Marina Wiens, Stephanie Hanisch, Maren Wolf,
Vildan Aytekin

 Introduction
 Good language learner characteristics
 Research & problems on the topic
 Variables
 Learning styles & success
 Motivation
 Learner beliefs
 Inhibition and anxiety
 Ethnic groups
 Dicussion

 Intelligent
 Able to learn quickly (Aptitude)
 Motivation
 Age
 Outgoing personality

 How did research identify the personal characteristics that make one learner more successful than another?
 To what extent can we predict differences in the success of
SLA if we have information about learners’ personalities
?

 Select group of learners and give them a questionnaire to measure the type and degree of their motivation.
 Some kind of test is used to assess their Language Proficiency.
VARIABLES
 scoring (Correlation)
LPT

a b j i h f e c d g l k is a willing and accurate guesser 1 2 3 4 5 tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking
1 2 3 4 5 is willing to make mistakes constantly looks for patterns in the language
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 pactises as often as possible 1 2 3 4 5 analyses his or her own speech & the speech of others 1 2 3 4 5 attends to whether his/her performance (..) enjoys grammar exercieses begins learning in childhood has an above-average IQ
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 has good academic skills has a good-image and lots of confidence
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

 We can not directly observe and measure variables
 Social and educational backgrounds
 Characteristics are not independent from each other
 successful because of motivation or motivated because of success?

 Researches seek to know how different cognitive and personality variables are related and how they interact with learners’ experiences so that they can gain a better understanding of human learning.
 Educators hope to help learners with different characteristics achieving success in Second Language
Learning

 Traditionally = performance on certain kinds of tests associated with success at school
 Link between IQ and L2-learning  predicting success
 IQ rather related to Metalinguistic knowledge than to communicative ability
 IQ influences language analysis and rule learning
 Nevertheless students with weak academic performance often succeed in L2-learning

Howard Gardner (1993)

 Traditional IQ tests asses only limited range of abilities: verbal intelligence
 strength in the language arts: speaking, writing, reading, listening
 verbal intelligent pupils most successful because this kind of intelligence lends itself to traditional teaching

 Specific abilities predicting success in language learning
 John Carroll (1991): aptitude = ability to learn quickly
 Hypothesis: learner with high aptitude may learn easier and quicker but others may also succeed if they keep up

 M odern L anguage A ptitude T est (MLAT) by Carroll and Sapon 1959
 P imsleur L anguage A ptitude B attery
(PLAT) by Pimsleur 1966
 Computer tests by Paul Meara 2005

Ability to
 Identify and memorize new sounds
 Understand the function of particular words in sentences
 Figure out grammatical rules from language samples
 Remember new words

 Positive correlations of performance in
Aptitude Tests and foreign language performance  at times of Grammar
Translation and Audiolingual Methods
 Communicative Approach  common belief: measured abilities irrelevant for LA
 Other beliefs: some measured abilities predict success in communicative settings

 Leila Ranta (2002): good language analytics => most successful in SLL without focus on grammar
 Nick Ellis (2001): Working Memory = most important predictive variable
Peter Skehan (1989)
 Due to learners’ individual differences of strengths and weaknesses in the components of abilities they succeed in different instructional programmes

 Simlpy put: various approaches or ways of learning
 Reid (1995): Learning style = individual’s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills

 Visual Learners (Eye)
 Aural Learners (Ear)
 Kinaesthetic Learners (Physical Action)

 Field dependence (holistic/global thinking)
 tendency to see the perceptual field as a whole without analyis of single parts of the field: “seeing the forest for the trees”
 learner excels in classroom learning which involves analysis, attention to details, and mastering of exercises, drills, and other focused activities
 Field independence (analytical thinking)
 tendency to break the field down into its component parts and to seperate details from the general background
 learner achieves higher success in everyday language situations beyond the classroom; tasks requiring interpersonal communication skills

 unchangable differences or development through experience?
 Insufficient research in this area
 a single teaching method will never suit the needs of all types of learners
 variation of methods needed to accommodate all types

 Robert Gardner has carried out a program of research on the relationship between a learner's attitudes toward the second or foreign language and its community, and success in second language learning.
 But it is difficult to know whether positive attitudes produce successful learning or successful learning engenders positive attitudes.

 Motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon.
 It has been defined in terms of two factors
 Learners' communicative needs
 Attitudes towards the second language community

 Zoltán Dörnyei developed a processoriented ´model of motivation that consists of three phases:
1) 'choice motivation'
2) 'executive motivation'
3) 'motivation retrospection'

 Graham Crookes and Richard Schmidt point to several areas where educational research has reported increased levels of motivation for students in relation to pedagogical practices:
1)Motivating students into the lesson
2)Varying the activities, tasks, and materials
3)Using co-operative rather than competitive goals

 Learner beliefs can be strong mediating factors in their experience in the classroom.
 Learners' instructional preferences will influence the kinds of strategies they use in trying to learn new material.

 Discourages risk taking
 Negative force for second language pronunciation performance
Experiment: small amount of alcohol  better pronunciation
Larger doses of alcohol  pronunciation deteriorated
 Dynamic and dependent on situations and circumstances

Item Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Dis agree
Strongly disa gree
I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking in my
English class.
I don't worry about making mistakes in English class.
I tremble when I know that I'm going to be asked to speak in
English class.
Even if I am well prepared for
English class, I feel anxious about it.
I feel easy when native English speakers are with me.

 Anxiety can also have a positive effect on learning
 Motivation and focus an success
 Positive term “tension”
 Anxiety can be both useful an harmful

Not personality alone but the combination with other factors contributes to second language learning!

 Languages exist in social contexts
 Children and adults are sensitive to social dynamics and power relationships
 Students reluctant to speak in situations of imbalanced power
 Learners with a high degree of accuracy perceived as “less loyal to their ethnic group” than those with a “foreign accent”

Thank you for your attention!