FACTORS AFFECTING L2 LEARNING

Introduction
We use our own experience and research findings when evaluating success in the acquisition of L2 All normal children are successful in the acquisition of L1, given a normal upbringing. However, rate of development varies widely among L1 learners

Introduction
In L2 learning, some learners never become native like, make slow progress but some learners progress rapidly through certain stages of learning Characteristics contributing to successful language learning can be classified into five main categories: motivation, aptitude, personality, intelligence and learner preferences

Research on learner characteristics

Steps followed by researchers when trying to find out the effect of any personality factor on L2 learning: 1. Selecting a group of learners 2. Giving a questionnaire to them to measure the degree of the personality factor 3. Giving a test to them to measure their L2 proficiency

Steps followed by researchers when trying to find out the effect of any personality factor on L2 learning 4. Scoring the test and the questionnaire 5. Finding a correlation on two measures Researchers want to see whether learners with high scores on the proficiency test are also more likely to have high scores on the personality factor questionnaire

Difficulties with the procedure

1. Observing and measuring qualities like motivation, extroversion or even intelligence is not possible 2. Various researchers use the same labels to describe different sets of behavioral traits

Motivation and Success in L2 Learning

What is the problem in motivation questionnaires? (p.51) What is the relationship between level of motivation and success in SLL? Are learners with higher level of motivation more successful than those with lower motivation? Do highly motivated students perform better on a proficiency test than those with much less motivation?

Motivation and Success in L2 Learning

Do language proficiency tests used in different studies measure the same kind of knowledge? Do learners become successful because of their motivation? Does early success increase learners motivation? Are both success and motivation affected by special attitude for language learning or favorable learning context

Intelligence
Many studies using IQ tests and different methods of assessing LL have found that IQ scores are a good means of predicting how successful a learner is
Measures of intelligence may be more strongly related to certain kinds of L2 abilities than to others

Intelligence
What happened in a study with French immersion students in Canada? (Intelligence is related to the development of L2 reading, grammar, vocabulary but unrelated to oral productive skills

Intelligence
Intelligence may be a strong factor when it comes to learning in terms of linguistic analysis and grammatical rules. However, intelligence plays a minor role in classrooms with more focus on communication and interaction

Aptitude
Who is CJ? Does he have a special aptitude for LL? (p.53) Is learning quickly an important feature of aptitude? What are the most widely used aptitude tests? What view are MLAT and PLAB based on?

Aptitude
What is the effect of communicative approach to teaching in terms of aptitude? What happened in a Canadian language program? What is the advantage of knowing the aptitude profile of learners?

Personality
Is success in LL correlated with extroversion? Do successful learners get high scores on measures of extroversion? Does inhibition affect progress in LL? What did Alexander Guiora and his colleagues do?

Personality
What other personality characteristics have been studied? What is the main difficulty in researching personality characteristics?

Motivation and attitudes

Are positive attitudes and motivation related to success in L2 learning? Can the research indicate truely how motivation is related to learning? Are learners more highly motivated because they are successful or are they successful because they are highly motivated?

Motivation and attitudes

Motivation can be defined in terms of two factors: 1. Learners communicative needs
2. Learners attitudes towards the second language community

Types of Motivation
1. Integrative motivation (language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment) 2. Instrumental motivation (language learning for more immediate or practical goals)

Motivation and attitudes

Are integrative and instrumental motivation related to success in L2 learning? How can learning L2 be a source of enrichment or a source of resentment? Is motivation affected by the social dynamic or power relationship between the languages?

Motivation in the classroom setting

Ways of increasing students motivation in the classroom: 1. Varying the activities, tasks and materials 2. Using cooperative rather than competitive goals

Learners preferences
1. Visual Learners 2. Aural Learners 3. Kinaesthetic Learners 4. Field independent and field dependent learners

Learners beliefs
All learners have strong beliefs and opinions about how instruction should be delivered
Learners preferences for learning influence the kinds of strategies they choose to learn new material.

Learner beliefs
Teachers can use this information to help learners expand their repertoire of learning strategies and thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning.