Factors Affecting Second Language Learning

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Factors Affecting Second Factors Affecting Second Language LearningLanguage Learning

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Factors Affecting Second LaFactors Affecting Second Language Learningnguage Learning Intelligence Aptitude Motivation and Attitude Learner preferences Learner beliefs Age of acquisition

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The “Good Language The “Good Language Learner”Learner”

Are there personal characteristics that make one learner more successful than another?In your experience, as an English learner, which characteristics seem to you most likely to be associated with success in L2 acquisition?

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Before looking at Before looking at learner characteristics…learner characteristics…

Three difficulties in research on learner characteristics and SLA:1) Difficult to observe and measure = independent of one another.2) A learner’s language proficiency can be defined and measured in many ways .3) A correlation of two factors does not mean there is a causal relationship between them.

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IntelligenceIntelligence Intelligence has multiple types:

mental abilities IQ tests (Intelligence quotient) spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, interpersonal i

ntelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence.

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IntelligenceIntelligence Research findings:

1. a strong factor when it comes to learning that involves language analysis and rule learning.

2. a less important role in language learning that focuses more on communication and interaction.

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IntelligenceIntelligence Conclusions:

“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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AptitudeAptitude potential for achievement. to make a prediction about an individual’s future achievements. Aptitude for language learning is usually composed of four different types of abilities:

1) The ability to identify and memorize new sounds2) The ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences3) The ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples4) The ability to memorize new words

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AptitudeAptitude Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery

(PLAB)

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AptitudeAptitude Research findings:

1) a substantial relationship = grammar-translation or audiolingual methods.2) to L2 learning with the adoption of a more communicative approach to teaching

(i.e., with a focus on meaning rather than on form).

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AptitudeAptitude 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 teaching approaches and activities based on learners’ aptitude profiles to accommodate their differences in aptitude.

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Personality 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 Dominance Talkativeness

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PersonalityPersonality Research findings:

1. language learning is associated with extroversion such as assertiveness and adventurousness, 2. Inhibition is a negative force for second language pronunciation performance.3. In general, the research does not show a clearly defined relationship between personality and SLA..4. Personality may be a major factor only in the acquisition of conversational skills (i.e., oral communicative ability), not in the acquisition of literacy skills (i.e., reading and writing skills).

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Motivation & AttitudeMotivation & Attitude Types of motivation (in terms of communicative

needs):Purpose Source Intrinsic (Internal) Extrinsic (External)

IntegrativeThe learner wishes to learn L2 for personal growth and cultural enrichment.

Someone else (e.g., the learner’s parents) wishes the learner to know L2 for an integrative reason.

Instrumental

The learner wishes to achieve practical goals using L2 (e.g., for a career).

External power wants the learner to learn L2 for a practical purpose (e.g., a corporation asks its staff to get language training).

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Motivation & AttitudeMotivation & Attitude Research findings:

1) 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.

2) Research strongly favors intrinsic motivation, especially for long-term retention. Intrinsically motivated learners are striving for excellence, autonomy, and self-actualization.

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Motivation & AttitudeMotivation & Attitude An individual’s identity and attitudes towards

the second language community: Positive learning L2 is enrichment. Negative learning L2 is resentment.

Social dynamics and power relationships between L1 and L2.

Minority group members learning the language of a majority groups may have different attitudes and motivation from those of majority group members learning a minority language.

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Motivation & AttitudeMotivation & Attitude Motivation in the classroom setting:

Motivating students in to the lesson. Varying the activities, tasks, and materials to

increase students’ interest levels. Using cooperative rather than competitive

goals to increase students’ self-confidence. Creating a supportive and non-threatening

learning atmosphere.

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Learner Preferences Learner Preferences (Learning Styles)(Learning Styles)

Learning style : An individual’s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills.

