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 THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences provides a thorough,
in-depth discussion of the theory, research, and pedagogy pertaining to the role individual differ-
ence (ID) factors play in second language acquisition (SLA).
It goes beyond the traditional repertoire and includes 32 chapters covering a full spectrum of
topics on learners’ cognitive, conative, affective, and demographic/sociocultural variation. The vol-
ume examines IDs from two perspectives: one is how each ID variable is associated with learning
behaviors, processes, and outcomes; the other is how each domain of SLA, such as vocabulary or
reading, is affected by clusters of ID variables. The volume also includes a section on the com-
mon methods used in individual difference research, including data elicitation instruments such as
surveys, interviews, and psychometric testing, as well as methods of data analysis such as structural
equation modeling.
The book is a must-read for any second language researcher or applied linguist interested in
investigating the effects of IDs on language learning, and for any educator interested in taking
account of learners’ individual differences to maximize the effects of second language instruction.

Shaofeng Li is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University, USA.

Phil Hiver is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University, USA.

Mostafa Papi is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University, USA.


ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOKS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Susan M. Gass and Alison Mackey, Series Editors
Kimberly L. Geeslin, Associate Editor

The Routledge Handbooks in Second Language Acquisition are a comprehensive, must-have sur-
vey of this core sub-discipline of applied linguistics. With a truly global reach and featuring diverse
contributing voices, each handbook provides an overview of both the fundamentals and new direc-
tions for each topic.

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Pragmatics

Edited by Naoko Taguchi

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Corpora

Edited by Nicole Tracy-Ventura and Magali Paquot

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Language Testing

Edited by Paula Winke and Tineke Brunfaut

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Technology

Edited by Nicole Ziegler and Marta González-Lloret

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Writing

Edited by Rosa M. Manchón and Charlene Polio

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Speaking

Edited by Tracey M. Derwing, Murray J. Munro, and Ron I.Thomson

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics

Edited by Kimberly Geeslin

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual

Differences
Edited by Shaofeng Li, Phil Hiver, and Mostafa Papi

For more information about this series, please visit:

https://www​.routledge​.com​/Second​-Language​-Acquisition​-Research​-Series​/book​-series​/
RHSLA


THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
OF SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION AND
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Edited by Shaofeng Li, Phil Hiver, and Mostafa Papi


 Cover image: [TBC]
First published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Shaofeng Li, Phil Hiver, and Mostafa Papi to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-032-21914-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-21916-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27054-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003270546
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
 CONTENTS

List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
About the Editors xii
Contributors xiv
Authors of Theoretical Excerpts xxii
Foreword xxiv
Rod Ellis

