Universität Bielefeld
Fakultät für Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft
Wintersemester 2008/2009
Veranstaltung: Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
Veranstalter: Nathan Devos
The Idea of the Good
Language Learner
by
Sedef Balkanli (1868845)
Katharina Gercken (1657898)
Marten Siegmann (1874928)
Contents
•
•
Overview: What makes up a successful
learner?
Characteristics in Detail:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Intelligence
Aptitude
Learning Style
Personality
Motivation
Societal Setting
The Language Learner
An Example: Michael
Skill-improvement is limited
If Michael does not change his
attitude, he will not be able to
improve his conversational skills!
Learner‘s success depends on …
• … the different factors that influence the
learner.
• The variables do not cause but influence
each other.
Complex setting of all
factors together
Intelligence
• Intelligence ≈ success in school
• IQ-tests more strongly related to
metalinguistic knowledge than to
communicative ability
• This kind of “intelligence“ may play a less
important role in classrooms with CLT
• Howard Gardner (1993): `multiple
intelligences`
Aptitude
•
•
1.
2.
John Carroll (1991) = “ability to learn quickly“
Paul Meara (2005) developed tests:
Identify and memorize new sounds
Understand the function of particular words in
sentences
3. Figure out grammatical rules from language
sentences
4. Remember new words
Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT)
Aptitude
• Communicative Approach => emphasis on
communicative interaction
• Leila Ranta (2002): no direct attention to
grammar
• Teachers supposed to ensure that their
teaching activities are sufficiently varied to
accomodate learners with different
aptitude profiles.
Learning Style
• Reid (1995):
Learning Style = an individual´ s natural, habitual,
and preferred way of absorbing, processing,
and retaining new information
1. `visual` learners
2. `aural` learners
3. `kinaesthetic` learners
Encourage learners to use all means available
to them!
Personality
• Extroverted vs. introverted person
• Inhibition
• Learner Anxiety (can be negative and/or
positive)
Peter MacIntyre (1995):
´because anxious students are focused both the
task at hand and their reactions to it … [they] will
not learn as quickly as relaxed students´
• Self-esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness, and responsiveness
Motivation and attitudes
• Integrative Motivation
– Positive disposition towards SL group and the desire to
interact with and even become a member of that
community
• Instrumental Motivation
– Language learning is primarily associated with potential
pragmatic gains of SL proficiency (e.g. getting a better
job)
Dörnyei‘s process model of
motivation in a classroom
• Choice motivation
• Executive motivation
• Motivation retrospection
see overhead-projector
Motivation in the classroom
(Graham Crookes & Richard Schmidt)
• Motivating students into the lesson
• Varying the activities, tasks, and materials
• Using co-operative rather than competitive
goals
Identity and ethnic group affiliation
• Social factors can affect motivation,
attitudes and language learning success
• Instrumental and integrative motivation do
not capture the complex relations of
power, identity and language learning
• Adjudged to be less loyal to their ethnic
group
Learner beliefs
• Learners believe they know the best way
to learn
• Can be strong factors in experience in a
classroom
• “Virtually all students express a desire to
have their errors corrected.“ (Renate Schulz)
Exam Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Do learner‘s variables cause or do they influence each
other?
What is the connection between social life and the
process of language learning?
What is "learner anxiety" and how does it influence
second language learning?
What is meant by "aptitude" and how is this term
related to second language learning?
What is meant by instrumental and integrative
motivation?
Sources
• Lightbrown, Patsy M., and Nina Spada. How
Languages are Learned. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
• Dörnyei, Zoltán. Motivational Strategies in the
Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001.