Individual

differences in
language learning
Research on learner characteristics
• Can we predict differences in the success of L2
acquisition based on learners’ general and specific
intellectual abilities, personalities, motivation, or age?
• We cannot directly observe and measure such
characteristics as motivation, extroversion, etc.
• Individual characteristics are not independent of each
other.
• Correlational research: two variables may rise or fall
in similar patterns, but this does prove that one
caused the other.
2
Research on learner characteristics
(cont.)
• Social and educational settings play a part.
– Learners who are motivated to engage with native
speakers may find themselves marginalized by
social and educational practices that limit
opportunities for interaction.
• Understanding relationships between individual
characteristics, social situations, and success in L2
learning is of great importance to researchers and
educators.

3
Language learning aptitude
• Aptitude: the ease and speed with which an individual
learns L2 (Carroll, 1991).
• Aptitude Measures
‒ Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT)
(Carroll & Sapon, 1959)
‒ Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB)
(Pimsleur, 1966)
• Both tests measure L2 learners’ ability to:
‒ identify and memorize new sounds
‒ understand functions of words in sentences
‒ figure out grammatical rules from language samples
‒ remember new words and language patterns
Language learning aptitude (cont.)
• Rote memory (ability to memorize something)
‒ Traditionally valued as important to language learning,
but one of the least effective predictors of success in
L2 learning (Doughty, 2016).
• Working memory (short-term memory)
‒ The amount of information one can process is an
important variable in predicting successful L2 learning
(Skehan, 2002).
• Language analysis
‒ The ability to recognize how linguistic elements
function and relate to each other is also a good
predictor of success (Ranta, 2002).
Language learning aptitude (cont.)
• Successful learners do not need to be equally strong in all
components of aptitude, e.g. one learner may have strong
working memory but only average abilities in language
analysis; another may have strong analytic abilities but
poorer than average working memory (Skehan, 1989).
• Matching the type of instruction (e.g. inductive/deductive;
memory-based/analytic) with learner aptitudes and
preferences can be beneficial but is not necessary for
success (e.g. Erlam, 2005).
Language learning aptitude (cont.)
• Early research (conducted when language teaching
was based on grammar translation or audiolingual
methods) revealed a substantial relationship between
performance on the MLAT or PLAB and performance
in L2 learning.
• With the introduction of communicative language
teaching, the relevance of abilities measured by
aptitude tests was questioned.
• Ongoing research confirms that working memory and
language analytic ability are correlated with L2
learning in a variety of environments.
7
Personality
• Research investigating relationships between
personality characteristics and L2 learning have
produced mixed results.
‒ Extroverted learners are more successful than
introverted learners in some studies; quiet,
observant learners succeed in some learning
situations.
Personality (cont.)
• Anxiety—feelings of worry, nervousness, and stress
that some students experience in L2 instruction—
has been extensively investigated (Horwitz, Horwitz, &
Cope, 1986).
• Research shows that anxiety may interfere with
learning, but it is context-specific and can be
overcome (Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003).
• Not all anxiety is bad; it can have a positive effect
and facilitate learning (Spielmann & Radnofsky, 2001).
Personality (cont.)
• Willingness to communicate (WTC) is associated
with anxiety and related to communicative
confidence, which is connected to a learner’s
previous contact with L2 speakers (Clément, Baker, &
MacIntyre, 2003).
• Learners’ WTC in L2 is related to their WTC in L1
(Yashima, MacIntyre, & Ikeda, 2018).
• Research to investigate WTC as it occurs in L2
classrooms is increasing.
Personality (cont.)
• Research does not show a direct relationship
between any one personality trait and L2
acquisition.
• Personality characteristics are difficult to measure.
• Personality is more related to conversational skills
than to grammatical knowledge/ability, which is
often used to assess learning.
• More qualitative research may be able to capture
the complexities of the role of personality in L2
learning.
 Attitudes and motivation
• Positive attitudes relate to a willingness to keep
learning (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003).
• Gardner and Lambert (1972) described two types of
motivation, linked to learners’ communicative needs
and attitudes to the L2 community.
‒ Integrative (personal growth)
‒ Instrumental (immediate/practical goals)
• The two types are not really distinct and
characteristics of both are associated with successful
L2 learning.
Motivation in the classroom
• Motivation is dynamic and changing both in and out of
the classroom (Dörnyei, 2001a, 2001b).
• Motivation in the classroom can change within short
periods of time (Waninge, Dörnyei, & De Bot, 2014)
• Teachers contribute to learner motivation in terms of:
‒ Classroom: creating a welcoming classroom
‒ Content: making it interesting and relevant
‒ Learning goals: challenging but manageable and
clear
‒ Atmosphere: supportive
Motivation in the classroom (cont.)
• Guilloteaux and Dörnyei (2008) investigated the links
between teachers’ motivational practices
(e.g. arousing curiosity or attention, encouraging self-
evaluation) and evidence of students’ motivation for
learning (e.g. actively participated, eagerly
volunteered during activities).
• They found significant positive correlations between
the teachers’ motivational practices, learners’
engagement behaviours, and learners’ self-report
questionnaire.
Identity, ethnic group affiliation, and
learner agency
• Power relationships affect interactions between L2
learners and target language speakers.
‒ Highly motivated immigrant ESL learners may be
reluctant to speak in situations of a power imbalance
in the workplace (Norton, 2013).
‒ Japanese L2 learners of English with high levels of
proficiency spoke with a strong Japanese accent and
intentionally produced grammatical errors so that
they would not be perceived as considering
themselves to be superior (Greer, 2000).
Identity, ethnic group affiliation, and
learner agency (cont.)
• Learners have ‘agency’. They are not passive
participants. They can be involved in choices about
content, pedagogy, and assessment practice, and
through informed use of technology inside and
outside the classroom for language learning (Larsen-
Freeman, 2019).
Learning styles
• Learning style refers to an individual’s preferred
way of learning (e.g. visual, auditory) (Reid,1995).
• Research has not found strong evidence for the
value of teaching to learning styles, or evidence
that learning styles have a neurological basis
(e.g. Dörnyei, 2005).
• No textbook or method will suit the needs
(or perceived needs) of all learners.
Learner beliefs
• L2 learners (particularly older learners) have strong
beliefs about how they learn best and what type of
instruction ‘works’ for them.
• Teachers and learners don’t always agree about
this, e.g. learners prefer to have their errors
corrected more frequently than teachers think they
should (Schultz, 2001).
• Both learners and teachers prefer ‘integrated’
grammar instruction but also see the value in
‘isolated’ instruction (Valeo & Spada, 2015).
Individual differences and classroom
instruction
Many questions remain about how individual learner
differences should influence L2 instruction.
• Teachers cannot customize instruction for each
learner.
• Teachers can:
‒ aim to provide a variety of learning opportunities
‒ encourage learners to develop flexibility in
approaching language learning
Age and L2 learning
• A common belief is that children learn languages
more easily than adults.
• Critical Period Hypothesis
‒ Young children have an innate ability to acquire
languages during a certain ‘critical’ period. After
that period, biological/neurological changes
make it difficult or impossible to achieve the
same kind of success.
‒ Older learners may depend on general learning
mechanisms that are not specific to language.
Age and L2 learning (cont.)

