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3. The role of HLT in mediating learning strategies

Students who attend HLT classes are primarily educationally socialized in the immigration country where they receive the major part of their education. However, in HLT they are also exposed to the pedagogical traditions of their country of origin. These two traditions differ more or less widely, depending on the age, the personality, the place of training and the origin of the instructor. This may become an issue for the students if they are used to expanded learning and teaching methods or forms of autonomous learning from their regular classroom education, whereas HLT classes are conducted with a more teacher-centered approach. It would undoubtedly be optimal in terms of efficient and sustained learning if there were as few rifts as possible between HLT and regular mainstream education. The aim of the series “Materials for heritage language teaching” is to bridge them and to promote precisely the kind of cross-linking described in the foreword above.

The mediation of training and learning strategies and techniques is an area in which HLT and regular classroom instruction can collaborate and complement each other in a fruitful and mutually beneficial manner. On the one hand, HLT students have acquired from regular classroom instruction already a series of techniques and strategies which naturally can be used and practised in HLT as well. On the other hand, HLT can introduce and test learning strategies which can also be useful to the students in their mainstream education classes. The reason for this particularly effective cooperation in the area of learning strategies is that they are largely language-independent or rather can work across languages: those who have mastered the technique of orienting themselves in Turkish dictionaries and encyclopedias can transfer this easily to the reference works in the language of the school; those who know how to organize their work in preparation for a test or a presentation, can use this competence for tests and presentations in all kinds of possible languages.

Another aspect of considerable importance for the role of HLT in mediating learning strategies, techniques and applying them remains to be mentioned: many “local“ children and adolescents in the immigration countries (particularly those from educated families) have already acquired certain learning techniques and work strategies. This foundation is lacking for many children and youths whose parents and grandparents emigrated from countries with a different learning culture. Affected are primarily the students from educationally rather disadvantaged families who do not have a corresponding background. They are in particular need of support, and HLT can help them especially well in that it meets them in their primary language and in a less stressful area. The ten-step training program for successful learning is designed to target these children and adolescents (see Part II, chapter 4).
This chapter concludes with two important aspects for specific implementation of the work: the coordination with mainstream education and four methodological-didactic key points.

Coordination with regular classroom instruction

In consideration of the interlinking and sustainability aspects when introducing and working with learning strategies, the three following points are of particular importance:

a) The closer the collaboration between the instructors of HLT and mainstream education teachers, the higher and more effective is student success. This is true in general, but also applies for the work with learning strategies and techniques. Optimally, there would be a direct exchange and coordinated planning whereby, for instance, the techniques of clusters and mind maps or the internet orientation would be tried out parallel in HLT as well as in regular classroom instruction. This could be connected with a common factual topic from geography or history (rivers; middle ages) or with similar assignments (collecting ideas for writing a fantasy text; compiling and preparing information for a presentation).
b) Where a direct, intensive cooperation is not possible, HLT instructors should at the very least gain an insight into what kinds of learning strategies are mediated in the teaching materials of the regular mainstream education classes (pacticularly in the language texts) with which the students should be more or less acquainted.
c) With each learning strategy and technique which the students acquire in HLT classes, there must be discussions as to where and when the respective technique can be applied, not just in HLT, but also in regular mainstream education classes (for which subjects, assignments, for training of which content, etc.). It is also important to clarify if the students have already had experiences with the respective technique (or similar ones) and how these experiences can be expanded and optimized.

Methodological-didactic key points

The following points are important in order to permanently internalize and render the learning strategies applicable:

d) Learning strategies and techniques should not just be introduced and explained one time. It is important to elucidate carefully when introducing them and to test and apply them repeatedly by way of concrete task assignments (the materials in Part I are, of course, very helpful for this purpose). The didactic recommendations for the materials in Part I offer many hands-on suggestions for this purpose.
e) In order to truly adapt and internalize the individual techniques and strategies, their introduction and application must occur carefully (see above) and at intervals of a few weeks. If several learning techniques are introduced at once or within a very short time interval, the risk of confusion or forgetting is significant.
f) It is imperative to discuss the students‘ experiences at the introduction of the new techniques as well as during and after their implementation: What has the new technique produced? Where did I have difficulties? How could I optimize my working with this technique? What kinds of tips for working with this strategy can I give to my classmates?
g) Last, but not least, it is important to reiterate once more the above point c) i.e., the conversation about where the respective strategies or techniques could be used and applied in HLT or regular classroom education.
About the importance of learning strategies and techniques
About the 10-step training program in Part II

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