Chapter 3- Factors affecting second language learning

Characteristics which can lead to more or less successful language learning :

• Extraversion (because extroverts interact without inhibition and find many opportunities to learn language)

• Intelligence

• Aptitude

• Motivation

• Attitudes

• Age at which learning begins

Activity

Some people have a much easier time of learning than others(it also concerns learning of a first language). All normal children eventually master their first language, but some learners never achieve native-like command of a second language.

List of some of the characteristics commonly thought to contribute to successful language learning:

A good language learner:

a) is a willing and accurate guesser

b) tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking

c) is willing to make mistakes

d) constantly look for patterns in the language

e) practises as often as possible

f) analyses his own speech and the speech of the others

g) attends to whether his performance meets the standards he has learned

h) enjoys grammar exercises

i) begins learning in the childhood

j) has an above-average IQ

k) has good academic skills

l) has a good self-image and lots of confidence

These characteristics can be classified into categories of:

motivation, aptitude, personality, intelligence and learner preferences. Many of them can't be assigned exclusively to one category.

Research on learner characteristics

Method of research on the influence of learner characteristics on 2^nd language learning:

giving a group of learners a questionnaire to measure the type and degree of motivationgiving them a test to measure their second language proficiencychecking correlation on the 2 measures

similar procedure- to asses the relationship between intelligence and 2^nd language acquisition (use of IQ test)

Problems with this procedure- it's not possible to directly observe and measure qualities such as motivation, extraversion,

intelligence, e.g. 1)it's hard to separate 2 factors- willingness to interact and opportunities to interact with speakers of 2nd language

2)better motivated learners are more successful in tests but ONLY in oral communicative skills , NOT if the tests are measures of metalinguistic knowledge 3)the fact that 2 things tend to occur together don't have to mean that one caused the other, they can be influenced by something else.

Intelligence

Many studies have found that IQ scores are a good means of predicting how successful a learner would be, but:

• Students who have high IQ scores are better in reading, grammar and vocabulary but NOT in oral productive skills

• Intelligence is complex, some kinds of abilities are not measured by IQ tests- many students whose academic performance are weak are successful in 2^nd language learning

Aptitude

Some individuals have an exceptional `aptitude' for language learning. Learning quickly is the distinguishing feature(wyróżnikiem) of aptitude. Two widely used aptitude tests are the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) and the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery(PLAB). They are based on the view that aptitude is composed of different types of abilities:

• Ability to identify and memorize new sounds

• A. to understand the function of particular words in sentences

• A. to figure out grammatical rules from language samples

• Memory for new words

But with the adoption of a more communicative approach to teaching (earlier 2^nd lang.teaching was based on grammatical translation and audiolingual methods) many researchers came to see aptitude as irrelevant to the process of language acquisition.

Successful language learners may not be strong in all of the components of aptitude. The best method is to determine learners' profiles of strengths and weaknesses and use this info to place students in appropriate teaching programs. If it's not possible, teachers should use activities which are varied to learners with different aptitude profiles.

Personality

• Extraversion- some studies have found that success in language learning is correlated with extraversion, others have found that many successful learners aren't extroverts

• Inhibition(zahamowanie psychiczne)- it discourages risk-taking which is necessary for progress in language learning(supported by Alexander Guiora's studies)

• Self-esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness, responsiveness- other characteristics which have also been studied

But in general, research doesn't show a clearly defined relationship between personality and 2^nd language acquisition. There are mixed findings, because of the problems with identification of personality characteristics and measurement. What's more, some personality char. may help with the acquisition of conversational, but not literacy skills.

Motivation and attitudes

Positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in 2^nd language learning, but we don't know how motivation is related to learning. Are learners more highly motivated because they are successful or vice versa?

Motivation can be defined in terms of 2 factors:

• learners' communicative needs

• learners' attitude towards the 2^nd language community

Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert coined the terms:

1. integrative motivation- it refers to language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment

2. instrumental motivation-it refers to language learning for more immediate or practical goals

Both types of motivation are related to success in 2^nd lang. learning.

