TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION_____________________________________________________3

1. PERSONAL AND GENERAL FACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION_______________________________________________________5

1.1. PERSONAL FACTORS___________________________________________5

1.1.1. Group dynamics_____________________________________________5

1.1.2. Attitudes to the teacher and course materials_______________________6

1.1.3. Strategies___________________________________________________7

1.2. GENERAL FACTORS____________________________________________12

1.2.1. Age_______________________________________________________12

1.2.2. Intelligence and aptitude_______________________________________18

1.2.3. Personality_________________________________________________23

1.2.3.1. Self-Esteem____________________________________________24

1.2.3.2. Risk-taking_____________________________________________26

1.2.3.3. Inhibition ______________________________________________27

1.2.3.4. Anxiety _______________________________________________28

1.2.3.5. Introversion/ Extroversion_________________________________29

1.2.4. Motivation and attitudes______________________________________30

2. THE RESEARCH RESULTS__________________________________________41

2.1. Research questions_______________________________________________41

2.2. The aim of the research___________________________________________42

2.3. The method of research___________________________________________42

2.4. Questionnaire as a research tool____________________________________43

2.5. The analysis of the data___________________________________________45

SUMMARY and CONCLUSIONS_______________________________________67

REFERENCES_______________________________________________________69

APPENDIX 1________________________________________________________71

APPENDIX 2________________________________________________________73

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