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SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

Name and surname: Maricella Guzmán Murcia

Juan Guillermo Valencia Molina
Natalia Santamaría Peña

Group: 2019-06
Date: February 28th, 2020.

Assignment

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Index

Assingment. .................................................................................................................. 3

Contextualization .......................................................................................................... 3

Questionnaire Proposal ................................................................................................ 4

Justification of questionnaire ......................................................................................... 7

Question 1................................................................................................................ 7

Question 2................................................................................................................ 8

Question 3................................................................................................................ 8

Question 4................................................................................................................ 9

Question 5................................................................................................................ 9

Question 6................................................................................................................ 9

Question 7.............................................................................................................. 10

Question 8.............................................................................................................. 10

Question 9.............................................................................................................. 10

Question 10............................................................................................................ 11

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 11

References ................................................................................................................. 12

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Assignment instructions:

Design a questionnaire to retrieve information on a group of students and their learning

needs.

The assignment has to include the following sections:

a) Description of the context the questionnaire is designed for (institution,

characteristics of the course, number of students, etc.).
b) Questionnaire proposal.
c) Justification of questionnaire design: all the questions included in the
questionnaire must be justified regarding the group of students it is designed for
and the contents covered in “Individual factors in the learner’s development”.

Contextualization

The individual factors in the learner development show that there are many
characteristics under three main headings: cognitive, affective and physical and
psychological. They are quite important for being taken into account when teachers
assess the learning process of a SLA - Second Language Acquisition learner.
Nowadays, learning a second language is something that a great number of
people are trying to achieve with the reason that it allows them to get different
benefits, such as: travelling to work in their dream job, earn a better salary, to get to
know historical places abroad and so on. on the other hand, teachers think that to
enroll the students and motivate them through a dynamic process it is important to
have the right learning environment because factors, such as: age, sex, culture,
aptitude and even learning styles might influence their motivation which is known as
one of the most important factors when it comes to second language acquisition
process.
The following questionnaire aims to find out the learning needs of some high
schoolers which belong to the educational institution Jairo Morera
Jairo Morera is a monolingual educational institution which is located in the
south of Neiva (Huila - Colombia). It is worth mentioning that this area is highly
vulnerable in terms of social unrest, and local government indifference that
unquestionably affect these adolescents regarding their affective factor, their
physical and psychological wellbeing and therefore their academic performance in
the English subject. Due to these horrifying circumstances only a small number of
students from these neighborhoods attends regularly to school. Approximately 400
students from 10 to 18 years divided in 11 different school levels (three 6th grades,
three 7th grades, two 8th grades, one 9th grade, one 10th grade and one 11th
grade).

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The instrument designed to collect these data is a multiple choice

questionnaire that provides question-based content. Likewise, this material is mainly
focused on the search to recognize in the learners the real and concrete way in
which they establish, classify, interpret and manage their own learning process.
Finally, it uncovers the kind of meaningful learning strategies that are
required to help overcome students' lack of motivation to learn and identifies
learning needs taking into account their age, gender, grade and cultural awareness
will bring the teacher much closer to the individual factors of each of the learners.

Questionnaire

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _____________________

Age: ___________________ Grade: _________________ gender: _______________

Questions Responses

1. When you are learning a. Visual or spatial: learns best if there are
new information about any visual aids around to guide the learning
theme, which is the process.
learning style which b. Kinesthetic: Learns best by doing
describes you the best? something.
c. Musical (rhythmic): Learns better using
melody or rhythm.
d. linguistic (verbal): Learns best through
linguistic skills, like: reading, writing,
listening o
e. Naturalist: Learns best by working with
and experiencing nature.
f. Logical (mathematical): Learns better
when classify or categorize things.
g. Interpersonal: Learns better when relating
to others.
h. Intrapersonal: As opposed to
interpersonal, he learns best if they are
alone.

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2. Do you feel motivated of

participating in your English
class activities? If you a. Yes b. No

don’t . Feel free to say why.

Because ________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________.

3. Which learning resources a. Audio recordings.

do you like the best in your b. Websites and mobile apps.
English class? c. Worksheets and photocopies
d. Multimedia resources and digital or interactive
boards

4. Which activity do you a. Watching series on YouTube

enjoy the most outside your b. Listening to music
English class for practicing c. Talking to foreigners through mobile apps
what you have learned yet? d. Reading fiction or nonfiction books

5. In my English class, I like a. In group

to work: b. in pair
c. alone

6. According to your own 1. Very hard

level of English learning
2. Hard
experience, number the
statements in the following 3. A bit hard

way: 4. Easy

a. Reading comprehension 5. Pretty easy

activities ____

b. Listening comprehension

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and filling up gaps ____

c. Writing up essays,
paragraphs, stories, and so
on _____

d. Talking about real

themes and telling
anecdotes. _____

e. Working with peers (in

pairs or groups).

