learner variables in
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LEARNER VARIABLES IN
SECOND LANGUAGE AQUISITION
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Learner Variables in SLA1. Learners Beliefs about Language Learning2. Learners Affective States
Anxiety
Self-Esteem Self-efficacy Willingless to communicate Inhibition Risk Taking Empathy
3. Age
4. Language Aptitude5. Learning Styles
Field Dependence-Independence Left and Right Brain Dominance Ambiguity Tolerance Reflectivity and Impulsitivity Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Styles
6. Motivation Integrative Instrumental Resultative Intrinsic and Extrinsic
7. Personality
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Abraham and Vann (1987) found some evidence thatbeliefs might affect learning outcomes in a case study of
two learners. Gerardo believed that paying conscious attention to grammar was
important, while Pedro did not and expressed a strong dislike ofmeta-language. Also, Gerardo thought that it was important topersevere in communicating, while Pedro considered topicabandonment the best strategy in some cases. Abraham and Vann
characterize Gerardos philosophy of language learning as broadand Pedros as narrow. They suggest that this might havecontributed to Gerardos better TOEFL score (523 v. 473) at theend of a course of instruction. Pedro, however, did better o a test ofspoken English, which might suggest that different views aboutlanguage learning result in different kinds of success .
Learners beliefs are also likely to be influenced by general factorssuch as personality and cognitive style as Abraham and Vanns(1987) model of L2 learning suggest.
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Little, Singleton, and Silvius (1984) surveyed randomsamples of undergraduate and postgraduate students of
foreing languages at Trinity College, Dublin.
They found that past experience, both of education in general andof language learning in particular, played a major role in shaping
attitudes to language learning (1990:14) For example, the students stated that they prefered to learn by
production activities (repeating orally and writing) rather than
through receptive activities involving listening and reading.
Litte and Singleton claim that this belief reflected the general nature
of the instruction they had experienced.
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2) Learners Affective States
Understanding how human beings feel and respond andbelieve and value is exceedingly important aspect of atheory of SLA.(Brown, H. Douglas,1941)
Learners need to feel secure and to be free of stressbefore they can focus on the learning task.
One of the beginner learners of German that Ellis and Rathbone(1987) studied reported a period during which she was unable tolearn any German because of a boyfriend problem. These andother studies testify to the complexity and dynamic nature oflearners affective states and the influence these have on their
ability to concentrate on learning .
It is not easy to study the role that affective states play inL2 learning in a systematic manner, because they are soindividualistic and changeable .
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Anxiety:Anxiety plays a major affective role in SLA. Even thoughwe all know what anxiety is and we all have experienced feeling of
anxiousness, anxiety is still not easy to define in a simple sentence.Spielberger (1983, p.1) defined anxiety as the subjective feeling oftension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with anarousal of the autonomic nervous system. More simple put,anxiety isassociated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt,apprehension or worry (Scovel,1978, p. 134).
The research on anxiety suggests that anxiety, like self-esteem, canbe experienced ar various levels (Horwitz, 2001; Oxford, 1999).
Trait anx iety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious, itis the deepest or global and it is best viewed as an aspect ofpersonality.
State anx iety can be defined as apprehension that is experienced at aparticular moment in time as a response to a definite situation (Spielberger,1983).
Situat ion-specif ic anxiety consists of the anxiety which is aroused by aspecific type of situation or event such aspublic speaking, examinations orclass participation.
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Language anxiety is a part of situation-specific anxiety and it has 3
components; communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of
negative social evaluation.
Studies conclude that foreing language anxiety can be distinguishedfrom other types of anxiety and that it can have a negative effect on
the language learning process (Maclntyre & Gardner, 1991c,p.112).We should also know the diffirence between debi l i tat iveand
faci l i tat iveanxiety (Albert and Haber, 1960; Scovel, 1978), or
Oxford (1999) called harmful and helpfu l anxiety. In Baileys (1983) study of competitiveness and anxiety in second
language learning, facilitative anxiety was one of the keys to
success, closely related to competitiveness.
Too much and too litte anxiety may hinder the process of successful
second language learning.
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Self-Esteem:It expresses an attitude of approval ordisapproval, and indicates the extent to which individuals
believe themselves to be capable, significant, sucessful and
worthy. In short, self-esteem is a personal judgement of
worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that individuals
hold toward themselves (Coopersmith, 1967, pp. 4-5).
