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    14 views6 pages

    4.1 Individual Learner Differences

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    paula

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    of 6
    Cross.ingustic Influence see ne taowecge aries ‘toca saci 2) eco tng ings bast eatnghas tga: Invduat sitterences petty ante ano ‘rape Urn ‘ie pps ean ne? citial period Iypothests e== corny egies, ‘nace 9.3 INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES Research in second language acqustion hs highighted some of the cogite ‘esources that all earners bring to the task of addtional language lating, especialy those éeveloped during fst language acquisition. One pawetl resource 'sthe minds capacty to automaticaly assimilate new information intathe networks cf knowledge already stored in longrierm memory. is tis ably fat underos universal provesses ofeross-linguistc influence, whereby fist language ea ‘uros appear inthe learner's developing second language (eg. a orga’ accent) Iti als reflect in the fact hat wanslation between L2 and Lis the inevable rocess occuring in lesmers' minds inthe beginner or intermedia classroom, Uahatever the teacher or the cuiculum says about banning’ L1 use (see Cook, 2010), But although thore aro commonalities across leaner, they are narmally beyord the reach of the classroom teacher and in any ase, are often postive ‘hair effort. It isthe altferences between individual leaners tha: pracent the retest chalenges for teachers Interest inthe individual differences teticen language learars has been feature of SLA studies since the 1960s, Early research on this ope took place in the field of language psychology, where, for example, atamps ware made to Understand the contribution ofan aptitude’ fo Teasing addtional languages ~an tractive proposition for admissions boards and policy-makers hooing ta avoid wasting money on tose les ikely to lean. In the 1870s, research nt the ‘good language laser’ suggested tha nadeton two they are’ ncudhg whal wre considered fixed quaites such as ago, aptitude and motvator), what they do! ‘co matters, Succesetl lamers were those who used a range of learning tech~ riqus (strategies — lke keeping vocabulay records and using memonzation tchnquos) to help themeelves lam. n his section, wa rat ta theiesue of age, ‘and assess the contibuton af spud, metwaton an language leaning sates. Age ‘lof theinvidulesring differences discussed inthis section interact with each ‘ther to some extent Age, however, is probably the one which most fects al the others. The theory that theres relationship belweon ulate successin language attainment and apes known as the etieal period hypothesis (CP#}). Lennebeg (1987) suggested tht for easons to do with the way the brain develop, the ptimum age for language acquistion is between two yeas ld and puberty. Most researchers now agree that thee is acital pari fr fst language scquiston, ‘though here is moe contraversy about the elationship between age znd addtional language acquctton, bacause ofthe dificuty of cantoling fer cher posible factors Research by Long (1988), however, suggests thatthe crtial period for scqutingnative-speaker-Ike pronunciation isbotor the age of abot si.and hat “nalve-speaker"tke grammar canbe acquired upto the age of pubory. Consistent swith Chom’ thearyof Universal Gramma, seems that children fave aera toalt for extracting regulates from ingustic input, which edits hve lost OF course, the fact that many children are ulimately more successful at leering an addtional language than most aduts does not mean that adults are [ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION never succasstul lees that af chron are successful or that the best ime to ‘eam anew languages in pinay school Despite these important cavents, the ea af teaching an additonal language ta chisren has proved an irosatile one to poly makers keen to promote mulligualsm asa marketable advantage of tet munky or region, as we saw in Chapter 8, This poly proference is one mane tation of popular ideas about children being language ‘sponges’ as we discussed in Chapter 1. (Overal research has shown that ge is rica factor n uate asinent in an adsitonal language but that younger snot always better and that there ate important intervening variables such as: access to qualtyinstucton; informal opportunites forlanguage input and production matvation, Bmemmanagement ang vlingness to study, other languages spoken, ther influence on the addtional language; and aptitude, These nlwering variables make research findings shout age afcu to generale between diferent learning contexts Aptitude Lice age, aptitude has proved an atactve indivual ference to policy-makers tasked with making decisions about addtional language education. General, language apie tests have been used to dently and exclude those students who are tkely to make slower progeess in laying an additonal language than thers Dé (2005) describes how aptitude tests wore used inthe 1920s and 1880s in he USA with the intention of improving the overall success of language ‘eaching in school by excluding fam language classes those students who were predicted to learn a a loner rateIn tho 1950s and 1960s, when two widely usec fests, the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) and the Pinsleut Language ‘Apitude Battery (DeKeyser and Jutis, 2008), were developed, the rationale for testing was the same: how to maximize the cost-etfectweness of addtional lan- ‘guage education. "What