PART 1
Introduction 1

1 Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition: Theory, Research,

and Practice 3
Shaofeng Li, Phil Hiver, and Mostafa Papi

PART 2
Cognitive Differences 35

2 Explicit and Implicit Language Aptitudes 37

Shaofeng Li

3 Working Memory 54
Zhisheng (Edward) Wen and Daniel O. Jackson

4 Declarative and Procedural Memory as Predictors of Second Language

Development 67
Kara Morgan-Short, Phillip Hamrick, and Michael T. Ullman

v 
 Contents

5 Learning Styles and Strategies 82

Carol Griffiths

6 Metacognition 95
Masatoshi Sato

PART 3
Conative Differences 111

7 Motivation 113
Mostafa Papi and Phil Hiver

8 Mindsets 128
Nigel Mantou Lou and Nourollah Zarrinabadi

9 Goal Complexes 145

Jeannine E.Turner, Banban Li,Yanyu Pan, Juhee Kim, and Yanyan Chen

10 Willingness to Communicate 159

Jian-E Peng

PART 4
Affective Differences 173

11 Anxiety 175
Peter D. MacIntyre and Lanxi Wang

12 Enjoyment 190
Jean-Marc Dewaele

13 Self-Efficacy 207
Mark Wyatt

14 Learner Beliefs 220

Qunyan Maggie Zhong

PART 5
Sociocultural and Demographic Differences 233

15 Identity 235
Ron Darvin and Bonny Norton

16 Age 251
David Singleton and Simone E. Pfenninger

vi
 Contents

PART 6
Individual Difference Factors for Aspects of Second Language Learning 267

17 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Pronunciation 269

Charles L. Nagle

18 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Vocabulary 282

Su Kyung Kim and Stuart Webb

19 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Grammar 294

Yuichi Suzuki

20 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Pragmatics 310

Naoko Taguchi, Maria (Masha) Kostromitina, and Holly Wheeler

21 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Listening 331

Franz Holzknecht and Tineke Brunfaut

22 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Speaking 347

Laura Gurzynski-Weiss

23 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Reading 364

Eun Hee Jeon and Junko Yamashita

24 Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Writing 381

Mostafa Papi, Olena Vasylets, and Mohammad Javad Ahmadian

PART 7
Research Methods 397

25 Surveys 399
Kata Csizér and Dávid Simon

26 Narrative Methods 413

Xuesong (Andy) Gao

27 Ethnography 427
Peter De Costa, Matt Kessler, and Kasun Gajasinghe

28 Eye-Tracking 441
Kathy Conklin and Ana Pellicer-Sánchez

29 Psychometric Assessments 454

Lars Bokander

vii
 Contents

30 Measures of Implicit Attitudes 466

Ali H. Al-Hoorie

31 Methods for Complexity Theory in Individual Differences Research 477

Phil Hiver

32 Structural Equation Modeling and Factor Analysis 494

Yanyun Yang and Yachen Luo

Index 509

viii
 FIGURES

3.1 An Integrated Conceptual Framework for WM in SLA Research (Wen,

2016). 55
4.1 Percentage of studies examining associations between second language
abilities and performance on tasks probing DM or PM that reported
significant associations. Note. This bar graph presents the percentage of
studies that examined associations between various second language
abilities and performance on tasks probing DM (declarative memory) or
PM (procedural memory) that in fact reported significant associations.
For example, of the seven studies that examined associations between
L2 lexical abilities and DM tasks, four (57%) reported significant
associations. All findings reflect positive associations. The ratio above
each percentage bar indicates the number of studies finding positive
associations out of the number of studies examining them. See main text
and Supporting Table 1 for more specific information—for example,
the proportion of studies reporting significant associations between
performance specifically at affixed versus analogical morphophonological
forms and DM or PM, or the number of studies finding associations
been syntax and DM or PM specifically at earlier versus later stages of L2
learning or in uninstructed or immersed versus instructed or classroom
L2 learners. 73
10.1 Heuristic Model of Variables Influencing L2 WTC (MacIntyre et al.,
1998, p. 547, reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). 160
19.1 Significant Findings from Suzuki and DeKeyser (2017b). Note. Only
significant paths (p < 0.05) in the structural equation model were
presented by the bolded lines. Automatized explicit and implicit
grammatical knowledge were measured by multiple linguistic tasks and
were estimated at the latent level (see the Data Elicitation section). 296
19.2 ATI Patterns. 298
19.3 Contrasting ATI Patterns Generated by Suzuki and DeKeyser (2017a)
and Suzuki (2019). 301

ix 
 Figures

19.4 Illustrations of Word-Monitoring and Self-Paced Reading Tasks. 303

20.1 Participants’ First Languages. 316
20.2 Participants’ Target Languages Examined. 317
20.3 Learner Characteristics Examined. Note: The percentages do not add
up to 100% because several studies examined more than one learner
characteristic. 317
20.4 Pragmatic Features Examined. Note: The percentages do not add up to
100% because several studies examined more than one pragmatic feature. 318
20.5 Speech Act Types Examined. Note: The percentages do not add up to
100% because several studies examined more than one speech act. 318
20.6 Measures for Pragmatic Competence. 318
20.7 Measures for Learner Proficiency. 319
20.8 Features of Reporting Practices and Study Transparency. 320
20.9 Funnel Plots of Effect Sizes and Standard Errors for Correlational Studies
(left) and Between-group Studies (right). Note: The y-axis has been
reversed with lower standard error values situated at the top of the plot. 322
20.10 Forest Plot of Effect Sizes and 95% Confidence Intervals for
Correlational Studies 323
20.11 Forest Plot of Effect Sizes and 95% Confidence Intervals for Between-
group Studies. 323
28.1 Depiction of the Difference Between Accuracy and Precision. 446
30.1 The Two Parts of the Implicit Association Test. 467
31.1 Idiodynamic Data for a Learner’s Speech Repair in an L2 Task. 479
31.2 Data for Six Learners’ Task Performance Appraisals at Time 1 and Time 2. 480
31.3 A Data Matrix for Attribute Data. 483
31.4 A Relational Data Matrix Showing the Number of Friends Shared by
Each Individual. 483
31.5 Sociogram Representing the Number of Friends Shared by Individuals. 484
31.6 Sociogram Showing Distributed Centrality and One Isolate. 484
31.7 Integrative Framework for CDST Research Designs. 489
32.1 The Example Structural Regression Model. Note: For simplicity, mean
structure and some parameters are not shown. 495
32.2 An Illustration of EFA and ICM–CFA Models. 500
32.3 A Path Model. 502
32.4 Structural Regression Model with Single Indicator Corrected for
Measurement Errors. Note:Var(C1) to Var(C4) indicate variance of
composite scores, and ρC1 to ρC4 indicate reliability of composite scores. 503

x
 TABLES

2.1 Major Aptitude Tests 49

3.1 Summary of Results from Recent Meta-Analytic Studies of WM
and SLA 57
8.1 Language Mindset Meaning System (Adapted from Lou &
Noels, 2019b, System) 131
8.2 Experiment/Intervention Research of Language Mindsets on
Outcomes 134
8.3 Methodological and Contextual Issues in Empirical Studies
Involving Mindsets in SLA 136
8.4 Measurement of Language Mindsets 138
12.1a Learner-Internal Factors Linked to Enjoyment 198
12.1b Learner-External Factors Linked to Enjoyment 199
13.1 Questions Eliciting L2 Self-Efficacy Beliefs 209
14.1 Summary of Selected Questionnaire-Based Studies 226
19.1 Major ATI Topics in L2 Grammar Learning 298
19.2 Common Aptitude Measurements in Previous Research on L2
Grammar Learning 304
20.1 Summary of Participants’ Age and Sampling Methods 315
20.2 Summary of Study Contexts 316
20.3 Moderator Analysis of Proficiency Measures 324
20.4 Moderator Analysis of Pragmatic Competence Measures 325
Appendix A Summary of Main Individual Difference Variables and
Corresponding Instruments in Applied Linguistics 412
26.1 The Use of Narrative Methods in Individual Differences Research 415
28.1 Common Eye-Tracking Measures 443
31.1 Standard Research Questions Compared with CDST Research
Questions 488

xi 
 ABOUT THE EDITORS

Shaofeng Li is Associate Professor of Second and Foreign Language Education at Florida State
University, where he teaches courses on second language acquisition, individual differences in
language learning, and task-based teaching. He holds a PhD in Second Language Studies from
Michigan State University. Before joining Florida State University, he worked as a senior lecturer
in applied language studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His main research inter-
ests include language aptitude, working memory, form-focused instruction, task-based language
teaching and learning, corrective feedback, and research methods. His research has primarily
focused on the joint effects of learner-external and learner-internal factors on second language
learning outcomes. His publications have appeared in Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, Applied
Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, Modern Language
Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, System, among others. He is the editor-in-chief
of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (Elsevier) and book review editor of TESOL Quarterly
(Blackwell).
Phil Hiver is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University. His research explores individual differences in language learning and teaching and
the interface between these, language development, and language pedagogy. He has also written
on innovation and precision in research methods, with a particular focus on the contribution of
complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) to applied linguistics research. This published work
appears in journals such as Language Teaching Research, Learning and Individual Differences, the
Modern Language Journal, Applied Linguistics, the Journal of Second Language Writing, and Studies
in Second Language Acquisition. He is the author (with Ali Al-Hoorie) of Research Methods for
Complexity Theory in Applied Linguistics (2020, Multilingual Matters) and co-editor (with Sarah
Mercer & Ali Al-Hoorie) of Engagement in the Second Language Classroom (2021, Multilingual
Matters).
Mostafa Papi is an Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University, where he teaches courses in second language acquisition, research methods, and teach-
ing methods. He received his PhD in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University
and worked as a visiting assistant professor of TESOL and English linguistics at Mississippi State
University prior to joining Florida State University. His research focuses on the interface between
individual learner differences and second language development. More specifically, he studies how

 xii
 About the Editors

learners’ motivation, personality, and emotions influence the quality and quantity of their cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral engagement in the learning process, which in turn lead to qualitative
and quantitative differences in second language communicative competence. His work has been
published in journals such as Language Learning, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Journal of
Second Language Writing, The Modern Language Journal, and TESOL Quarterly. He served on the
editorial board of TESOL Quarterly (2018–2021).

