AFFECT & OTHER SOURCES
OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
(Ch. 9)
Understanding SLA
Lourdes Ortega (2009)
www.routledge.com/cw/ortega
Published by Routledge © 2009 Mark Sawyer
9.1 Personality & L2 learning
3 influential models
 Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism
(PEN) (H. Eysenck)
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) (Myers & Briggs)
 Five Factor Model
(FFM or Big Five) (Costa & McCrae)
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE
STUDY OF PERSONALITY
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
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Extraversion  Introversion
Focus of attention/energy
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Sensing  INtuition
Basis for perceiving/making sense
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Thinking  Feeling
Basis for making decisions
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Judging  Perceiving
Approach to structuring life
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE
STUDY OF PERSONALITY
The 'Big Five' Model
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Openness to experience (48)
Conscientiousness (31)
Extraversion–Introversion (25)
Agreeableness (39)
Neuroticism–Emotional Stability (39)
5 “Supertraits” composed of (6) narrower primary traits
Research Findings
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MBTI: Intuitive Thinkers freely choose to
study (European) languages (Moody)
FFM: Openness to experience related
to L2 communicative competence
(Verhoeven & Vermeer)
9.2 Extraversion & speaking styles

Extraverts > Introverts (Dewaele & Furnham)
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Working memory
Resistance to stress & anxiety
Fluency
Research findings
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Psychoticism best predicted L3 anxiety
(Dewaele)
E/I trade off between fluency &
complexity/richness (Dewaele & Furnham)
Monitor use style  fluency, 1 of 7
measures of self-correction (Kormos)
LEARNER ORIENTATION TO
COMMUNICATION & ACCURACY (9.3)
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Fluency vs. accuracy or complexity (e.g.
lexical richness)?
What about precision?
Personality  goals  actions 
outcomes (e.g. L2 achievement)
Foreign language anxiety (9.4)

Central researchers
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Elaine Horwitz: classroom FL, FLCAS
Peter MacIntyre: communicative SL, IPOAS
ANX  L2 proficiency (.45-.65)
Additional subtle effects
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Slower processing & learning
Underestimation of ability
Avoidance of risk
Foreign language anxiety 2
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Origins
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Low self-concept, self-esteem (worth)
Counterproductive beliefs
Perfectionism => anxiety? Yes, but..
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Facilitative: more effort
Debilitative: distracting negative thoughts
Willingness to communicate
& L2 contact (9.5)
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Based on but independent of L1
(U)WTC
Inclination to freely initiate
communication
Communicative confidence => WTC
CC = – Anxiety + Self-perceived
communicative competence
Willingness to communicate
& L2 contact 2

Relative importance as WTC antecedents
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WTC/Use link is still weak
If low contact, + attitudes help
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High contact: Anxiety
Low contact: Communicative competence belief
e.g. International posture
Logically, WTC must change over time
9.6 Cognitive styles,
field independence, & field sensitivity
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Preferred info processing modes
Analytic vs Holistic is most robust
Field independence (FI) vs dependence
(FD) most popular in L2 studies
Problem to distinguish from ability
2 dimensions: FI, FS (sensitivity)?
Learning style profiles (9.7)
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Convergers/divergers/etc (Willing)
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Sensory learning style preferences (Reid)
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Synopsis/Ectasis (Ehrman & Leaver)
Learning strategies (9.8)
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Conscious mental/behavioral
procedures to gain control of learning
Strategy use ~ achievement link not
well established
Problems
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Contextualization
Theorization
The future promise of an all encompassing framework:
Self-regulation theory (9.9)
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Creative & conscious efforts to take
control over action, cognition, & feelings
toward achieving complex goals
Focuses on both strategies & volition
In Ed Psy, replacing strategy research
Self Regulatory Capacity in Vocabulary
Learning Scale (SRCvoc) (Tseng, Dörnyei, & Schmitt)
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Commitment control
Metacognitive control
Satiation control
Emotion control
Environment control