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3) Age
There is a widely-held lay belief that younger L2 learners generallydo better than older learners. This is supported by the ctitical period
hypothesis, according to which there is a fixed span of years during
which language learning can take place naturally and effortlessly,
and after which it is not possible to be completely successful.
The effects o f age on the acquis i ton of n at ive-speaker prof ic iency
This is the crucia l quest ion for the cr i t ica l per iod hypo thesis. In Neufelds(1978) study, 20 adult native speakers of English were given 18 hours of
intensive intruction in the pronunciation of Chinese and Japanese. To test
the nativeness of their pronunciation, the learners were given an imitationtest and their utterances judged on a five-point scale by native speakers
of the two languages.Nine and eight of the subjects were rated as native
for Japanese and Chinese respectively. This study suggest, therefore, thatunder the right conditions adults can achieve native ability in
pronunciation-the area of language generally considered to be the most
difficult for adults to acquire. However, his study has been strongly
criticized by the supporters of the critical period hypothesis.
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Some General Conclusions
1. Adult learners have an initial advantage where rate of learning is
concerned, particularly in grammar. They will eventually be overtaken by
child learners who receive enough exposure to the L2.
2. Only child learners are capable of acquiring a native accent in informal
learning context.
3. Children may be more likely to acquire a native grammatical
competence. The critical period for grammar may be later than for
pronunciation( around 15 years). Some adult learners, however, may
succeed in acquiring native level of grammatical accuracy in speech and
writing and even full linguistic competence.
4. Irrespective of whether native-speaker proficiency is achieved, childrenare more likely to reach higher levels of attainment in both pronunciation
and grammar than adults.
5. The process of acquiring an L2 grammar is not substantially affected by
age, but that of acquiring pronunciation may be.
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4) Language Aptitude
Language aptitude can be defined as capability of learning atask, which depends on some combination of more or lessenduring characteristics of the learner. (Carroll, 1981)
The general claim that language aptitude constitues a
relevant factor in L2 aquisition entails, in Carrolls view, a
number of more specific claims. The first one; aptitude is separate from achievement.
The second one; aptitude must be shown to be seperate from
motivation.
The third one; aptitude must be seen as stable factor, perhaps
even innate.(Learners aptitude is difficult to alter throug training.) The fourth one; aptitude is to be viewed not as a prerequisite for
L2 aquisition.
Finally, aptitude must be found to be distinct from general
intelligence .
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The two main instruments used to measure aptitude were
developed in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) (Carroll and Sapon, 1959)
The Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB) (Pimsleur, 1966)
Other less well-known aptitude tests include the Defence Language
Aptitude Battery( Petersen and Al-Haik, 1976) and The York
Language Aptitude Test(Green,1975).
Carroll (1965) identified four factors in language aptitude:
1. Phonemic coding ability (foreign sounds, spell and handle sound-
symbol relationships).
2. Grammatical sensitivity (the grammatical functions of words insentences).
3. Inductive language learning ability (patterns of correspondence and
relationships involving form and meaning).
4. Rote learning ability (form and remember associations between stimuli)
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5) Learning Styles
Learning styles might be thought of ascognitive, affective, and physiological traitsthat are relatively stable indicators of how
learners perceive, interact with, and
respond to the learning environment(Keefe, 1979, p.4).
Individuals show general tendecies toward
one style or another, but differing contextswill evoke differing styles in the same
individual.
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Field Dependence:tendect to be dependent on thetotal field so that the parts embedded within the field are
not easily perceived, although that total field is perceived
more clearly as a unified whole. (Field Sensitivity)
Development of a field dependent style has possitive
effects; you perceive the whole picture, the larger view,
the general configuration of a problem or idea or event.
Both of FI and FD are necessary for the most of the
cognitive and affective problems we face.
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Field Dependence/
Independence Field Independence:ability to perceive a
particular, relevant item or factor in a fieldof distracting items. Find the hidden monkeys in the trees.
FI style enables you to distinguish partsfrom a whole, to concentrate on somethinglike reading a book in a noisy train station.
But, too much FI may result in cognitive
tunnel vision: you see only the parts andnot their relation to the whole. You cant see the forest for the trees.
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FI and FDs Role in SLA
There are two conflicting hypotheses haveemerged.
The first hypotheses support that FI is closelyrelated to classroom learning that involves
analyis, attention to details and mastering ofexercises, drills and other focused activities.And ,they provided evidence of superiority of a FI stylefor second language success.
Abraham (1985) found that second language learnerswho were FI performed better in deductive lessons,while those with FD styles were more successful withinductive lesson designs.