xiii
 CONTRIBUTORS

Mohammad Javad Ahmadian is Lecturer in TESOL and Director of Postgraduate Taught in

the School of Education at the University of Leeds, UK. He is interested in cognitive approaches
in SLA and task-based language teaching. His articles have appeared in such journals as TESOL
Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, and ELT Journal. He is the co-editor (with Professor Mike
Long) of The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching.
Ali H. Al-Hoorie works at the Jubail English Language and Preparatory Year Institute, Royal
Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. He completed his PhD in Applied Linguistics at
the University of Nottingham under the supervision of Professors Zoltán Dörnyei and Norbert
Schmitt. He also holds an MA in Social Science Data Analysis from Essex University. His research
interests include motivation theory, research methodology, and complexity. His publications have
appeared in various journals, and he has written and edited five books. He is also the recipient of
several international awards.
Lars Bokander is Senior Lecturer in Swedish as a Second Language at the School of Language and
Communication, Jönköping University, Sweden. His research interests include language aptitude,
test validity, second language research methods and language assessment. Some of his recent pub-
lications have appeared in Language Learning and Journal of the European Second Language Association.
Tineke Brunfaut is Professor in Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University in
the UK, where she specializes in language testing and second language listening and reading. Her
research on L2 listening has been published in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
TESOL Quarterly, Language Assessment Quarterly, Language Testing, and covers topics such as the role
of linguistic, cognitive and affective factors and processes in listening task completion; diagnosing
L2 listening; and integrated listening assessment. She is a recipient of the ILTA Best Article Award,
the e-Assessment Award for Best Research, and the TOEFL Outstanding Young Scholar Award.
Yanyan Chen is Assistant Professor at the College of Education at Hefei University in China.
Her research interests include second language education, academic motivation, and curriculum
development.
Kathy Conklin is Full Professor of Psycholinguistics at the Centre for Applied Linguistics in the
School of English at the University of Nottingham in the UK. A major focus of her research is on
the application of psycholinguistic methods, in particular eye tracking, to the exploration of lexical
and formulaic language processing in a first and second language. She is co-author, along with Ana

 xiv
 Contributors

Pellicer-Sánchez and Gareth Carrol, of the seminal book Eye-tracking: A Guide for Applied Linguistics
Research (CUP, 2018).

Kata Csizér is Associate Professor at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Her main field of
research interest is the social psychological aspects of L2 learning and teaching, as well as foreign
language motivation. She has published over 100 academic papers and has co-authored several
books, including the recent Palgrave Macmillan Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning with
Martin Lamb, Alastair Henry and Stephen Ryan.

Ron Darvin is Assistant Professor of the English Department at The Chinese University of Hong
Kong. His research interests include identity, language learning investment, digital literacies, and
issues of equity. Some of his recent publications have appeared in Language Teaching, Annual Review
of Applied Linguistics, and TESOL Quarterly. He is a recipient of the 2020 Dissertation Award of the
American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) and the 2017 Emerging Scholar Award of the
LSP SIG of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Peter De Costa is Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages and the
Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, USA. His research areas include
emotions, identity, ideology, and ethics in educational linguistics. He also studies social (in)justice
issues. He is the co-editor of TESOL Quarterly and is the second vice-president of the American
Association for Applied Linguistics.

Jean-Marc Dewaele is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism. He has published

widely on individual differences in psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, psychological,
and emotional variables in second language acquisition and multilingualism. He is former pres-
ident of the International Association of Multilingualism and the European Second Language
Association and he is the general editor of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
He won the Equality and Diversity Research Award from the British Association for Counselling
and Psychotherapy (2013) and the Robert Gardner Award for Excellence in Second Language
and Bilingualism Research (2016) from the International Association of Language and Social
Psychology.

Rod Ellis is Distinguished Research Professor in Curtin University in Australia, a longstanding

Professor at Anaheim University, Visiting Professor at Shanghai International Studies University,
and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of the University of Auckland. He is also a fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand. He has written extensively on second language acquisition and
task-based language teaching. His most recent (co-authored) book is Task-based Language Teaching:
Theory and Practice (2020) published by Cambridge University Press.

Xuesong (Andy) Gao is Associate Professor in the School of Education, the University of New
South Wales, Australia. His research interests include language learner autonomy, language educa-
tion policy, and language teacher education.

Kasun Gajasinghemliyanage is a doctoral student in the Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher

Education program at Michigan State University. He is also a lecturer at the Department of English
Language Teaching at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. His research interests include lan-
guage policy, curriculum theory, and community engaged research.

