. Charts, discussions, and visual images are some of the best techniques of making learning fun and memorable for students. When a teacher uses images/pictures, the images last longer in the brain compared with long lectures.
The use of Strategies-Based Instructions instills self-awareness in learners. Through using techniques such as frequent reminders, teachers/instructors constantly remind their students about the rules for success in learning a new language. Coupled with clarifications and discussions, teachers can help their students develop a good attitude and behavior in learning a new language. The teacher can also use comments that nudge students to take a leading role in charting their destiny in creating their styles of learning. The rules created by the teacher point out the most important points that learners need to grasp to avoid many inhibitions associated with learning a new language. The approach also nudges learners to become risk-takers through asking questions and experimenting with new ways of learning. This technique appeals to students because learning is centered on what works best for them, unlike the traditional classroom setting where the teacher is at the center of learning.
SBI creates a supportive learning environment. The learning environment is important because negative events in the classroom produce negative outcomes. Unfortunately, negative events in the classroom setting often outweigh positive events, which is the reason teachers should create a positive learning environment for their learners. A stressful learning environment augurs negatively on the cognitive functioning of learners (Brown, & Lee 1994). Based on this analogy, teachers must equip their students with strategies that help them to overcome the many negative challenges in the classroom environment. Whatever strategy is chosen, teachers must create awareness of the strategy they use and embed it into pedagogical practice. For example, when students play guessing games or singing games, the teacher should inform the students that the activity helps to lower the learning inhibitions.
An organized and well-structured pedagogy improves the quality of teaching. Through SBI, learners can pick their chosen learning styles and augment them with a process that supports their learning the way they like it. For example, SBI can make use of modern teaching technologies to create new possibilities through innovation. Through these learning strategies, not only do learners develop self-confidence in their learning, but also they develop critical intrinsic values that go beyond completing the exams. Self-confidence in learners is important because students grow confident in their progress as well as their teacher. Examples of pedagogical approaches used in SBI include; the use of movies and tapes. Besides, the students can use techniques such as doing rapid free writes and skimming exercises. All these activities are meant to help students develop confidence in their learning progress.
SBI helps learners to tackle common problems in learning. Common inhibitive learning problems include ambiguity tolerance, excessive impulsiveness, right-brain dominance, left-brain dominance, and excessive reflectiveness. SBI helps learners to develop strategies that can solve each of the problems mentioned above. For example, excessive reflectiveness may make some students unwilling to take risks. Some students may pause for long periods before giving an oral response. They are techniques that are prescribed by teachers to help students with excessive reflectiveness overcome this inhibition.
Strategies-Based Learning uses interactive techniques that help them build strategic competence. The first step for successful learning is creating a classroom environment where students are free and comfortable. A comfortable classroom environment helps students to create their strategies of learning-taking charge of the learning process. An effective SBI strategy was developed by Rebecca Oxford in 1990 where students listen to a tape recording and fill an information grid based on what they heard (Sari, 2020). This approach is better than the traditional approach of issuing long lectures to students. Rebecca Oxford proposed certain fundamental principles of SBI that create a conducive environment for learning. Among the most important SBI principles created by Rebecca Oxford include, encouraging risk-taking, promotion of cooperative learning, building learner’s self-confidence, and lowering learning inhibitions.
To conclude, a supportive and creative environment is essential for positive learning outcomes. A comfortable learning environment encourages students adopt learning methods that help them to quickly grasp what they are taught. SBI uses pedagogical approaches that support self-awareness in learners. Through SBI, students take charge of their learning which speeds up their progress. Through participative learning, students fully immerse themselves in their classroom activities (Sari, 2020). Students ask questions, participate in role-play, and engage each other and their teacher in meaningful discussions. Through using techniques such as frequent reminders, teachers/instructors constantly remind their students about the rules for success in learning a new language. Negative learning environments impact negatively on learners because they associate the environment with negative events.
References
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (1994). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Vol. 1, p. 994). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
Sari, H. F. A. (2020). The Effectiveness of Strategies-Based Instruction on Reading Comprehension Achievement. Jurnal Kreatif Online , 8 (3).
Suwartono, T., & Nitiasih, P. K. (2020). The Impact of strategies-based instruction on EFL speaking competence. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology , 29 (7), 531-541.
