NIHAD AHMI May 5, 2014

Discussion Questions for Chapter 3: Individual differences in second language learning

1. Assessing the influence that personal characteristics have on L2 learning is made
finding out whether there is CORRELATION between VARIABLES such as
motivation and the second language proficiency of L2 learners. This assessment is
often made on specific learners group by determining their motivation using
questionnaires and then assessing their language proficiency by some kinds of tests.
There are difficulties in assessing because correlations requires some kind of
interpretation. The problem is, unlike variables such as height or age, it is not possible
to directly observe and measure motivation, extroversion, or even intelligence. These
characteristics are also not independent of each and researches can use the same label
for totally different behavioral traits. For example desire to interact and opportunities
or the need to interact can be hard to distinguish and then assessing the speakers
motivation can be interpretable. Another difficulty is that language proficiency tests
used in different studies do not measure the same kind of knowledge. For examples IQ
may be closely correlated to measures of conventional fluency than to tests that
measure metalinguistic knowledge.
2. Researches seek to know how different cognitive and personality variables are related
and how they interact with learners experiences, so that they can gain a better
understanding of human learning. Educators hope to find ways of helping learners
with different characteristics to achieve success in second language learning.
3. IQ quotient of language learner can show some of his/her capabilities in language
learning but there are also some aspects that do not depend on IQ quotient. On pages
80-83 we can see how aptitude for language learning can shape our success. I would
tell that some of those mentioned abilities like working memory and analyzing the
language directly depend on the IQ of the learner but some other abilities that define
aptitude like willingness to learn and communicative abilities are not directly
connected to IQ quotient.
4. One of the researches (Leila Ranta, 2002) shows that children who were good at
analyzing language were most successful learners in which activities never involved
direct attention to grammar. We can conclude that aptitude test are predictive of
success even in the classes where there is emphasis on communicative interaction
5. Teachers can conclude that they need to provide different instructions for different
learners profiles because if the language learner is set in the classroom with the
instructions compatible with his or her aptitude profile their success will be more
evident. More structured teaching may even out individual differences compared with
the less structured teaching.
6. I believe that there will never be a unique ideal way to teach/learn languages but
everyone can find their ideal way to become good teacher/learner. We all have differ
by our DNA structure so we shouldnt tend to copy someones learning style if we feel
uncomfortable about it but rather we should work on discovering our own learning
style,
7. Differences in learning styles of course affect the way L2 teachers teach in a way that
they try to adjust their teaching style with the needs of the students. In a real world it is
a very tough task but an effective teacher should always tend to find a ways how to
satisfy the needs of all students.
8. We can learn that some ordinary researches on the correlation between personalities
and efficiency in language learning are not always the whole truth. It is the case with
the correlation between extroversion and successful language learners. I realized that
an extrovert doesnt have to always necessarily be more successful in language
learning than an introvert and this is also supported by many researches. Another thing
is with inhibition where almost all researches showed negative force of inhibition in
learning pronunciation because it discourages the risk taking of the speaker.
Researches on anxiety shows that it is not static but dynamic and depends on specific
situation and also that not all anxiety is bad because it sometimes facilitate learning
with positive pressure. Willingness to communicate (WTC) can be related to anxiety
and it changes with the number of people present, the topic of conversation, the
formality of the circumstances, etc.
9. As we mentioned before the major difficulty is that of identification and measurement.
10. Learners with an instrumental motivation want to learn a language because of a
practical reason such as getting a salary bonus or getting into college. Learners who
are integratively motivated want to learn the language because they want to get to
know the people who speak that language. They are also interested in the culture
associated with that language. Integratively motivated learners may have significant
others such as a boyfriend or girlfriend or family members who speak the language,
and heritage language learners typically have a particularly strong integrative
motivation for language learning.
11. It is a model of motivation consisted of three phases. First is to start and define your
goals (choice motivation), second is to accomplish designated tasks to maintain
motivation (executive motivation) and third is review of your performance (motivation
retrospection).
12. The main challenge in motivating students in the schools is how to make them
interested in particular subject. There are various methods that can be done and I think
that how efficient as a teachers we are that will reflect to the motivation of the
students. We need to always measure and observe the motivation of our students in
order to plan some strategies to involve them in the class. We have to encourage them
and engage them into group or pair works in order to make them motivated.
13. First of all there is a huge difference in motivation between these two groups. There is
example of immigrant women in Canada which explains how the motivation for
speaking is changing when there is power imbalance in social context. Their
experience in those situations limited the opportunities they had to practice and to
continue to develop 2
nd
language outside the classroom.
14. This is hard question to answer but I would say that it is the psychological nature of
human being where we do not feel comfortable if we are surrounded by the people
who are not similar to us and in these situations we often feel endangered.
15. Identity of a student as a learner is crucial in pronunciation mastery because
sometimes we need to change our leaner identity in order to develop our
pronunciation. This may seem more natural and appropriate when we are younger
because we may feel uncomfortable in the acquiring new sounds.
16. This is connected with the previous question because they didnt want to lose their
identity in language learning which sometimes cannot be separated from the native
culture and language. I personally experienced the same situation when need to speak
in different language in a manner which would seem inappropriate and inconsistent
with my native language.
17. It is very important for teachers to synchronize their delivery with the expectations of
the students (especially adults) because the adults are pretty much aware how they
should be taught. In many researches we can see inconsistency between teachers and
students questionnaires on what is the most important in teaching which show low
level of their cooperation in creating better learning environments. Knowing the
learners expectations teacher could easily create their types of delivery and the
teaching content.
18. These different ideas obviously come from different experiences and opportunities to
be exposed to the learning language. As a language learner I was in the same position
as EFL-teaching the grammar rules were mostly integrated into communicative
practices which were only available inside the classroom. I feel that this type of
delivery lacks if we compare it to the one where grammar rules are separated form
communicative practices but it is inevitable in our educational system so far.
19. It is difficult to compare L2 learning success of adult and child because of different
ways of gaining the new knowledge. We may say that the adults passed all critical
periods for learning languages relying on the innate biological structures so they use
different methods such us general learning abilities where children rely on innate
capacities. Young learners have more time to devote to learning, they have more
opportunity to be exposed to the language and they do not feel pressure when they
need to speak or when make mistakes. On the other side older leaners are often
demanded to speak in their environment, feel more pressure and they are often
embarrassed if they make mistake in their speech.
20. Patkowski studied the relationship between age and the acquisition of features of a 2
nd