Carol Griffiths (PhD) has been a teacher, manager, and teacher trainer of ELT for many years.
She has taught in many places around the world, including New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, China,
North Korea, Turkey, and the UK. She is currently working for Girne American University in
North Cyprus. She has presented at numerous conferences and has also published widely. Individual
differences (including language learning strategies), teacher education and support, English as a

xv
 Contributors

medium of instruction, English as a lingua franca, action research, and using literature to teach
language are her major areas of research interest.
Laura Gurzynski-Weiss is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the
Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, USA. She teaches second language
acquisition, task-based language teaching, research and teaching methods, individual differences,
and Hispanic linguistics. Her edited books include Cross-Theoretical Explorations of Interlocutors
and Their Individual Differences (2020) and Expanding Individual Difference Research in The Interaction
Approach: Investigating Learners, Instructors, and Other Interlocutors (2018). She directs the Task-Based
Language Learning Task Bank, serves on the boards of the International Association for Task-
Based Language Teaching, AILA, and TASK, and is co-founder and co-director of AILA Ibero-
America.
Phillip Hamrick is Associate Professor in the Department of English (with appointments in
Psychological Sciences and the Brain Health Research Institute) and Principal Investigator of the
Language and Cognition Research Laboratory at Kent State University, USA. His research com-
bines experimental, computational, and big data techniques to examine the role of general learn-
ing and memory processes in first and second language acquisition and processing, with particular
emphasis on implicit/explicit learning and declarative/procedural memory.
Phil Hiver is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education in the School of
Teacher Education at Florida State University, USA. His published research takes a complex and
dynamic view of individual differences in language learning and explores their interface with
classroom instruction. He has also written on innovation and precision in research methods
and the contribution of complex dynamic systems theory to language education research. He
is co-author (with Ali Al-Hoorie) of Research Methods for Complexity Theory in Applied Linguistics
(2020, Multilingual Matters) and co-editor of Student Engagement in the Language Classroom (2021,
Multilingual Matters).
Franz Holzknecht is Advanced Researcher in Linguistics at the University of Teacher Education
in Special Needs Zurich (Switzerland). His research interests are mainly in language testing,
particularly in L2 listening and sign language assessment. Franz has published his work in the
journals Language Testing, Assessing Writing, and Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, and in
several edited volumes such as the The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing (2nd edition) or The
TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. He is a recipient of the UKALTA Postgraduate
Presentation Award and the Robert Lado Memorial Award.
Daniel O. Jackson is Associate Professor in the English Department and a member of the MA
TESOL Program Steering Committee at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. His
research interests include task-based language teaching, individual learner differences, and lan-
guage teacher education. He is the co-editor (with Gisela Granena and Yucel Yilmaz) of Cognitive
Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition (John Benjamins, 2016) and the
author of Language Teacher Noticing in Tasks (Multilingual Matters, 2021).
Eun Hee Jeon is Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in the US.
She teaches various courses in TESOL, applied linguistics, and linguistics at undergraduate and
graduate levels. Her research interests include second language reading comprehension, proficiency,
and research methods.
Matt Kessler is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of South Florida, where
he serves as a core faculty member for the MA program in applied linguistics and the PhD pro-
gram in linguistics and applied language studies. Matt's research primarily focuses on issues related
to second language writing and computer-assisted language learning. His research has appeared in

xvi
 Contributors

journals such as Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Teaching Research, Language Learning,
English for Specific Purposes, System, and others.

Juhee Kim is a doctoral student in the Learning and Cognition program at Florida State University,
USA. Her research interests include students’ motivation and emotion in academic settings. Her
recent research focused on understanding Chinese students’ motivational reasons to learn English
in China.

Su Kyung Kim is doing a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of Western Ontario
in Canada. Her PhD research examines the role of spaced retrieval practice in second language
vocabulary learning and retention. Her research interests include the processing, acquisition, and
the use of second language vocabulary.

Maria (Masha) Kostromitina is a PhD student in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona

University, USA. Her research interests include second language psycholinguistics, speech pro-
duction and perception, and pragmatics. She has also been involved in corpus linguistic research
projects. Some of her recent publications have appeared in Studies in Second Language Acquisition and
Frontiers in Communication.

Banban Li is Assistant Professor at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, China.
Her research interests include language learners’ and teachers’ well-being, achievement goals,
mindsets, positive emotions, and engagement. Some of her recent publications have appeared in
Applied Linguistics, Learning and Individual Differences, System, and Neuropsychologia.

Shaofeng Li is Associate Professor of Second and Foreign Language Education at Florida State
University in the US, where he teaches courses on second language acquisition, individual differ-
ences in language learning, and task-based language teaching. His main research interests include
language aptitude, working memory, form-focused instruction, task-based language teaching and
learning, corrective feedback, and research methods. His publications have appeared in Applied
Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, International Review of Applied Linguistics, Language Learning,
Language Teaching Research, Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, System,
and others.

Nigel Mantou Lou (PhD) is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Research Fellow of the
Centre for Youth & Society at the University of Victoria, Canada. His research focuses on the
psychology of language learning, immigration, and intercultural communication. Some of his
recent publications have appeared in Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, System, Contemporary Educational Psychology, and Computers
& Education. He is an associate editor of Psychology of Language and Communication and Frontiers in
Psychology, and a guest co-editor of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching for a recent special
issue on “Growth Mindsets and Language Learning and Teaching”.

Yachen Luo is a PhD candidate of Measurement and Statistics at Florida State University, USA.
She earned a master’s degree in applied statistics. Her research interests include structural equation
modeling and item response theory, and application of quantitative methods in educational and
psychological research. Some of her publications have appeared in Structural Equation Modeling and
Sleep and Biological Rhythms.

Peter D. MacIntyre is Professor of Psychology at Cape Breton University. His research focuses
on the psychology of language and communication. He has published widely on language anxiety,
willingness to communicate, motivation and other topics. He has co-authored or co-edited books
on topics including positive psychology in second language acquisition, motivational dynamics,
nonverbal communication, teaching innovations, and capitalizing on language learner individuality.