We have to remember that an individual identity is closely linked with the way sb speaks. Depending on learner's attitudes, learning 2^nd lang. can be a source of enrichment or resentment. If sb learns the 2^nd lang. because of external pressure, internal motivation may be minimal. There is e.g. difference between being a member of minority group and learning the language of a majority group and being a member of majority group and learning the language of minority group.

Motivation in the classroom setting

For teachers, motivated students are those who participate actively in class, express interests in the subject-matter, and study a great deal. Teachers have more opportunity to influence these characteristics than students' reason for studying 2^nd language or their attitude towards the language and its speakers. According to G. Crookes and R. Schmidt, teachers should:

• motivate students into the lesson

• vary the activities, tasks and materials

• use co-operative rather then competitive goals

Of course, cultural and age differences will determine the most appropriate way for teachers to motivate students. In some classrooms, students may thrive on competitive interaction.

Learner preferences

Learning style- an individual's natural, habitual and preferred way of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills(Reid 1995).

Visual learners- need to see sth to learn it

Aural learners- need to hear sth once or twice to learn it

Kinaesthetic learners- need physical action to learn sth

*Field independent learners- tend to separate details from the general background

*Field dependent learners- see things more holistically

Field independence is related to some degree to performance on certain kinds of tasks, but it is not a good predictor of performance for others.

Another category of learning styles is based on the individual's temperament or personality.

Learner beliefs

Most learners are conscious of their individual learning styles. Their beliefs are usually based on experiences and assumptions(right or wrong).The available research indicates that learner beliefs can be strong mediating factors in their experience in the classroom. Learners' preferences influence the kinds of strategies they choose to learn new material. Teacher can use this information to help learners expand their repertoire of learning strategies.

Age of acquisition

Children find it much easier to learn 2^nd language. E.g. children from immigrant families eventually speak the language of new community with native-like fluency, but their parents rarely achieves such level. For most adult 2^nd language learners difference of accent, word choice or grammatical features distinguish them from native speakers and these people, who started learning language at very young age.

Reason:

• there is a critical period for 2^nd language acquisition, as in 1^st language acquisition, older learners must depend on more general learning abilities(critical period ends somewhere around puberty(okres dojrzewania) or even earlier).

Other important facts:

• younger learners have more time to devote to learning language

• younger learners don't experience so strong pressure to speak fluently and accurately form the very beginning

• adults are often embarrassed by their lack of mastery of the language, they can feel frustrated

But at least in early stages of 2^nd language development, older learners are more efficient than younger learners. There is no evidence that critical period really exists.

Critical Period Hypothesis: More than just accent?

Older learners- problems with accent, they almost always have a noticeable `foreign accent'

Mastery of the spoken language

Mark Patkowski's experiment with immigrants—>he wanted to check if there is a difference between learners who began to learn English before puberty an those who began learning Eng. later(he didn't take into account an accent)answer: Yes.

Native-like mastery of the spoken lang. is difficult to attain by older learners, but possible.

Intuitions of grammaticality

Experiment shows that people who started learning language before the puberty are also better in grammar.

Is younger really better?

1978- experiment in Holland(very detailed), how English speakers learnt Dutch Result: 1)the adolescents better than children and adults 2)adolescents and adults learned faster than children in the first few months of exposure to Dutch 3)by the end of the year children caught up(dogoniły) or surpassed(przegoniły) adults on several measures

conclusion-> there is no critical period(but results can be also interpreted in other ways)

At what age should 2^nd language instruction begin?

Generally, it's better to start learning lang. as early as possible, but it depends on what is your goal.

if the goal is native-like mastery of lang., it's better for learner to be completely surrounded by the lang. as early as possible

when the goal is basic communicative ability, it may be more efficient to begin learning of 2^nd lang. later, e.g. at the age of 10,11,12

See chapter 5

Co-operative learning activities are those in which students must work together to complete a task or solve a problem

Critical Period Hypothesis, chapter 1

---