lecture5learnervariablesinlanguagelearning-111113105340-phpapp02

7/29/2019 lecture5learnervariablesinlanguagelearning-111113105340-phpapp02

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Learner Variables in L2

Learning Cognitive and affective factors: Intelligence

Aptitude

Personality

Motivation and Attitude

Learner preferences (covered separately)

Learner beliefs

Age of acquisition


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The Good Language Learner

Are there personal characteristics that make

one learner more successful than another?

In your experience, as an English language

learner, which characteristics seem to youmost likely to be associated with success in

L2 acquisition?

share your opinion with your groupmembers. Find three most important and

three least important learner

characteristics


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Before looking at learner

characteristics Difficulties in research on learnercharacteristics and SLA:

A learners language proficiency can be defined

and measured in many ways (e.g. * CALP vs.BICS ). That is, there are many ways to define the

success of language learning .

It is not possible to directly observe and measure

qualities such as motivation, personality, aptitude,and intelligence. They are just labels of behaviors.

*Note: CALP cognitive/academic language

proficiency ; BICS basic interpersonal

communicative skills


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Psychological variables are often not independent

of one another . Researchers may use the same

labels to describe different sets of behavioural

traits.

A correlation of two factors does not mean that

there is a causal relationship between them. That

is, the fact that two things tend to occur together

does not necessarily mean that one caused the

other.


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1. Intelligence

Multiple types of intelligence :

Traditionally, intelligence refers to the mental

abilities that are measured by an IQ (intelligence

quotient) test. It usually measures only two typesof intelligence: verbal/linguistic and

mathematical/logical intelligence.

There are other types of intelligence such as

spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence,

musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and

intrapersonal intelligence .


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Intelligence

Linguistic intelligence : speaking, using words,

writing, giving presentations, solving word

problems.

Logical-mathematical intelligence : usingnumbers, logic, calculations; learning and

understanding grammar rules.

Spatial intelligence : drawing, painting, using

colour, art, graphics, pictures, maps, and

charts.


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Intelligence

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence : muscular

coordination, athletic skill, body language,

drama and theater.

Musical intelligence : using music, tones,

hearing; producing the intonation and rhythmof a language.

Interpersonal intelligence : talking with other

people, understanding them, using language

to communicate.

Intrapersonal intelligence : self-knowledge,

self-confidence, using language to analyze

yourself.


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Intelligence

Research findings:

Intelligence, especially measured by

verbal IQ tests, may be a strong factor

when it comes to learning that

involves language analysis and rule

learning .

On the other hand, intelligence may play aless important role in language learning that

focuses more on communication and

interaction


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Intelligence

Conclusions:

It is important to keep in mind that

intelligence is complex and that a

person has many kinds of abilities and

strengths.

An individual with strong academic

performance does not necessarily

mean that s/he is a successful second

language learner.


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2. Aptitude

Aptitude refers to potential for achievement .An aptitude test is designed to make a

prediction about an individuals future

achievements.

Aptitude for language learning is usuallycomposed of four different types of abilities:

to identify and memorize new sounds

to understand the function of particular words in

sentences

to figure out grammatical rules from language

samples

to memorize new words


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Aptitude

Research findings:

Earlier research revealed a substantial

relationship between aptitude for language

learning and performance in foreign languagethat was taught with grammar-translation or

audiolingual methods .

However, aptitude seems irrelevant to L2

learning with the adoption of a morecommunicative approach to teaching (i.e.,

with a focus on meaning rather than on form).


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Aptitude

Conclusions:

Successful language learners are not

necessarily strong in all of the components

of aptitude. (e.g., Some may have strong memories but

only average ability to figure out

grammatical rules.)

Teachers can select appropriate teachingapproaches and activities based on

learners aptitude profiles to accommodate

their differences in aptitude.


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3. Personality

There are a number of personality

characteristics that are likely to affect L2

learning, such as

Extroversion vs. introversion

Inhibition vs. risk-taking

Self-esteem (self-confidence)Anxiety

Empathy


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Personality

Research findings:

Some studies have found that learners

success in language learning is associated

with extroversion such as assertivenessand adventurousness , while others have

found that many successful language

learners do not get high scores on

measures of extroversion.

Inhibition is a negative force for second

language pronunciation performance.


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Personality

However, in general, the research does not

show a clearly defined relationship between

personality and SLA . The major difficulty is

identification and measurement ofpersonality characteristics.

Personality may be a major factor only in

the acquisition of conversational skills (i.e.,

oral communicative ability), not in theacquisition of literacy skills (i.e., reading

and writing skills).


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4. Motivation & Attitude

Research findings: Both integrative and instrumental types of

motivation are related to success in L2

learning. Most L2 learning situations

involve a mixture of each type of

motivation.

