Strategy Instruction Programme with Awareness of Psychotypology (SIPPs): Developing Beginner-level Reading Skills in a Psychotypologically Distant Language
type: CreativeWork
description: In an increasingly connected world, it is now more common than ever to learn languages that originate beyond one’s own continent. The burgeoning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) industry beyond Europe and the Americas, along with global awareness of economically powerful languages such as Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, is testament to such a trend. Oftentimes, these languages can be 'psychotypologically distant’, meaning that the learner perceives them to be dissimilar to other languages in their repertoire. These languages may also come across as particularly challenging to learn, since they require the learner to navigate new and potentially unfamiliar linguistic systems. Although there is widespread consensus on the complexity of learning such languages, existing theory does not yet provide a complete outlook on how to overcome linguistic distance effectively. Firstly, our knowledge of the dynamics of ‘psychotypology’—a learner’s perceived distance between the target language and other languages known—is still generic at present, and we know little about how psychotypology can function as a strategic learning tool if the learner perceives a target language to be largely distant. Similarly, the growing body of literature on transfer has greatly strengthened our understanding of multilingual processing; however, one would have to identify cross-linguistic similarities for transfer to occur in the first place, which may be challenging to do when exposed to a linguistically unfamiliar language. The potential usefulness of language learner strategies (LLS) and strategy-based instruction (SBI) also remains largely overlooked in such learning contexts. To that end, the Strategy Instruction Programme with Awareness of Psychotypology (SIPPs) was designed and evaluated in this study. Its ultimate goal was to explore how explicit instruction of psychotypological awareness, transfer, and language learner strategies could facilitate the learning of a psychotypologically dist…
abstract: In an increasingly connected world, it is now more common than ever to learn languages that originate beyond one’s own continent. The burgeoning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) industry beyond Europe and the Americas, along with global awareness of economically powerful languages such as Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, is testament to such a trend. Oftentimes, these languages can be 'psychotypologically distant’, meaning that the learner perceives them to be dissimilar to other languages in their repertoire. These languages may also come across as particularly challenging to learn, since they require the learner to navigate new and potentially unfamiliar linguistic systems. Although there is widespread consensus on the complexity of learning such languages, existing theory does not yet provide a complete outlook on how to overcome linguistic distance effectively. Firstly, our knowledge of the dynamics of ‘psychotypology’—a learner’s perceived distance between the target language and other languages known—is still generic at present, and we know little about how psychotypology can function as a strategic learning tool if the learner perceives a target language to be largely distant. Similarly, the growing body of literature on transfer has greatly strengthened our understanding of multilingual processing; however, one would have to identify cross-linguistic similarities for transfer to occur in the first place, which may be challenging to do when exposed to a linguistically unfamiliar language. The potential usefulness of language learner strategies (LLS) and strategy-based instruction (SBI) also remains largely overlooked in such learning contexts. To that end, the Strategy Instruction Programme with Awareness of Psychotypology (SIPPs) was designed and evaluated in this study. Its ultimate goal was to explore how explicit instruction of psychotypological awareness, transfer, and language learner strategies could facilitate the learning of a psychotypologically dist…
author: Lee, Yan-Yi
language: eng
keywords: Design-based research, Language education, Language learner strategies, Linguistic distance, Linguistically distant languages, Psychotypology, Strategy-based instruction
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2022-10-31
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:25Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.95641