language other than pronunciation. In his research he concluded that age in the
acquisition of the language plays very important role which support CHP.
21. They researched these two assessing groups by letting them to hear recorded sentences
and to decide whether it is true or not. They concluded that age of arrival in the US
was a significant predictor of success on the test and it totally proves CPH in language
learning.
22. He added aptitude test which proved that aptitude profile of adult language learner
defines his or her success. However he showed that is not relevant for those who learn
English in the childhood.
23. Study compares the development in language learning of children, adolescent and
adult. During less than half year the most successful learner was the adult and the
second was adolescent. By the end of the year children were catching up but
nevertheless they stayed in front of the children. The study shows that adults an
adolescents can make considerable and rapid progress in their proficiency in 2
nd

language in contexts where they use the language in social, personal, professional, or
academic interaction. This is quite different study form previous ones and does not
support the CPH.
24. Researches shows that the best period for starting learning L2 is before we are the 15
years old (especially in learning pronunciation). However later start has also its
advantages in terms of our experience and cognitive development. I would say that its
never late but if we have opportunity to start learn earlier we shouldnt miss it.
25. BAF studied language levels of students who had started learning at different ages and
had different numbers of instruction hours. The study showed that those who started
later were performed better on almost each measure in comparison with the level of
those who started earlier. This was particularly true of measures based on
metalinguistic awareness or advantages.
26. It is hard to determine real cause of one variable. If we have two variables which are
correlated we cannot also predict that one causes another because they may be the
cause of some another thing. In the beginning we mentioned the variable of motivation
which is said to be correlated with the success in language proficiency. However
sometimes we cannot distinguish whether it is students motivation for speaking or his
need for speaking 2
nd
language because of environment. So the measurement will be
interpretable and hardly defined.