According to CPH, biological differences between

adults and children account for differences in
learning outcomes. However, conditions for
language learning are usually very different:
Children Adults
• more time exposed to L2 • less time exposed to L2
• no pressure to produce • pressure to produce
language language
• no pressure to produce • greater need to use more
language that is fluent or complex language
accurate
The critical period: More than just
pronunciation?
• Parents, educators and policymakers often
conclude that the earlier one begins to learn L2 in
school the better.
• However, research has revealed that evidence in
support of early learning differs depending on the
context in which the L2 is learned.
• An early start is more predictive of success in
community learning than in instructional contexts.
The critical period: More than just
pronunciation? (cont.)
• Research investigating L2 learning in a community or
‘natural’ context shows:
‒ Those who began learning L2 in early childhood
are more likely to be perceived as indistinguishable
from L1 speakers of the language.
‒ Learners who begin learning L2 before the age of
15 achieve native-like mastery of grammar
(Patkowski, 1980).
Intuitions of grammaticality
• Learners who begin L2 learning the earliest are the
most successful in making correct grammaticality
judgements (Johnson & Newport, 1979).
• Older learners with high aptitude are successful in
making correct grammaticality judgements, but no
such correlation was observed with younger
learners. This suggests that older and younger
learners learn differently (De Keyser, 2000).
• Despite advantages for younger learners, learners
who began in late adolescence often achieved the
same level of grammatical knowledge (Hartshorne,
Tenebaum, & Pinker, 2018).
Rate of learning

• Critical view of CPH research questions whether

research should assess L2 success by comparing L2
learners with (monolingual) L1 speakers:
‒ A monolingual bias denies the multi-
competence that comes from knowledge of
multiple languages (Cook, 1997).
‒ Researchers should compare L2 learners’
language with bi/multilinguals rather than
monolingual L2 speakers (Ortega, 2013).
Age and L2 instruction
• Research investigating L2 learning in instructional
contexts shows:
‒Older learners are more efficient than younger
learners: they learn faster.
‒Late starters in French as a foreign language
programs did as well as learners who began
their instruction earlier (Burstall, 1975).
‒EFL learners in Barcelona who began their
instruction later performed better on most
language measures than those who had begun
earlier, and early learners did not surpass older
learners in later school years (Muñoz, 2006).
Age and L2 instruction (cont.)
• There is little evidence that the earliest possible
start will lead to the best long-term outcomes
when it comes to L2 learning in schools (Lightbown &
Spada, 2019).
• Older learners possess greater metalinguistic
knowledge, more developed memory strategies,
and problem-solving skills that are compatible with
school learning (Muñoz, 2006).
Age and L2 instruction (cont.)
• Younger learners have a more implicit/intuitive
approach to learning.
• For implicit learning to succeed, massive amounts
of exposure to the language are needed. L2
instructional settings do not typically allow learners
enough time for their implicit/intuitive approach to
be an advantage.
(Muñoz, 2006)
Age and L2 instruction (cont.)
• Decisions about when to start L2 instruction in
schools should be based on realistic goals and on
realistic estimates of how long it takes to achieve
them.
• One or two hours a week will not produce
advanced L2 speakers, no matter how young they
were when they began.
• When the goal is basic communicative ability, older
learners may be able to make better use of the
limited time they have for L2 instruction.
Summary
• Results of research on individual differences are not
easy to interpret due to:
‒ difficulties defining and measuring them
‒ characteristics that are not independent of one
another
• Researchers are developing better ways to
investigate these complex relationships.
• In the meantime, teachers need to create a variety
of learning activities for learners with different
abilities and learning preferences.