xvii
 Contributors

Kara Morgan-Short (PhD, Georgetown University) is Professor in the Department of Hispanic

and Italian Studies and the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois in the US where
she directs the Cognition of Second Language Acquisition Laboratory. Informed by the fields of
linguistics, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience, Kara’s research aims to elucidate the neuro-
cognitive processes underlying adult-learned language acquisition and use. Her research has been
published in journals such as Language Learning, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism:
Language and Cognition, and Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Kara has served as associate editor for
Language Learning and on various editorial boards.
Charles Nagle is Associate Professor of Spanish and Applied Linguistics and Director of the
Spanish Language Program at Iowa State University, USA. His main area of research is second lan-
guage pronunciation. He has published widely on topics such as the perception-production link,
individual differences in pronunciation learning, and the factors that affect the intelligibility and
comprehensibility of second language speech. His work has appeared in venues such as Studies in
Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, The Modern Language Journal, and the Journal of Second
Language Pronunciation.
Bonny Norton (PhD) (FRSC) is University Killam Professor and Distinguished University
Scholar in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia,
Canada. Her primary research interests are identity and language learning, digital storytelling,
and open technology. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the American Educational
Research Association, she was awarded the BC 2020 Academic of the Year Award for her leadership
of the Global Storybooks project (https://globalstorybooks​.net/). Her website is https://faculty​
.educ​.ubc​.ca​/norton/
Yanyu Pan is a doctoral candidate in the Learning and Cognition program at Florida State
University, USA. Her research interests include learners’ motivation, self-regulation, and the use of
learning strategies, particularly for postsecondary language learners.
Mostafa Papi is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State
University, USA. His main areas of research include investigating the role of motivation, personality,
and emotions in learners’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in the language learn-
ing process as well as the quality and quantity of their language performance and success. Dr. Papi
has published various journals including Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning,
The Modern Language Journal, Language Teaching Research, and Journal of Second Language Writing.
Ana Pellicer-Sánchez is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the UCL
Institute of Education in the UK. Her recent research has made use of eye tracking to explore the
cognitive processes involved in second language learning, including vocabulary learning from read-
ing and attentional allocation in multimodal input. She is co-author, along with Kathy Conklin and
Gareth Carrol, of Eye-Tracking: A Guide for Applied Linguistics Research (CUP, 2018) and co-editor
of Understanding Formulaic Language: A Second Language Acquisition Perspective (Routledge, 2019).
Jian-E Peng is Professor of English at Shantou University in China. Her research interests include
learner motivation, academic writing, discourse analysis, teacher development, and research
methodology. Some of her recent publications include papers appearing in TESOL Quarterly,
System, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, ELT Journal, Linguistics and Education, and Sage Open,
and a chapter in the book East Asian Perspectives on Silence in English Language Education (2020,
Multilingual Matters).
Simone E. Pfenninger is Associate Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Psycholinguistics
at the English Department of the University of Salzburg, Austria. Her principal research areas
are multilingualism, psycholinguistics and variationist SLA, especially in regard to quantitative

xviii
 Contributors

approaches and statistical methods and techniques for language application in education. She is
co-editor of the Second Language Acquisition book series for multilingual matters, vice-president
of the International Association of Multilingualism (IAM), and statistical advisor to the EuroSLA
Studies book series.
Masatoshi Sato is Professor at Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile. His research agenda is to con-
duct theoretical and applied research in order to facilitate dialogue between practitioners and
researchers. In addition to his publications in international journals, he has co-edited volumes from
John Benjamins (2016 with Ballinger: Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning), Routledge
(2017 with Loewen: The Routledge Handbook of Instructed Second Language Acquisition; 2019 with
Loewen: Evidence-Based Second Language Pedagogy), and Language Teaching Research (2021 with
Csizér: Learner Psychology and Instructed Second Language Acquisition). He is the recipient of the 2014
ACTFL/MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award. He is currently the editor of Language Awareness.
Dávid Simon is Assistant Professor of Survey Methodology and Data Analytics at Eötvös Loránd
University, Budapest. He is among the founders of Survey Statistics and Data Analytics MSc of
ELTE. His research interests include sampling among rare and elusive populations and methodol-
ogy of survey research in education.
David Singleton is an Emeritus Fellow of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland where he was, until
his retirement, professor in applied linguistics. Thereafter he worked as professor at the University
of Pannonia,Veszprém (Hungary) and at the State University of Applied Sciences, Konin (Poland).
He served earlier in his life as president of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics, as secre-
tary general of AILA, and as president of EUROSLA. He is founding editor and co-editor of the
Multilingual Matters SLA book series. In 2015 he received the EUROSLA Distinguished Scholar
Award and in 2017 Honorary Life Membership of AILA.
Yuichi Suzuki is Associate Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural Studies at Kanagawa
University. His primary research interests concern explicit and implicit knowledge and learn-
ing, deliberate and systematic practice, automatization, and aptitude-treatment interaction. He is
a recipient of the Valdman’s Award from Studies in Second Language Acquisition (2017) and the
first IRIS Replication Award (2018). He is a guest editor of the special issue of Modern Language
Journal “Optimizing Second Language Practice in the Classroom: Perspectives from Cognitive
Psychology” (2019).
Naoko Taguchi is Professor in the English Department at Northern Arizona University where
she teaches courses in applied linguistics. Her research interests include pragmatics, intercul-
tural development, technology assisted learning, and English-medium education. Her recent
books include The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics (Routledge, 2019), Second Language
Pragmatics: From Theory to Research (with Jonathan Culpeper and Alison Mackey; Routledge, 2018),
Second Language Pragmatics (with Carsten Roever; Oxford University Press, 2017), and Developing
Interactional Competence in a Japanese Study Abroad Context (2015, Multilingual Matters). She is the
co-editor of Applied Pragmatics (John Benjamins).
Jeannine E. Turner is Associate Professor at Florida State University. Her research focuses on
aspects of students’ motivation, emotions, and self-regulation. She is most known for her research
on academic shame. She has published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist,
Journal of Advanced Academics, and Learning and Individual Differences.
Michael T. Ullman is Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, with secondary appoint-
ments in Neurology and Psychology, at Georgetown University. He is Director of the Brain and
Language Laboratory and the Georgetown EEG/ERP Lab. He teaches undergraduate, master’s,
PhD, and medical students. He is Director of Medical Neuroscience in the medical school. His

xix
 Contributors

research examines the neurocognition of first and second language, math, reading, music, and
memory; how these domains are affected in disorders (e.g., autism, dyslexia, developmental lan-
guage disorder, aphasia, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases); and how they may be modulated
by factors such as sex, handedness, aging, and genotype.