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The second of the conflicting hypotheses proposes that a
FD style will, by virtue of its assosiation with empathy,social outreach and perception of other people, yield
successful learning of the communicative aspects of a
second language
The two hypotheses are paradoxical: How could FDbe most important on the one hand and FI equally important? The anwer is both sytles are important. Depending upon the context of
learning, individual learners can vary their utilizationof FI or FD . If a task
requires FI, individuals may ivoke a FI style; if it requires FD, they may
ivoke a FD style.
In SLA, it may be incorrect to assume that learners should be
either FI or FD.
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Left and Right Brain
Dominance As the childs brain matures, various functions
become lateralized to the left or right hemisphere.
The left hemisphere is associated with logical,analytical thought, with mathematical and linearprocessing of information.
The right hemisphere perceives and remembersvisual, tactile, and auditory images; it is moreefficient in processing holistic, integrative, andemotional information.
Despite the diffirences between left and right brain,it is important to remember that the left and righthemispheres operate together as a team.
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Krashen, Seliger, and Hartnett (1974) found support for
the hypothesis that left-brain-dominant learnersappeared to be more successful in an inductiveclassroom environment.
Stevick (1982) concluded that left-brain-dominant secon
language learners are better at producing separatewords, gathering the specifics of language, carrying outsequences of operations and dealing with abstraction,classification, labeling and reorganization.Right-brain-dominant learners, on the other hand, appear to dealbetter with whole images, with generalizations, withmetaphors, and with emotional reactions and artisticexpressions.
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Left and right-brain characterictis(adapted from Torrance,1980)
Left-Brain Dominance Intellectual
Remembers names
Responds to verbal instructions andexplanations
Experiments systematically andwith control
Makes objective judgements
Planned and structured Prefers established, certain
information
Analytic reader
Reliance on language in thinkingand remembering
Prefers talking and writing
Prefers multiple-choice test
Controls feelings
Not good at interpreting bodylanguage
Rarely uses metaphors
Favors logical problem solving
Right-Brain Dominance Intuitive
Remembers faces
Responds to demonstrated, illustrated, orsymbolic instructions
Experiments randomly and with lessrestraint
Makes subjective jugments
Fluid and spontanneous Prefers elusive, uncertain information
Synthesizing reader
Reliance on images in thinking andremembering
Prefers drawing and manipulating objects
Prefers open-ended questions
More free with feelings Good at interpreting body language
Frequently uses metaphors
Favors intuitive problem solving
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Ambiguity Tolerance
Some people are open-minded in acceptingideologies and events and facts that contradicttheir own views; we can say that they areambiguity tolerant.
Others, more close-minded and dogmatic, tendto reject items that are contradictory with theirexisting system;we can say that they areambiguity intolerant.They wish to see every
proposition fit into an acceptable place in theircognitive organization, and if it does not fit, it isrejected.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Being
Tolerant
In second language learning, a great amount of
apparently contradictory information is encountered:
words that differ from native language
rules that not only differ but that are internally inconsistent because of
certain exceptions sometimes a whole cultural system that is distant from that of the native
culture.
Succesful language learning necessitates tolerance of
such ambiguities.
However, too much tolerance of ambiguity can have a
detrimental effect. People can become wishy-washy,accepting everything without looking they are
meaningful or not.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Intolerant
A certain intolerance at an optimal level prevents
learners from wishy-washiness.
But intolerance can close the mind too soon, ifambiguity is perceived as a threat; the result is
rigid, dogmatic and brittle mind that is too narrow to
be creative.
This may be particularly harmful in secondlanguage learning.
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Reflectivity and Impulsitivity
If a learner tends to make slow and more calculateddecisions,s/he is a reflectivelearner.
If s/he tends to make either a quick or gambling guess at an
answer to a problem, s/he is an impu ls ivelearner.
It has been found that children who are conceptually
reflective tend to make fewer errors in reading than impulsive
children (Kagan, 1965); however, impulsive persons are
usually faster readers, and eventually master the
psycholinguistic guessing game(Goodman, 1970) of readingso that their impulsive style of reading may not necessarily
deter comprehension.
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Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic
Styles Another dimension of learning style is the preference that learners showtoward either visual, auditory, and kinesthetic input.
Visuallearners tend to prefer reading and studying charts, drawings and othergraphic information.
Auditorylearners prefer listening to lectures and audiotapes.
Kinestheticlearners will show a preference for demonstrations and physicalactivity involving bodily movement.
