I. Students' Learning Roles

English education in elementary and middle schools should be structured for the benefit of all students, and provide a solid foundation for their all-round and life-long development. It makes sense, therefore, to cultivate new learning roles that centre on students' learning strategies; improve their learning motivation, habits and competence; advocate active learning methods; and value the function of self-evaluation, encouragement, reflection and adjustment.

1.Master

Students should be the masters of their own learning and take a leading role in the teaching activities. The exploration, absorption and digestion of knowledge can result in students establishing their own knowledge system and forming a rational perspective on the world and life.

2.Participant

Students' desire to learn should be stimulated in elementary and middle schools. Students should think and participate actively, express their attitudes, and display their talents so as to maintain their passion for learning.

3.Co-operator

English learning involves teacher-student and student-student interaction. It is a social enterprise through which students can learn from each other. Cooperation and mutual support may produce a feeling of collective power and team spirit.

3.Feedback provider

In the teaching process, students should advise teachers whether the methodology is suitable for them. This will help teachers to alter and improve their teaching.

II.Students' Individual Differences

If education is to successfully civilize people, teachers must have a good understanding of students' psychological and physical development, and their individual differences. Teachers need, therefore, to choose suitable methods and plans so as to adequately address the range of differences in students. Motivation, attitude to learning, ability to master new materials, and other personal differences will affect the choice of plans and methods.

1.Language Potential

Language potential, which is an intrinsic talent, refers to cognitive ability or the capacity to learn a language. To improve students' English competence (according to Carroll, 1973) means to develop their phonetic coding ability, grammatical sensitivity, inductive language learning ability and associative memory. Phonetic coding ability is an ability related to processing sounds. Grammatical sensitivity refers to the ability to perceive patterns and formulate rules from samples of language. Inductive language learning ability concerns the skill of creating order from language inputs. Associative memory is about the absorption and assimilation of new learning materials. Since different students have different language potentials, teachers should vary their methods accordingly to achieve effective results from the learning process.

2.Cognitive Style

Cognitive style is a term used to describe an individual's characteristic approach to receiving, saving, transferring, withdrawing and utilizing information. It encompasses not only differences in cognitive processing such as individual consciousness, memory and thinking patterns, but also in cognitive functions such as individual attitudes and motivation. Different cognitive styles have advantages and disadvantages, and there is no clear ranking in overall benefit of particular styles. Students' cognitive styles dictate how they function in the learning process, and if there is concord among cognitive styles, teaching styles, and learning environments, students will tend to have better academic achievement. Therefore, teachers should understand and value different cognitive styles in students so that more effective learning can take place.

3.Emotion

Students in elementary and middle school are also affected by emotional elements, such as learning motivation, attitudes and character.

(1) Learning motivation

Learning motivation is an inner process or psychological state, stimulating an individual's learning activities, maintaining existing learning activities, and boosting focus on the learning goal. It is an inner drive to learn, and it is also a key factor in success in learning.

Learning motivation is vital to the starting, maintaining and completing of learning activities. Students with strong motivation have definite learning goals, lasting enthusiasm, focused attention and good academic achievement. Conversely, lack of learning motivation is more likely to have a negative effect on learning.

(2) Attitude

Attitude refers to the definite purposes one has, and efforts one makes in certain concrete activities. It includes cognitive elements, which show belief in a certain goal; emotional elements, which demonstrate one's preference for the achievement of a certain goal; and the conative elements, which are the practical actions performed for a certain goal (Van Els et al., 1973) . Generally speaking, students who are interested in the target language country's culture, lifestyle, history, and social customs usually hold positive attitudes toward the target language, and as a result, attain relatively high learning efficiency. On the other hand, students with a hostile attitude find it difficult to learn well. In addition, their attitudes toward learning materials, the organization of activities and teachers also affect their learning efficiency.

(3) Character

Character refers to the relatively stable, but also variable, psychological properties of a person's attitudes and behaviors. It is an important emotional element and it partially determines how well an English learner can perform.

Character can be sub-divided into introvert and extrovert types. Rod Ellis (1994) pointed out that an extroverted type brings benefits for communicative study, because the preference for communication and less concern of errors can create more learning opportunities. The introverted type has more advantages in cognitive academic competence in language-learning because the stability of this type suits study in reading and writing. The ultimate purpose of analyzing and researching students' character differences is to make teachers fully understand the individual differences and different psychological states of students, so as to enhance the gains from any particular teaching occasion.

III.Successful Language Learners' Learning Strategies

Applied linguists and foreign language researchers find that some students learn a language well no matter what kind of teaching methods are adopted. The shared characteristics of these students are that they are active users of language, have a strong desire to use it, pay attention to language forms and meanings, monitor their own expression and correct their errors immediately, have their own learning strategies, learn in a creative way, and solve uncertainties by both guessing what language to use and guessing the meaning of language they encounter. In short, successful language learners are good at using learning strategies to improve their language learning.

1.Content and classification of learning strategies

A great deal of research into foreign language learners focuses on general learning strategies, and the strategies adopted to gain learning opportunities, solidify knowledge, and solve problems in language acquisition and communication.

Learning strategies can be classified into three types, according to whether they have direct influence on the learning process: learning strategies, communicative strategies, and social strategies. Language can be regarded as a system, a communicative and social tool, or as a means to control expression of emotion. Language strategies can also be classified into learning strategies and communicative strategies according to whether we are dealing with language output or input. They may also be classified into meta-cognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and social emotive strategies.

2.Significance of developing learner strategies

Effective learning strategies can improve learning styles, lessen learning burdens, enhance learning quality, and be beneficial to the cultivation of students' ability of autonomons study. One of the important tasks for elementary and middle school students is to learn how to study, so that they can become effective life-long learners. Through an awareness of theories of learning strategies teachers can help learners to improve their language learning.

Infiltrating strategy training into language teaching can help students with learning difficulties and lessen their problems. Research into learner strategy and strategies students use can provide insight into patterns of language learning, thereby helping teachers to develop teaching plans for learner strategies, and adjust their teaching approach to help students cultivate effective learner strategies.

3.Steps towards cultivating learner strategies

In foreign language teaching, teachers should consciously train students in the use of strategies, and help them to form such strategies through the active interaction of teaching and learning. Teachers can do this by:

(1) Teaching students to identify their current strategies, and helping them to coordinate applicable strategies.

(2) Consciously helping students to form their own strategies, and develop the ability to adjust them to make them fully realize the significance of improvement in learner strategies.

(3) Providing students with practice materials and opportunities so as to help them to use the strategies scientifically and effectively.

(4) Knowing the characteristics, existing beliefs, common strategies and learning styles of their students. This will help teachers to evaluate whether their students' self-evaluation is appropriate.