a a a al a a al a a a al a a a a a i ce = a al a Individual differences in L2 acquisition So far we have been concerned with describing and explaining the tiniversal aspects of L2 acquisition—the main concern of SLA. However, SLA also acknowledges that there are individual differ- tences in L2 acquisition, We have seen that social factors to do swith the context of learning have an effect on how successful indi vidual L2 learners are, and possibly on how interlanguage devel- ops as well. We will now examine a number of psychological dimensions of difference. These dimensions are many and various. Affective factors such, asleacners’ personalities can influence the degree of anxiety they experience and their preparedness to take risks in learning and Learners’ preferced ways of learning (theit ‘learning, styles’) may influence theic overall orientation to the learning task and the kind of input (for example, spoken or written) they find it siest to work with, We will focus on two of the major dimer Sions here—language aptitude and motivation—and also explore how differences in learning strategies can affect development. using an L Language aptitude Ichas been suggested that people differ in the extent to which they possess a natural ability for learning an L2. This ability, known as language aptitude, is believed to bein part relared to general intelli: gence but also to be in part distinct. Early work by John Carroll led to the identification of a num- ber of components of language aptitude. These ae: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN L2 ACQUISITION74 «Phonemic coding ability, ue. the ability to identify the sounds of a foreign language so that they can be remembered later. This ability is also seen as related to the ability 10 handle sound-symbol relationships (for example, to identify the sound which th’ stands for). Grammatical sensitivity, i. che ability to recognize the gram mati ple the sub- funecions of words in sentences (for ex ject and object of a sentence). Inductive language learning ability, i. the ability to identify patierns of correspondence and relations between form and meaning (for example, to recognize that in English “co” can denote direction and ‘at location). 4 Rote learning ability, ie. the ability to form and remember associations between stimuli. This is believed to be important in vocabulary learning, Research involving language apticude has focused on whether and to what extent language apritude is related to success in {2 learning. There is strong evidence that itis. Learners who score highly on Lang ly learn rapidly and achieve higher levels of L2 proficiency than learners who obtain low scores. Furthermore, research has shown that this isso whether the measure of L2 proficiency is some kind of formal language test or a measure of more communicative language rage aptitude tests typi Most of the research on the relationship between language aptitude and 12 proficiency took place in the r950s and r960s and, therefore, predates the birth of SLA. From an SLA perspec- tive the key question is: How does language aptitude relate to the processes of interlanguage development? One interesting, pos- bility is thar different components of language aptitude may be implicated in different stages of processing. Phonemic coding ability would seem cclevant to the processing of input, gram- matical sensitivity and inductive language learning ability to the central processing, stages involving interlanguage constcuction, and memory to the storage and access of language. However, such a proposal, while interesting, remains speculative. HE Mm MOM MMs Men ey a ii i ia ia aa aa ran: Motivation cae Whereas language aptitude concerns the cognitive abilities that uisition, motivation involves the atti underlie successful [2 ac tudes and affective scares that influence the degree of effort thar learners make fo learn an L2. Various kinds of motivation have . heen identified; instrumental, integrative, resultative, and intrinste ca a = Instrumental motivation a eigenen: a tion seems to be the major force determining success in L2 learn eh hci Selle encase where a Integrative motivation 3, Some learners may choose to learn a particular L2 because they ily are interested in the people and culeure represented by the target- Language group. For example ttsthisinegrativeoricheation that ris __underis the motivation that many English speaking Canadians hii hhave for learning French. However, in other learning contexts, an © integrative motivation does not scm to be 2 important In ac, a inone study, it was found that less imtegratively oriented Mexican qe tomenin fora were more ces ering Enh fo than thove who were more itegratively oriented. This led the c researchers who carried cut this rd to suggest that some leara a. cers may be influenced by a ‘Machiavellian motivation’—che os sie lea the L? in order to manipulate and overcome the aie people of the target language. Such a view is compatible wich Pearce’ ideas about the role of social demity in 12 learning (see pave 4 he a... Resultative motivation rer, An assumption of the research referred to above is that motiva- tion is the cause of L2 achievement. However, itis also possible that motivation is the result of learning. That is, learners who experience success in learning may become more, or in some INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN L2 ACQUISITION 7: a a a a -contexts, less motivated ro learn. This helps 10 explain the con- flicting research results. Ina context like Canada, success in learn- ing French may intensify English-speaking learners’ liking, for Freach culture. However, in California success in learning