In one study of adult learners of ESL, Joy Reid (1987) found some significantcross -cultu ral dif ferencesin visual and auditory styles.Among Reidsresults; Korean students were significantly more visually oriented thannative English-speaking Americans ; Japanese students were the leastauditory students, significantly less auditorily inclined than Chinese andArabic students.
The researches on learning styles prods us as teachers to help students firstof all to take charge of their language learning process-to becomeautonomous learners, and then to become aware of their styles,preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and finally to take appropriateaction on their second language learning challenges.
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6) Motivation
Behavioristic Cognitive Constructivist
Anticipation of reward
Desire to receive
positive reinforcement
External, individual
forces in control
Driven by basic human
needs (exploration,
manipulation, etc.)
Degree of effortexpended
Internal, individual
forces in control
Social context
Community
Social status
Security of groups
Internal, interactiveforces in control
Three views of motivation
Motivation is something that can, like self-esteem, be global, situational, ortask-oriented. Learning a foreign language requires some of all three levels of
motivation.
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Instrumental and Integrative
Orientations According to Gardners socio-educational model,
an integrat ive orientat ioninvolves an interest inlearning an L2 because of a sincere and personalinterest in the people and culture represented bythe other language group(Lambert 1974:98). It
contrasts with an instrumental or ientat ion, whichconcerns the practical value and advantages oflearning a new language.
Orientation, however, is not the same asmotivation, which is defined by Gardner aseffort + desire to achieve the goal of learning the language
+favourable attitudes towards learning the language(1985:10).
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Thus, whereas orientation refers tothe underlying reasons for studying an
L2, motivation refers to the directed
effort individual learners make to learnthe language.
According to Gardner, orientation and L2
achievement are only indirectly related,but
motivation and achievement are directly related.
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Resultative Motivation
Gardner (1985) claims that motivation constitutes a causativevariable, altough he is also prepared to accept that some
modifications of learnes attitudes can arise as a resu lt ofpos i t ive learning exper iences, particularly in courses of a
short duration.
Other studies suggest that learners motivation is stronglyaffected by their achievement.
Resultative Hypothesis claims that learners who do well aremore likely to develop motivational intensity and to be active
in the classroom.
A high level of motivation does stimulate learning, butperceived success in achieving L2 goals can help to maintain
existing motivation and even create new types.
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Motivation Edward Deci (1975, p. 23) defined in t r ins ic mot ivation:
Intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparentreward except the activity itself. People seem to engage in theactivities for their own sakeand not because they lead to an extrinsicreward...Intrinsically motivated behaviours are aimed at bringing aboutcertain internally rewarding consequences, namely, feelings ofcompetence and self-determintion.
On the other hand, extr insic mo t ivat ionis fueld by the anticipationof reward from outsideand beyond the self. Typical extrinsicrewards are money, prizes, grades and even certain types ofpositive feedback.
Which form of motivation is more powerful? Maslow (1970) claimed that intrinsic motivation is clearly superior to
extrinsic. According to his hierarchy of needs, motivation is dependent onthe satisfaction first of fundemmental physical necessities (air,water,food), then of community, security, identity and self esteem, thefulfillment of which finally leads to self-actualization.
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7) Personality
In the eyes of many language teachers, thepersonality of their students constitutes a majorfactor contributing to success or failure in languagelearning. Moreover, there are dozens of tests andquestionnaires designed to tell about personality.
Among those tests, the widely popular one is theMyers-Briggs test(Myers, 1962). Borrowing fromsome of Carl Jungs (1923) types, the Myers-Briggs team tested four dichotomous styles offunctioning in the Myers-Briggs test:
Introversion vs. extroversion
Sensing vs. intuition
Thinking vs. feeling
Judging vs. perceiving
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Extroversion vs.Introversion
Extravertsare sociable, like parties, havemany friends and need excitement; they are
sensation-seekers and risk-takers, like
practical jokes and lively and active.
Introvertsare quiet, prefer reading to
meeting people, have few but close friends
and usually avoid excitement. (Eysenck andChan,1982:154)
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There are two hypotheses regarding the relationship
between extroversion/introversion and L2 learning.
The first one is that extroverted learners will do better inacquiring basic interpersonal communication skills. The
rationale for this hypothesis is that sociability will result in
more opportunities to practice, more input, and more
success in communicating in the L2. The second hypothesis is that introverted learners
typically enjoy more academic success, perhaps because
they spend more time reading and writing (Griffiths
1991b).
Which one are you?
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THANKS FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
Presented by Gamze GNE
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