Successful and Less Successful Second Language Learners: Differences in How They Process Information

Abstract

This article describes the first phase of a three-fold study carried out to teach less successful students the effective strategies used by successful students. The first phase consisted of an attempt to identify strategies used by successful students in their response to information contained in teachers' corrective feedback. Seven successful intermediate adult second language learners and seven less successful ones were asked to think out loud while they were engaged in conversational exchanges with their peers. Their protocols were then analyzed in terms of their responses to information. Elaborate operations for processing this information were found among successful students when compared to the less successful ones. It is suggested that the greater linguistic ability of the successful students could be partly
attributed to these active operations.