Olena Vasylets is Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona, Spain. Her main research inter-
ests lie in the areas of second language writing, individual differences in second language acquisition
and language teaching with technology. She is also interested in the cognitive processes underly-
ing second language performance and development. Her articles have appeared in the top journals
including Language Learning, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, and Journal of Second Language Writing.

Lanxi Wang is a graduate student at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. She completed her
BSc with honors at Cape Breton University. Her research focused on anxiety and enjoyment in
second language listening comprehension. Currently, her research interests include occupational
health and cross-cultural communication at workplaces.

Stuart Webb is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Western Ontario. Before
teaching applied linguistics, he taught English as a foreign language in Japan and China for many
years. His research interests include vocabulary studies, second language acquisition, and extensive
reading, listening, and viewing. His latest books are How Vocabulary is Learned (with Paul Nation)
and The Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies.

Zhisheng (Edward) Wen is Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Translation at
Macao Polytechnic Institute in China. He has research interests in second language acquisition,
task-based language teaching and learning, psycholinguistics, and cognitive science, with a particu-
lar focus on the role of working memory and language aptitude in second language acquisition.
His recent books include Working Memory in Second Language Acquisition and Processing (Multilingual
Matters, 2015), Working Memory and Second Language Learning (Multilingual Matters, 2016), Language
Aptitude (Routledge, 2019), and Researching L2 Task Performance and Pedagogy (Benjamins, 2019).
Forthcoming titles include Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition (de Gruyter
Mouton) and Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language (CUP).

Holly Wheeler is a PhD student in Applied Linguistics and Assistant Director of Education
Abroad at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Her research interests include
second language acquisition and intercultural competence development through L2 learning in
immersion and study-abroad contexts.

Mark Wyatt is Associate Professor of English at Khalifa University in the UAE. His research inter-
ests include language teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, teacher cognition, teacher motivation, practi-
tioner research, mentoring, and reflection. Some of his key publications have appeared in Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, Educational Action Research, Educational Review, ELT Journal, International
Journal of Research and Method in Education, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education,
International Review of Education, Language Learning Journal, Language Teaching Research, Studies in
Second Language Learning and Teaching, System, Teaching and Teacher Education, TESOL Quarterly, and
The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education.

Junko Yamashita is Professor at Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University, Japan. Her
primary research fields are L2 reading and lexical processing including factors that affect L2 reading
comprehension, teaching and assessment of L2 reading skills and its components, and the cross-
linguistic influence on the acquisition of L2 reading and lexical processing.

Yanyun Yang is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
at the Florida State University, USA. Yang teaches graduate courses in educational statistics. Her

xx
 Contributors

research interests include structural equation modeling, reliability estimation methods, factor analy-
sis, and application of advanced statistical techniques to research in education, psychology, and
mental health. Some of her publications have appeared in Educational and Psychological Measurement,
Multivariate Behavioral Research, Psychological Methods, Psychometrika, and Structural Equation Modeling.
Nourollah Zarrinabadi is Adjunct Professor of TESOL at the University of Isfahan in Iran.
His research interests include the psychology of language, intercultural communication, and
computer-assisted language learning. Some of his recent publications have appeared in System,
TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, Teachers and Teaching, and Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development. He has also published three books on these subjects with Springer and
Palgrave Macmillan publishers.
Qunyan Maggie Zhong is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Language Studies at Unitec
Institute of Technology, New Zealand. She holds a PhD and an MA in Language Teaching and
Learning from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She also holds an MA in English
Linguistics, a PGDip and a BA in English Linguistics and Literature from Jilin University, China.
She has extensive experience in teaching English as a foreign language and English as a second
language in higher education. Her research interests include learner beliefs, learning strategies,
learner autonomy, and second language classroom research. Some of her publications have appeared
in System and International Journal of Applied Linguistics.

xxi
 AUTHORS OF THEORETICAL
EXCERPTS

Robert DeKeyser is Professor Emeritus of Second Language Acquisition at the University of

Maryland, USA. His research interests include language learning during stay abroad, age effects on
language learning, other individual differences in language learning, and the interaction between
age, aptitude, and teaching contexts/methodologies. He has published in a wide variety of journals.
In 2007 he published a book on practice activities in second language learning, and in 2019 he
co-edited a book with Goretti Prieto Botana about research issues in instructed language learning.
He was editor of Language Learning from 2005 to 2010.
Erin Fell is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Georgetown University. Her research cent-
ers on the K-12 foreign language classroom, probing issues of access to language education as
well as assessing the evolving needs of the 21st century language learner. In the classroom, she’s
particularly passionate about community building, learner identity, and connecting instruction to
real-world language tasks.
Susan Gass is University Distinguished Professor Emerita in Second Language Studies at
Michigan State University, USA. She has published widely in the field of second language acqui-
sition, particularly in the areas of language transfer, language universals, input, interaction, and
research methodology. She is the winner of numerous local, national, and international awards. Her
most recent publications are Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course (5th edition), co-
authored with Jennifer Behney and Luke Plonsky, and Second Language Research: Methodology and
Design (3rd edition), co-authored with Alison Mackey. She is the current editor of Studies in Second
Language Acquisition and co-edits with Alison Mackey and Kimberly Geeslin the Second Language
Acquisition Series (Routledge).
Holger Hopp is Professor of English Linguistics at the Technische Universität Braunschweig in
Germany. In his research, he investigates child and adult L2/3 acquisition and processing as well as
heritage language acquisition and attrition. He uses several psycholinguistic methods to determine
the directionality, scope, and degree of cross-linguistic influence in bilingual and multilingual speakers
of different ages. He is an executive editor of Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism and has published
widely on various topics related to multilingualism in various journals including Second Language
Research, Applied Psycholinguistics, Learning and Instruction, and Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.
James P. Lantolf is Greer Professor in Applied Linguistics, Emeritus, at The Pennsylvania State
University in the US, and was a Yangtze River professor in Applied Linguistics at Xi’an Jiaotong

 xxii
 Authors of Theoretical Excerpts

University in China (2017–2020). His research focuses on sociocultural theory, L2 development