7. How often do you revise a. always

and practice all the themes
covered during your b. usually

English class?
c. now and then

d. hardly-ever

e. never

8. What type of strategies a. Memory, because you retrieve vocabulary,

do you use when acquiring expressions, structures and so on quickly when
your target language? necessary.

b. Cognitive because you have the ability to analyze,

make comparisons and summarize at ease.

c. Affective because you can work in groups easily

and get along well with your classmates when working
on any assignment.

9. Do you feel comfortable a. Always

to ask any question to your
teacher when you do not b. often

understand something in

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your English class? c. sometimes

d. never

10. If you are practicing a. Use a mobile application for recording, and keep all
pronunciation, intonation the evidences possible in order to socialize to your
and phonetics. Which teacher and peers as well.
activity do you carry out?
b. Listen to news, podcasts, audio books and
recordings as a practical and real model to produce a
comprehensible speech.

c. Use browsers, websites or social networks to

communicate with English speakers and thus have more
confidence and peace of mind when relating sounds ,
correct pronunciation and intonation.

d. Listen to song tracks in English, in order to retrieve

sounds, examples of intonation, phonetics and
pronunciation.

Justification of questionnaire

1. When you are learning new information about any theme, which is the
learning style which describes you the best?

According to a number of factors, many educational researchers have

sought to establish the different ways in which students learn. For this reason, Keefe
(1979) is quoted as saying that one of these factors, learning styles, is widely
described as cognitive, affective and physiological traits that are relatively stable
indicators of how students perceive, interact and respond to the learning
environment.
That is why this question is based on learning styles, because each teacher
should identify the predominant learning style of each of his or her students, so that
their teaching sessions involve various activities that respond broadly to the

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interests and characteristics of their learners. Also, this makes it easier for teachers
to find the difference between cognitive style and academic performance, because
from every point of view it indicates that there is awareness of each student's
particular way of understanding, and in fact promotes the understanding and
satisfactory development of the proposed activities. Within the questionnaire, this
particular question is of great importance because it allows the learner to recognize
his/her own styles of accessing knowledge and to understand the learning styles of
the other ones as well. It also invites the teacher to be much more dynamic in
planning, developing and evaluating processes so that the variety of materials and
methodology in the classroom is recognized as inclusive, dynamic and interactive.

2. Do you feel motivated of participating in your English class activities? If

you don’t. Feel free to say why.

This question is based on the concept of motivation. Motivation conceived

from the extrinsic aspect but at the same time intrinsic. Prinzi (2007) postulated that
there is a very close relationship between motivation and the learning of a second
language. "With low motivation, students can sit around and miss out on valuable
learning experiences. This can limit their success and that can lead to greater
frustration and loss of even greater motivation." On the other hand, Gardner (1985)
defines motivation in second language learning as "the extent to which the individual
works or strives to learn the language because of the desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in this activity. It is clear that motivation is not an easy
concept to explain, but it is evident that a learner who is motivated to learn a second
language has characteristics such as: desire, challenge, optimism, commitment,
discipline and, mainly they have awareness of their own cognitive processes
because their main goal is to achieve their established objectives.

3. Which learning resources do you like the best in your English class?

This question was made taking into account the cognitive factor and the
aptitude that every individual has to get into languages , the cognitive style that
everyone had will lead us to identify by their own process which learning tendencies
are the students best for (visual, auditory , kinesthetic, tactile) Reid (1087) and also
distinguish the differences between cognitive style and academic achievement
according to that we will prefer some resources to get along with different topics

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during the language learning . so the information taken from this question will allows
to identify which is the best resources according to each individual.

4. Which activity do you enjoy the most outside your English class for
practicing what you have learned yet?

This question help us to collect information referring to out of class learning

strategies the target with students that are taking language courses is to wake up
the motivation to them to take what they have learned outside the English
classroom.
So this question could give us an idea about levels of motivation of practicing
outside classroom and also according with what are the preferences to students to
learn that will helps us to identify strategies to get those levels up and implement
strategies of training with the students and impact positively their process of
learning.

