This paper reports on one aspect of a current researchproject on Intercomprehension in Germanic Languages (IGL) for Spanish-speakingadults at the School of Languages of Cordoba State University. The paper willfocus on the collaborative design of research tools for gathering relevantinformation about the use of language learning strategies, which students deployto simultaneously develop reading comprehension skills in English, German andDutch. The context is an IGL course that will be taught in the second half of2016 to Spanish speaking adults with some knowledge of English ( A1 /A2 levelin the CEFR), which is used as a bridge language.

Strategyuse is in most casesunobservable and this poses difficulties for the researcher interested inexploring language learning strategies (LLS) used during the process of reading.Studies on LLS carried out in varied contexts have obtained data by means of  varied tools such as retrospective interviews,self-report questionnaires, observation, diaries, dialogue journals, e-journals,recollective studies, computer tracking and  , verbal reports, in particular think-aloudprotocols (Cohen & Scott, in Oxford (Ed) 1996; 89-106; White, Schramm andChamot , in Cohen & Macaro (EDs) 2007; 93-116). Although each of thesemethods has limitations, they can provide important insights into thephenomenon, especially when two or more methods are used in combination, inorder to triangulate the data and increase validity of the results.

In this paper, we will describe how three researchinstruments have been developed for tapping into strategy use in the context ofanIGL course taught to Spanish speaking adults who can use English as a bridge tothe development of reading comprehension abilities in two languages of the samelinguistic family, namely German and Dutch. The course will be taught in thesecond half of 2016 and will employ materials specially developed for thepurpose.