Research strongly favours intrinsic

motivation , especially for long-termretention. Intrinsically motivated learners

are striving for excellence, autonomy, and

self-actualization.


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Motivation & Attitude

An individuals identity and attitudes

towards the second language

community:

Positive learning L2 experience

produces enrichment.

Negative L2 learning causes

resentment.


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Social dynamics and power relationships

between L1 and L2.

Minority group members learning the

language of a majority groups may havedifferent attitudes and motivation from

those of majority group members learning a

minority language.

Think of why an ESL learners and an EFL

learners attitude may differ in motivation

and attitude.


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Motivation in the classroom setting:

Motivating students in the lesson.

Varying the activities, tasks, and

materials to increase students interestlevels.

Using cooperative rather than

competitive goals to increase studentsself-confidence.

Creating a supportive and non-

threatening learning atmosphere.


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5. Learner Beliefs

Virtually all learners, particularly older

learners , have strong beliefs about how their

language instruction should be delivered.

Learner beliefs are usually based on previous

learning experiences and the assumption that

a particular type of instruction is better than

others.


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Learner Beliefs

Research findings:

The available research indicates that

learner beliefs can be strong mediating

factors in learners L2 learning process. e.g., L2 learners progress was negatively

affected by an instructional approach that

was not consistent with their beliefs about

the best ways for them to learn.


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Learner Beliefs

Implications:

Learners preference for learning , whether

due to their learning styles or to their beliefs

about how language are learned, willinfluence the kinds of strategies they

choose to learn new material.

Teachers can use this information to help

learners expand their repertoire of learning

strategies and thus develop greater

flexibility in their second language learning.


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6. Age of Acquisition

The relationship between a learners age andhis/her potential for success in second

language learning is complicated .

The relationship needs to take into account

1) the stage of L2 development , 2) the goals

of learning L2 (i.e., In what aspects of the L2

the learner has achieved), and 3) the context

in which the learner learns L2 (includinglanguage input, learning environment, and

socio-cultural context).


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Age of Acquisition

Research findings:(1) L2 development in informal language

learning environments where the TL is

used primarily:

Children can eventually speak the L2

with native-like fluency, but their parents

and older learners (i.e., post-puberty

learners) are hard to achieve such highlevels of mastery of the spoken

language , especially in

pronunciation/accent .


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Age of Acquisition

Adults and adolescents can make more rapid

progress toward mastery of an L2 in contexts

where they can make use of the language on

a daily basis in social, personal, professional,or academic interaction.


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Age of Acquisition

Research findings:(2) L2 development in formal language

learning environments (i.e., classrooms):

In the early stages of the L2

development, older learners

(adolescents and adults) are more

efficient than younger learners

(children).


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Learners who began learning an L2 at

the elementary school level did not

necessarily do better in the long run than

those who began in early adolescent. It is more difficult for post-puberty

learners to attain native-like mastery of

the spoken language , including

pronunciation , word choice , and somegrammatical features


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Age of Acquisition

Conclusions (I): At what age should L2 instruction begin?

Those who support critical period hypothesis (CPH):

Younger is better (particularly in the phonological

achievement)

Those who consider that the age factor cannot be separated

from factors such as motivation , social identity , and the

conditions for learning :

Older learners may well speak with an accent because they

want to keep their L1 identity , and the language input foradults is different from that for children because they rarely

get access to the same quantity and quality of language input

that children receive in play setting.


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Age of Acquisition

Conclusions (II): When the goal is basic communicative

ability of the TL, rather than native-like

mastery, and when childrens native

language remains the primary language , it

may be more efficient to begin L2 or FL

learning later (e.g., in early adolescence

at age 10, 11, or 12).


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When learners receive only a few hours of

instruction per week, those who start later

often catch up with those who began

earlier. One or two hours a week will not produce

very advanced L2 speakers, no matter how

young they were when they began learning


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Summary

1. Age is only one of the characteristicswhich affects the learners L2 learning.

The opportunities for learning (i.e., context

- both inside and outside the classroom),the motivation to learn, and individual

differences in intelligence , aptitude ,

personality , and learning styles have also

been found to be important determiningfactors in both rate of learning and

eventual success in learning.


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Summary

2. The study of individual learner variables is noteasy and the results of research are not entirely

satisfactory, partly because of the lack of clear

definitions and methods for measuring theindividual characteristics and partly because of

the complex interactions of those characteristics

Thus, it remains difficult to make precise

predictions about how a particular individualscharacteristics influence his/her success as a

language learner.


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Summary

3. Implications for second language teaching :

Even though the research findings are not

conclusive in the relationship between

personal factors and second languagelearning, teachers should take learners

individual aptitudes, personalities, and

learning styles into account to create a

learning environment in which virtually alllearners can be successful in learning a

second language.

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