Types of learning styles related to L2 learning: Perceptual learning styles:

visual, aural/auditory, and haptic (kinesthetic & tactile) Cognitive learning styles:

1) field-independence vs. field- dependence2) reflectivity vs. impulsivity 3) right-brain dominance vs. left-brain dominance

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Perceptual learning styles: Visual learner: learns more effectively through the eyes (seeing). Auditory (aural) learners: learns more effectively through the ears (hearing). Kinesthetic learner: learns more effectively through concrete body experience (body movement). Tactile learner: learns more effectively through touch (hands-on). Haptic learner: learns more effectively through touch and body movement (a combination of the kinesthetic and tactile styles).

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Cognitive learning styles (I):field-independence vs. field-dependence Field independent learners pick out the hidden

figures in a complicated drawing more quickly. They tend to perceive elements independently of a context or field and focus on details. They are more analytical.

Field dependent learners are more inclined to see the whole drawing and have difficulty separating it into parts. They tend to perceive the whole field or situation and focus on general meaning. They are more relational.

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Cognitive learning styles (I):field-independence vs. field-dependenceHere’s a puzzle for you. Look at the row of strange shapes below. Can you find what the message is?

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Cognitive learning styles (II):reflectivity vs. impulsivity Reflective learners tend to make a slower, more

calculated decision. They are usually more systematic and more cautious in learning L2.

Impulsive learners tend to make a quick or gambling guess at an answer to a problem. They are usually more intuitive and more willing to take risks in learning L2.

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Cognitive learning styles (III):right-brain vs. left-brain dominance

The right brain perceives and remembers visual, tactile, and auditory images. It is more efficient in processing holistic, integrative, and emotional information.

The left brain is associated with logical, analytical thought, with mathematical and linear processing of information.

*Note: Though we all tend to have one hemisphere that is more dominant, it is important to remember that the left and right hemispheres operate together as a “team”. Most best solutions to problems are those in which each hemisphere has participated optimally.

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Research findings and implications:1) Every person, student or teacher, has a learning style;

therefore, there is no particular teaching or learning method that can suit the needs of all learners.

2) Learning styles exist on wide continuums, although they are often described as opposites.

3) Learning styles are value-neutral; that is, no one style is better than others.

4) Very little research has examined the interaction between different learning styles and success in L2 learning; however, students should be encouraged to “stretch” their learning styles so that they will be more empowered in a variety of leaning situations.

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Learner BeliefsLearner 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 BeliefsLearner 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 BeliefsLearner Beliefs Implications:

1) Learners’ preference for learning, whether due to their learning styles or to their beliefs about how language are learned, will influence the kinds of strategies they choose to learn new material.

2) 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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Age of AcquisitionAge of Acquisition The relationship between a learner’s age and

his/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 (including language input, learning environment, and socio-cultural context).

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Age of AcquisitionAge of Acquisition Research findings:1) L2 development in informal environments

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 high levels of mastery of the spoken language, especially in pronunciation/accent. 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 AcquisitionAge 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).

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 some grammatical features.

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Age of AcquisitionAge 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 for adults 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 AcquisitionAge of Acquisition Conclusions (II):

When the goal is basic communicative ability of the TL, rather than native-like mastery, and when children’s 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).

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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SummarySummary1. Age is only one of the characteristics which

affects the learner’s 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 determining factors in both rate of learning and eventual success in learning.

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SummarySummary2. The study of individual learner variables is not

easy and the results of research are not entirely satisfactory, partly because of the lack of clear definitions and methods for measuring the individual characteristics and partly because of the complex interactions of those characteristics. Thus, it remains difficult to make precise predictions about how a particular individual’s characteristics influence his/her success as a language learner.

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SummarySummary3. Implications for second language teaching:

Even though the research findings are not conclusive in the relationship between personal factors and second language learning, teachers should take learners’ individual aptitudes, personalities, and learning styles into account to create a learning environment in which virtually all learners can be successful in learning a second language.

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Factors Affecting Second Language Learning