Individual Differences in Second Language Learning

Individual Differences in Second Language Learning

1. Research

   • How?
     • Tests
       • Correlated results
         • Requires careful interpretation
   • Why?
     • Understanding how these characteristics interact with each other and how they affect learners' experiences
     • "Better understanding of human learning" (Patsy & Spada, 2013)
     • Helping learners

2. Intelligence

   • More associated with metalinguistic knowledge
     • Maybe more useful when learning grammar

3. Language Learning Aptitude

   • Ability to learn quickly (Carroll, 1991)
   • Memorising new sounds and words, understanding functions, grammar rules
     • Working memory
       • Cognitive approach

4. Learning Styles

   • Preferred way of learning
   • Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, etc
   • More research is nedded

5. Personality

   • Extroversion, Inhibition, Anxious learner, Willingness to communicate, etc
   • Inconclusive and often contradictory results

6. Attitudes and Motivation

   • More than success in the learning process, it produces perseverance

7. Motivation in the classroom

   • Teachers' role in the learning process

8. Identity and Ethnic Group Affiliation

   • Social dynamics and power relations
   • How learners are perceived by native speakers, and how they perceive themselves inside the community

9. Learner Beliefs

   • Learners' opinion on how their instruction should be delivered

10. Age

    • Critical Period Hypothesis
    • Child learners seem to be more successful in the second or foreign language, however, older learners seem to be more efficient