exact Sanguage atitude Is has long boen a matter of debate, One of the originators ofthe MLAT, John Carrol( 1981) has described language aptitude asa combination ot 1m phonetic coting ability (being able to distinguish between diferent sounds land remember them 1m grammatical senctvity (beng able to work out what each word is fr in 8 sentence); 1 ate leaming ability (nomotation 1m indctve language learning ability (boing able to identify pattems or rela ‘lonships of meaning o form). Scholars curenty working inthe Feld of language aptitude are debating whether "working memory (where information i nally processed ard temporary sored) ‘may be one, or even the mastimpartant, component language aptitude (Robinson, 2002). Most schools arcund the word are unlcly fo b abl to afford the language aptitude tests that are commercial avaable, Anyway for teachers, proficiency is 206 Learning styles ener! Some Tears cides barteri} ‘Se Unie Learn Sp woos CD Integrative a instrament ortentatons iret pes cf ange te LANGUAGE, LEARNING AND EDUCATION prcbaby of mor interes than aptitude: they maybe able to move between classes Students wh are nota he righ eve, but thay are undkaly to beable a exclude students algether fr baing hopeless leamers. Many language teschors are, howeves, interested inthe elated area of cognitive learning styles, and although rholars continun to dicagion abo what leaning styles ace and even whether ‘hey ens many teachers yo plan lassane with avariet of acy pes fo appea ta different leamers (lor example, so-aled visual leamers versus experiential, learners). Frally, for some language education planners and managers, aptiude continues to be an appealing concept The US Deparment of Deters fr example, ses aptitude testing to decide whic ofits new acre wil bo tained a miltary linge, Other users include: ntligence agencies and elgiousorganztion to identify the candidates most key tobe successfullearnors ofthe new inguagels) noaced for international pasting as spies and missionaries; educational pyehel- ‘ogists who are working wih stents who hav faledin efforts o learn an acon language; and school managers who wish fo select students for an acelertod Language leaming programme. Motivation ‘Acc any language teacher what makes a successful language leaner and you wll probably her good mation’. Ask the studonts onthe ether hand andyou might hear thatthe key to euecess i a teacher who mativates them Where motivation comes from, what tis and wht kind of mation ae the moet help nanguage Tearing have been a mater fr escussonn social and educational psychology and applied linguistics for atleast haf cantuy In research that continues tainflence the ideas of lnguage teachers today, Robert Gardner, social psychologist fogethor with his students and associates, developed a framework fr tnking the reasons people learn sdsitonal languages wit hei suocessin leaning, Conducted in Canada this research sed attitude questionnaires to measure the strength of what was conceived of as an india rmind-based phenomenon, Gardner (1985) suggested that for some learners the dese to become part ofa trgol-Yanguage-speaking community Gategrative cffentation; see Figure 9.2) was mora stongly assacited wth euccoss while or ters the usefulness ofthe target language within the learners owncommuniy was more effective (nstrumental orientation). Oth rosoarch in wducational paychelagy maity conducted outside Canada i the 1990s, developed the con ‘opts of intrinsic and extrinsie motivation, sel-confidence and eflecivoness, ‘as wel as the stuation-spectc motvations associated for example, with fooings about the teacher, tha cours and fellow students Reseach mathods cluded the measurement of eames’ actual castoom behaviour (ther than askg them to complete surveys, as Gardner and his coleagues had done), cluding observing tention spans, choice a asks and changing levels of participation in groups and hole cass work ‘More recently, research using leamers! verbal reports oftheir behaviour and attudes has led to greater emphasis on the interaction between reasons for ‘wanting to ea the strength ofthe desir to lear, the kind of persona learner is and tha specific station she finds hese n, Dimes (2001, 2005) concept ot ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION Integtve wath freed for an isan nian othe USA 1978 (Genre Natoral Geograph) ‘second language matvatonal sf systen! proposes three main sources ofthe rmatvation to learn a language: the learners vison of him/herself as an etfectve tser of the acdtona language; sil pressures on the learner to succeed a to discourage success; ang posite leaming experiences. Many ofthe waysin which mary teachers already try tomotvate theists se consistent with Dimers concept Depending on thelestring context they may includes ‘= coating a positvorapport with students by being fondly and interested inthe learng taking caret pan celevant, challenging lessons: ‘bsenng which ctites students seem enjoy worcharderon than oer using examplesin he clas of interesting or famous targe-anguage speakers and plac whore the target language i spoken; encouraging stents Yo work towards tests as away of recording progress: recommending sof-study acts, paying songs and showing fms nthe target language: “tossing the benefits ofan additional language and the disadvantages of spesking only ne language rating afeoing of obligation to attend and patcpate inthe cass Learning strategies Individual lamers soem to

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