5. In my English class, I like to work:

This question aims to find out how important it is the social environment and
the development of social skills around a second language acquisition to the
students and also the affective influence that is having this decision of how to work
and the strategies that the individuals are taking into the process.
Its important to analyze and verify how the students are taking the learning
process to practice what they have learn and be aware that using the right strategies
of learning will give them better results and that could impact in a better way their
motivation to improve every time much more.

6. According to your own level of English learning experience, number the

statements in the following way:

a. Reading comprehension activities ____

b. Listening comprehension and filling up gaps ____

c. Writing up essays, paragraphs, stories, and so on _____

d. Talking about real themes and telling anecdotes. _____

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e. Working with peers (in pairs or groups).

This question will assess every skill that is developed and their own perception
about every single of them according to their individual process taking into
account the answers and the personality factors and age hypothesis and also
the psychological theories of motivation that are applying to each of them.

7. How often do you revise and practice all the themes covered during your
English class?

According to the training strategy we as teachers can help our students to

become more self- dependent through task, data and explanation in order to acquire
the skills and knowledge necessary to become more autonomous learners. The
main aim of training strategy is fostering of students' autonomy in their own learning:
learners should be trained to learn on their own without the physical presence of the
teacher. One of the tasks of the language teacher is to help the student to learn
more happily and effectively. Teachers should devote part of their teaching time to
making students aware of why certain things will help them in their learning, and
why others will not. Students will feel responsible for their own learning if they
understand how the learning process works.

8. What type of strategies do you use when acquiring your target language?

Recent research has revealed the importance of learning strategies in

second language learning. Because they contribute to develop the communicative
competence and allow student to become more self- directed and autonomous.
According to Ellis: Learning strategies are the particular approaches that
learners employ to try to learn a L2 They can be behavioral (for example repeating
new words aloud to help you remember them) or they can be mental (using the. The
linguistic or situational context to infer the meaning of a new word). They are
typically problem oriented. That is, learners employ learning strategies when they
are faced with some problem, such as how to remember a new word. Learners are
generally aware of the strategies they use and, when they asked, can explain what
they did to try and learn something.

9. Do you feel comfortable to ask any question to your teacher when you

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do not understand something in your English class?

In the process of a second language acquisition, speaking skill can be

frustrating to some students. The students who do not have the motivation
towards learning might not activate affective strategy features. However, with
positive attitudes, they may employ various kinds of affective strategies.
According to McGroarty attitudes will lead to greater language success if they are
accompanied by affective learning strategies and that allowed the students to take
an advantage of instructional opportunities. These techniques help students
achieve better control over their emotions and attitudes toward the language
learning process.

10. If you are practicing pronunciation, intonation and phonetics. Which

activity do you carry out?

Motivation plays a key role in second language learning, this is because if a

student is not motivated for learning something of his interest will not take place in
his mind at ease. That is why we as teachers should try to motivate our students as
much as possible. So, we must trend to look for different ways of doing it so. Also
we have to take into account other aspects such as students’ interests, lacks and
needs according to their ages.
The proposed communicative skills that we stated were established due to
the necessity of those learners to communicate effectively in any setting.

Conclusions

We know that there are several factors (age, motivation, aptitude, learning
style etc..) and characteristics (personality, gender) that affects the second language
acquisition in different ways, The information collected in the questionnaire it is a
attempt to identify the personal factors that needs an improvement and the actions
that need to be taken by the teachers to cover the needs of the students and make
of the second language acquisition something grateful and enjoyable.

The results will show different conclusions according with the individual
factors that play an important role in the conclusions in order to identify those
aspects that are part of the needs of the students and the needs of the classroom as

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a whole taking into account that the social system is also playing an important role in
this development of learning and teaching a second language.

Bibliography

 Palacios, I., Gassó, E., & Ball, P. (2016). Individual Factors in the Learner’s
Development. Barcelona: Funiber.
 Ellis, R. (1986). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
 Gardner, R.C. (1979). ‘Social psychological aspects of second language
acquisition. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
 Mulalic, Almasa & Shah, Parilah & Ahmad, Fauziah. (2009). LEARNING-STYLE
PREFERENCE OF ESL STUDENTS. ASEAN Journal of Teaching & Learning
in Higher Education.
 Keefe, J. W. (1979). Learning style: An overview. In J. W. Keefe (Ed.), Student
learning styles: Diagnosing and prescribing programs (pp. 1-17). Reston, VA:
National Association of Secondary School Principals.

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