The Long-Term Impact of a Summer Institute Course on Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction

Abstract

This article reports on a study undertaken to explore the possible effects of a summer institute course aimed at encouraging participants to consider not just strategies for the teaching of languages, but also strategies that language learners might use to enhance their own learning. In addition, the course showcased the learners’ sensory, cognitive, and personality-related style preferences which influenced language learning outcomes. The 29 participants in the study had taken the course at some point during its more than two-decade trajectory. The findings from responses to a written survey and from oral interview data obtained from a subset of the respondents provided indications as to the ways in which such a course can have a lasting impact on the participants. The study is deemed of particular relevance to those who offer such summer courses, as well as to those who are looking for courses to take which may have the greatest payoff on their professional development.