Individual Differences in Second language Learning.doc

individual differences in second language learningrod ellisuniversity of aucklandlecture given at national chengchi universityseptember 2001 a. individual differences and l2 acquisitionindividual differences can be hypothesised to influence different aspects of l2 acquisition:1. the process of l2 acquisition (i.e. differences in the way in which learners construct their interlanguages).2. rate of acquisition3. ultimate level of achievement4. l2 performanceb. types of individual learner differences1. beliefslearners possess beliefs about language, language learners, language use, and language learning that influence the way they set about learning an l2. these beliefs are generally investigated by means of likert scale questionnaires that require learners to respond to statements like:i study english because it is useful to communicate with english speaking people.learning english is mostly a matter of learning grammar rules.girls are better than boys at learning english.other methods (e.g. learner diaries and interviews) have also been used to examine beliefs.the study of learner beliefs has a number of possible applications: developing self-awareness in learners (learner autonomy) indentifying beliefs that relate to successful language learning countering beliefs that have a negative impact on language learning.however, to date, there has been little success in indentifying which beliefs relate to successful and unsuccessful learning.2. affective statesthe affective variable that has attracted most attention is anxiety. this has been investigated by means of questionnaires and learner diaries.three types of anxiety: trait anxiety state anxiety situational anxietysources of language learning anxiety are: communication apprehension tests fear of negative evaluationresearch has shown very mixed relationships between anxiety and proficiency. anxiety can be both debilitating and facilitating.3. learner factorsa number of general factors have been found to influence l2 learning. these can divided into two principal groups:a. immutable factors, e.g.1. age2. language aptitudeb. mutable factors, e.g.1. learning style2. personality3. personalitythe factors that have been most researched are:c. language aptitudemodern language aptitude test (carroll and sapon 1959) and pimsleur language aptitude battery (pimsleur 1966) used to measure language aptitude. these are based on a four-factor model of language aptitude: phonemic coding ability (i.e. ability to code foreign sounds in a way they can be remembered later) grammatical sensitivity (i.e. ability to recognize grammatical functions of words in sentences) inductive language learning ability (i.e. ability to identify patterns of correspondence and relationships involving form and meaning). rote learning ability (i.e. ability to form and remember associations beteen stimuli, as in vocabulary learning).research has shown a fairly strong relationship between mlat/plab scores and measures of language proficiency (i.e. correlations of between .4 and .6).language aptitude appears to be related to both measures of basic interpersonal communication skills (bics) and cognitive academic language proficiency (calp). d. motivationin general, motivation has been examined by means of self-report questionnaires (e.g. gardner 1985). different types of motivation have been identified in language learning research: integrative motivation (i.e. i.e. motivation informed by an orientation towards the target language people and culture) instrumental motivation (i.e. a motivation that derives towards a functional orientation to learning the language) resultative motivation (i.e. a motivation that derives from success in learning an l2) intrinsic interest (i.e. motivation that results that the pleasure gained by performing language learning tasks)research indicates that both integrative and instrumental motivation can promote l2 learning. also, success in learning results in increased motivation. current interest in motivation has switched to studying how teachers can develop intrinsic motivation in learners (e.g. dornyeis research).reading: r. oxford and j. shearin 1994. language learning motivation: expanding the theoretical framework. modern language journal 78: 12-28.e. learning experiencelearners also vary in their learning experience (e.g. naturalistic vs. classroom learning experiences). these are likely to influence how they orientate towards the task of learning an l2. two broad orientations can be identified:1. experiential (functionally oriented)2. studial (norm-oriented)the potential exists for changing learners orientation through learner training or through new learning experiences.f. learning strategieslearning strategies are general approaches, specific actions or techniques used to learn an l2. they can be both behavioural and mental. they are problem-oriented and learners are conscious of themlearning strategies have been researched primarily by means of self-report questionnaires (e.g. oxfords strategy inventory for language learning sill). some studies have used think-aloud tasks.learners choice of learning strategies is seen as influenced by both individual learner differences (as above) and situational/social factors.three broad types of strategies have been identified:1. metacognitive (e.g. self-evaluation: checking the outcomes of ones own language learning against an internal measure of completeness and accuracy)2. cognitive (e.g. deduction: consciously applying rules to produce or understand the second language)3. social/affective (e.g. cooperation: working with one or more peers to obtain feedback, pool information, or model a language activity)studies of the good language learner have attempted to identify the strategies that successful learners use. results show that they use strategies involving a) attention to form, b) attention to meaning, c) learner autonomy, d) awareness of the learning process.research has also shown that learners can be successfully taught to use effective strategies.g. learning outcomesthe relationship between individual learner differences and l2 learning is an