Ld ta ti 1 ! i English may bring Mexican women into situations where they a experience discrimination and thus reduce theie appreciation of a i motivation Hs In some learning situations, it may not be learners’ general fia reasons for learning an L2 that are crucial in determining theie a4 motivation. Indeed, it i= possible chat many learners do. not {? hold distinct attiudes, positive or negative, towards the target | language group. Such is probably the case with many foreign: = language learners. It does not follow, however, that such leacner od are unmotivated. They may find the kinds of learning tasks they (a are asked to do intrinsically motivating, According to this view, na motivation involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and C can ebb and flow as a result of such factors as learners’ particular : interests and the extent to which they leel personally involved ia l learning activities. : 2 Motivation is clearly a highly complex phenomenon. These four types of motivation should be seen as complementary rather than as distinct and oppositional. Learners can be both integra I tively and instrumentally motivated at one and the same time. ! 1 Motivation ‘can sult from learning as well as cause it Er Furthermore, motivation is dynamic in mature; it isnot something us that a learner has or does aot have but rather something that L. varies from one moment to the next depending on the learning =i context or task EL Learning strategies I Language aptitude and motivation constitute general factors that influence the rate and level of L2 achievement. But how does theic influence operate? One possibility is that they affect the nature and the feequency with which individual learners use learning strategies. Leaming strategies arc the particular approaches or techniques rn trim: 76 survey |ea a that learners employ to fry to learn an L2. They can be behav soural (for example, repeating new words aloud to help you remember them) or they ean be mental (for example, using the lin guistic or situational context to infer the meaning of a new word}. They are rypically problem-oriented. That is, learners employ when they are faced with some problem, such learning strate as how to remember a new word. Learners are gencrally aware of the strategies they use and, when asked, can explain whatthey did ro wy co earn something. Different kinds of learning steategics have been identified ‘Cognitive strategies are those that are involved in the analysis, syathesis, oF transformation of learning materials, An example is -ecombination’, which involves constructing » meaningful sen. tence by recombining known elements of the L2 in a new way Mecacognitive steategies are those involved in planning, monitor: ing, and evaluating learning. An example is ‘selective attention’, where the learner makes a conscious decision to attend to parcicu- lar aspects of the input. Socialfaffective steategies concern the swaysin which learners choose ro interact with other speakers. An example is ‘questioning for clarification’ (i.e. asking for eepeti tion, paraphrase, or an example) ‘There have been various attempts to discover which strategies are impoctant for L2 acquisition. One way is to investigate how ‘good language learners’ try to learn. This involves identi learners who have been successful in learning an L2 and intes viewing them to ind out the strategies hat worked for them. One of the main findings of such studies is that successful language learners pay attention to both form and meaning. Good language learners are also very active (ie. they use strategies for taking charge of their own learning), show awareness of the learning process and their own personal leaning styles and, above all ace flexible and appropriate in their use of learning strategies. They scem to be especially adept a using metacognitive strategies Other studies have sought to relate learners’ reported use of di es 10 their L2 proficiency to try co fad out which secategies are important for language development. Such studies have shown, aor surprisingly, that successful learnees use more strategies than unsuccessful learners. They have also showa that different strategies are related to different aspects of L2 learning, INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN L2 ACQUISETION“Thus, strategies that involve formal. practice (for example, rehearsing a new word) contribute to the development of linguis- tic competence whereas strategies involving functional practice (focexample, secking out native speakers to talk to) aid the devel ‘opment of communicative skills. Successtul learners may also call ‘on different strategies at different stages of their development However, there is the problem with how to interpret this research. Does strategy use result in learning or does learning, increase learners’ ability to employ more strategies? At che ‘An obvious question concerns how these learning steategies relate to the general kinds of psycholinguistic processes discussed in Chapter 6. What strategies are involved in noticing or noticing the gap, for example? Unfortunately, however, no attempt has yet bbeen made to incorporate the various learning seratey been identified into a model of psycholinguistic processing. The approach to date has been simply to describe strategies and quan. tily their use The study of learning strategies is of potential value to language teachers. If those strategies that are crucial for learning can be identified, ie may prove possible ro train students to use them. We will examine this idea in the broader context ofa discussion of the role of instruction in L2. acquisition. hath. 78 suRveY idl lat tals a ~_ A |