and language education. He is founding editor of Language and Sociocultural Theory and a past edi-
tor of Applied Linguistics. He was president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics
and received its Distinguished Service and Scholarship Award. He is co-editor of the Routledge
Handbook of Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Development (2018).
Diane Larsen-Freeman is Professor Emerita of Education and Linguistics, Research Scientist
Emerita, and former Director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan
in the US. She is also Professor Emerita at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Her recent books are Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics (2008, with L. Cameron), Language
as a Complex Adaptive System (2009, edited with N. C. Ellis), the third edition of Techniques and
Principles (2011, with M. Anderson), the third edition of The Grammar Book: Form, Meaning, and Use
for English Language Teachers (2015, with M. Celce-Murcia), and Second Language Development: Ever
Expanding (2018).
Alison Mackey is a leading international expert in input, interaction, and feedback in L2 learn-
ing, as well as in L2 research methodology. She has published 16 books (one of which won the
Modern Language Association’s Mildenburger Prize) and more than 100 articles in these areas. At
Georgetown University in the US, where she is Professor of Linguistics, she has received both The
President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers and The Provost’s Career Research Award.
Manfred Pienemann is Professor of English Linguistics at Paderborn University. He has held posi-
tions in linguistics and applied linguistics at the Universities of Newcastle in the UK, the Australian
National University, the University of Sydney in Australia, and the Universities of Hamburg and
Passau in Germany. He is the co-founder of PacSLRF and co-editor of the PALART series.
Peter Robinson is Professor of Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at Aoyama Gakuin
University in Tokyo, Japan, where he teaches courses in applied linguistics and SLA, and supervises
graduate student dissertation research. His research and theoretical contributions have addressed
the roles of attention and awareness in implicit, incidental, and explicit learning; cognitive abilities
and the structure of aptitude complexes for learning under different conditions of exposure or
on different tasks; and the effects of task complexity and task sequencing on instructed language
learning and performance.
Ayşenur Sağdıç is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Georgetown University. Her pri-
mary research interests include second language acquisition, task-based language teaching, and
technology-mediated language learning with an emphasis on second language pragmatics. Some of
her recent publications have appeared in journals such as System, Applied Pragmatics, and International
Journal of Applied Linguistics, as well as several edited volumes.
Bill VanPatten is a former Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition at Michigan
State University, USA. He specializes in second language acquisition, which he investigates on both
theoretical and practical levels, using linguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives.
Stefanie Wulff is Associate Professor in the Linguistics Department at the University of Florida
in the US and Professor II at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Her research interests include
corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, and heritage language acquisition. She is editor-in-
chief of Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory (de Gruyter Mouton).

xxiii
 FOREWORD
Rod Ellis

In an article about individual differences (IDs) in second language acquisition (SLA) (Ellis, 2004) I
noted that IDs research has a considerable history. I cited Horwitz’s (2000) review of publications
in the Modern Language Journal from the 1920s to 1970, where she noted that whereas in earlier
periods the primary interest in individual differences was motivated by the felt need to select
which learners should be chosen to receive foreign language instruction, in later research the focus
switched to explaining why some learners succeed more than others. The current volume is very
much in this later tradition.
The early research on IDs was largely separate from research on second language (L2) acquisi-
tion. In the early days of SLA (i.e., the 1960s and 1970s), the primary focus was not on how learn-
ers differ but on what they have in common. The aim was to document the “natural” order and
sequence of L2 acquisition and to understand the cognitive processes involved. By the 1980s, how-
ever, the study of individual differences had become integrated into mainstream SLA as researchers
acknowledged the need to account for variant as well as invariant aspects of L2 acquisition. The
SLA survey books (e.g., Ellis, 1985 and 2015; Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991; Gass and Selinker,
1980; Ortega, 2009) and handbooks (e.g., Davies and Elder, 2004; Doughty and Long, 2003) that
began to appear regularly all included one of more chapters addressing the role of IDs in language
learning. There were also books surveying research on IDs (e.g., Skehan, 1989; Robinson, 2002;
Dörnyei, 2005) as well as books addressing specific IDs (e.g., Dörnyei, 2001). The current book
represents a culmination of these historical trends.
As I see it, there are three major tasks facing the researcher of IDs in SLA. The first is to decide
which ID factors to investigate.The second is to explain how these factors affect L2 acquisition and
also how acquisition can lead to changes in at least some ID factors. The third is to examine how
the effects of language instruction are mediated by IDs.
There is general agreement in the SLA survey books and handbooks about the main IDs. In the
chapter on individual differences in Ellis (1985) I included age, intelligence and aptitude, cognitive
style, motivation, and personality as “general factors” with a separate section on the “good language
learner” (a topic of considerable interest at that time but since neglected). These IDs were all psy-
chological in nature. I also included a separate chapter on learner strategies and dealt with “social
distance” in a final chapter on SLA theories. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) included the same
set of psychological IDs (with the addition of “anxiety”) along with social distance and learner
strategies in a chapter entitled “Explanations for differential success among second language learn-
ers”. They also mentioned a range of other factors such as memory, awareness and will, language
disability, and sex. Gass and Selinker (1980) called their chapter on IDs “Non-language influences”

 xxiv
 Foreword

and also included anxiety and social distance. The primary focus of all these early survey books
was on the universal aspects of L2 acquisition (i.e., interlanguage development), with IDs some-
thing of a sideshow. The same is true of Doughty and Long’s (2003) Handbook of Second Language
Acquisition. This, however, included a complete chapter by Robinson dealing with attention and
memory, making the link between working memory (an ID) and the cognitive processes involved
in interlanguage development. Ortega’s (2009) survey gave much more space to IDs. She included
separate chapters on age, aptitude, motivation and affect, and other individual differences. The
social dimensions of L2 learning also received its own chapter. Working memory was addressed
under “cognition”. My two encyclopedic surveys of SLA (Ellis, 1994a, b and 2008) adopted much
the same approach as in Ellis (1985). However, in the second edition of my original survey (Ellis,
2015) I opted to deal with age and the social aspects of L2 acquisition in separate chapters, lumping
other IDs into a single chapter dealing with psychological factors. Like Ortega, I dealt with work-
ing memory in a chapter on cognitive aspects. One of the main differences between the 1985 and
2015 editions was the omission of a separate chapter on learning strategies.
This review of the survey and handbooks helps to pinpoint how IDs have figured in SLA and
the changes that took place over time:

