After attending a summer workshop on learning strategies led by Professor Andrew Cohen, I returned to my Spanish classrooms at Northwestern University with a simple question: What would happen if my students became aware of how they learned?
To explore this, I introduced an anonymous learning strategies survey that I had adapted from one I had learned during the workshop (https://tinyurl.com/2j39ka6m). I explained that their honest responses would help me support their learning and asked them to complete it at home so they could reflect honestly. The next day, to ensure anonymity, I asked students to place their completed surveys into an envelope and stepped out of the room while they submitted them. This small gesture encouraged openness and trust.
The survey asked students to reflect on their listening, vocabulary, speaking, reading, and writing. The goal was not to evaluate them, but to help them understand their own learning.
Their responses transformed my teaching. For the first time, I saw the diversity of learning strategies in my classroom. Some relied on memorization, even when it was ineffective. Others described strategies such as listening to music, visualizing words, or repeating phrases aloud. Several students said they had never been asked to reflect on how they learned. They began to realize their difficulties did not reflect lack of ability, but a mismatch between how they studied and how they learned best.
Based on what I learned, I made small but meaningful changes, encouraging students to use visual flashcards, personal writing, music, and oral repetition to support their learning.
The classroom environment also shifted. Students became more confident and patient with themselves and others. Learning was no longer an isolated struggle, but a shared process.
Looking back, this survey produced three important outcomes: greater metacognitive awareness, more responsive instruction, and increased learner autonomy.
Around this time, I encountered the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) model developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which organizes language learning into interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes. This framework was important because it gave structure to what I had begun to see: language learning happens through multiple forms of engagement, and each student enters through a different door.
In the end, my students were not only learning Spanish. They were teaching me how learning happens.
Practical Takeaway: Invite Students to Reflect on Their Learning
Instructors can build on a learning strategies survey by:
- Asking students to discuss which strategies work best for them
- Encouraging students to experiment with new approaches
- Designing activities that include listening, speaking, reading, and writing
- Normalizing the idea that learners use different pathways
These conversations help students become more confident, independent, and engaged.
When Students Teach the Teacher
As I read my students’ surveys, I began to realize that many had never been asked how they learned. They had been graded and corrected but rarely invited to reflect on their learning processes.
Their answers were revealing. One student needed repetition. Another relied on writing by hand. Another used visualization and personal associations. Their challenges were not about effort, but alignment between teaching and learning.
And this realization changed how I taught—and how I listened. I began paying closer attention to how students approached learning. Their reflections helped me see patterns I had previously overlooked and reminded me that effective teaching begins with understanding the learner.
I introduced activities that allowed multiple entry points into the language, including music, personal writing, and oral practice. Students became more confident and willing to experiment. They began to see that there was not one correct way to learn.
In the same time, the IPA framework helped guide these instructional choices. Its emphasis on interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication allowed me to design activities that supported the diverse learning processes already present in my classroom. Instead of expecting all students to learn in the same way, I could help each of them engage with the language more effectively.
My students were not only learning Spanish. They were teaching me how to teach.
Practical Takeaway: Align Instruction with How Students Learn
Instructors can build on student strategy awareness by:
- Asking students to share which learning techniques help them most
- Offering options for practice, such as visual, written, and oral activities
- Encouraging students to experiment and reflect on what works
- Adjusting instruction based on student feedback
When instruction aligns with how students learn, engagement and confidence increase.
Listening to My Students: What the Survey Revealed
One of the most revealing parts of the survey was not only how students learned, but why they were learning Spanish.
Their motivations were deeply personal. Some wanted to travel or advance professionally. Others wanted to communicate with people they loved. I still remember the laughter when one student said, “My girlfriend is from Colombia. I need to speak with her family.” Another said simply, “My boyfriend is from Spain. I don’t want translation to be part of our relationship.” In that moment, language was not an assignment. It was a bridge.
The survey also helped students recognize their strengths. Many discovered they were visual learners and began using images and flashcards. Others relied on repetition, writing, or meaningful communication. As students became more aware of how they learned, their confidence grew.
Years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I carried this lesson into a different classroom while I volunteered to teach Hebrew on Zoom to students across Latin America and the United States. Many were learning Hebrew as part of a personal journey of identity and connection.
Remembering my earlier experience, I invited them to reflect on how they learned. Their responses were familiar, but my role had changed. I was no longer discovering their differences for the first time. I was listening to them intentionally.
In the end, I learned something essential: Teaching begins with listening.
And the question that continues to guide me is simple: How can we help students discover how they learn?
Practical Takeaways for Instructors
Instructors can apply this approach by:
- Asking students how they learn
- Using anonymous surveys or reflective discussions
- Offering multiple ways to practice and engage
- Encouraging students to experiment with strategies
Even small conversations about learning can transform student confidence and engagement.
Rifka Epstein is a language educator specializing in Spanish and Hebrew instruction, intercultural learning, and student identity. She taught for many years at Northwestern University and now lives in Beit Shemesh, Israel, where she continues teaching and writing.