What do learners' beliefs about speaking reveal about their awareness of learning strategies?

This paper describes a pilot questionnaire study conducted with a class of Year 9 beginners in German in a comprehensive school, which set out to elicit information on learners' beliefs about speaking a foreign language, including their awareness of strategies. Findings revealed that most pupils showed knowledge of a range of cognitive, social and learning strategies and associated their use with achieving success in speaking. Pupils were found to place particularly strong emphasis on the importance of practice and revision. It will be suggested that, although these strategies should facilitate pupils' learning, they may not always be the most the most appropriate for coping with the demands of speaking. Responses from many learners also highlighted the importance for speaking of affective factors such as confidence, mood and anxiety. It will be argued that these issues may be inhibiting pupils from making the most of opportunities for practice in the classroom and from adopting the strategies needed to progress. It will therefore be recommended that learners should be made more explicitly aware of a variety of affective and communication strategies, which could help them to feel more comfortable and should encourage participation in classroom speaking activities.