1. Clearly, the IDs surveyed in these books varied in some rather fundamental ways. The general
approach, however, was to treat each factor separately with no attempt to classify them into
groups. In Ellis (2004), I did attempt a classification, distinguishing “abilities” (i.e., intelligence,
language aptitude, and memory), “propensities” (i.e., learning style, motivation, personality,
and willingness to communicate), “learner cognitions about L2 learning” (i.e., beliefs), and
“learner actions” (i.e., learner strategies). As I see it now there is first a fundamental distinc-
tion between social and psychological factors and then a further distinction in the latter group
between those IDs that are more or less fixed (what I called “abilities”) and those that are subject
to change over time (i.e., “propensities”).
2. Age was initially dealt with alongside other IDs but later received separate treatment, reflect-
ing its importance for explaining how cognitive processes change and affect ultimate success
in language learning.
3. Working memory received little attention initially but is now seen as a crucial factor.
However, rather than being treated as an ID explaining differences in L2 achievement, it is
seen as central to understanding the cognitive processes involved in L2 learning.
4. Not all IDs are of equal importance in explaining differences in L2 learning. Language apti-
tude and motivation constitute the main factors, with other factors such as cognitive style and
personality of lesser significance.
5. The status of learning strategies as an ID is, to my mind, uncertain. The early surveys attached
considerable importance to them, but later surveys dealt with them cursorily. In the intro-
duction to my 2015 book I commented on the “growing recognition of the problematic
nature of this construct and the methodological weaknesses in much of the research that has
investigated it” (p. 1). Readers of the current book will find a different view in Chapter 5 and
arguably that learning strategies remain important for language pedagogy.
6. Psychological factors hold a central place in research in IDs (as reflected in the current book’s
Table of Contents) but the importance of social and social-cultural variables has always been
acknowledged and with the growing interest in sociocultural theory they have received
greater attention in recent years (see Section 5 in the current book).
7. The study of IDs in SLA has proceeded in two different ways. Primarily, the focus has been
on explaining differential success. But as SLA has evolved, the focus has switched to explain-
ing how IDs influence the implicit and explicit processing mechanisms involved in language
learning. This has led to increasing attention being paid to those IDs of a cognitive nature—
language aptitude and working memory.

xxv
 Foreword

The principal method used in ID research has been to correlate measures of specific IDs with
measures of L2 achievement. Two IDs—language aptitude and motivation—have been shown to
each account for substantial variation in achievement; other IDs somewhat less so. A problem with
this approach is that ID constructs may not be discrete with the result that their contribution to
learning overlaps—for example, motivation and language anxiety are clearly related. This points
to the need to carefully design each ID construct (see the introductory chapter about how to set
about this) for studies that investigate clusters of variables to see how they are inter-related and
correlate with measures of achievement.
A different approach to investigating how IDs explain variable achievement is to focus on how
they affect the social and cognitive processes responsible for achievement. Highly motivated learn-
ers, for example, are more likely to engage actively in the negotiation of meaning, which cognitive-
interactionist theories (Long, 1981; Mackey, 2007) claim are facilitative of acquisition. Learners
with a strong aptitude for language learning and a large working memory capacity are likely to
be better equipped to pay conscious attention (i.e., “notice”) to exemplars of specific L2 forms in
the input and to induce the underlying rules. Arguably, research that focuses on how IDs medi-
ate these processes will have greater explanatory value than research that just correlates IDs with
achievement. A strength of the current book is that it gives prominence to the process approach by
examining how IDs fit into different theories of L2 acquisition.
A third approach is to investigate how IDs impact on the “natural” route of L2 development.
Early SLA research took the view that this route was universal, affected minimally by learners’ L1
(which, interestingly, is not viewed as an ID) and not at all by other IDs. More recently, proponents
of dynamic systems theory (e.g., de Bot and Larsen-Freeman, 2011) and skill acquisition theory
(e.g., DeKeyser, 2020) have dismissed the existence of the “natural” route, arguing that the devel-
opmental path is inherently variable and thus subject to the influence of IDs. My own view (some-
what different from that expressed in the introduction to the current volume) is that the existence
of clear developmental regularities cannot be ignored and that a profitable line of enquiry would
be to investigate what aspects of development are relatively immune to IDs and which ones are
influenced by them.
Thus, a complete account of IDs in language learning will need to consider how they impact
achievement, the social and cognitive processes that lead to learning, and developmental profiles.
The primary purpose of ID research, as reflected in the current book, is to explain L2 learn-
ing. There is, however, a second purpose–—to investigate how language instruction can be made
more effective by accounting for how IDs mediate the way learners respond to language instruc-
tion. In other words, there is both a theoretical and a practical side to the study of learner IDs. In
Ellis (2012), I outlined three ways in which researchers have set about investigating the interaction
between instruction and IDs.The first is by matching learners with specific abilities/propensities to
particular instructional treatments in aptitude-treatment interaction studies. The second way is by
investigating how learners who differ in some way (e.g., in language aptitude) respond to a specific
type of instruction such as processing instruction. The third way involves a qualitative approach
(e.g., using learner diaries) to investigate how learners manifest specific characteristics (e.g., high
anxiety) as a result of their instructional experiences and how these characteristics can best be man-
aged. The third way involves learner training, where an attempt is made to modify an ID (e.g., the
learner’s use of strategies) in order to maximize the effectiveness of instruction.
The current volume constitutes the most comprehensive account of IDs in SLA to date. It
examines how IDs fit into different theories of L2 acquisition; it offers separate chapters on a wide
range of IDs classified into cognitive, conative, affective, and sociocultural groups; it explores how
IDs impact different aspects of L2 acquisition; and it provides detailed accounts of the methods that
have been used to investigate IDs.

xxvi
 Foreword

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