1

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SLA

MÀSTER DE FORMACIÓ DE PROFESSORAT DE SECUNDÀRIA BATXILLERATS I EOIs

Helena Roquet Pugès Departament de Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatge

Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Oct 2013Grup d’Adquisició de Llengües des de la Catalunya Multilingüe

(ALLENCAM)

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN MULTILINGUAL CATALONIA

OUTLINE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (ID) in SLA

(Oxford, R. & Ehrman, M. 1993)

AptitudeMotivationAnxietySelf-esteemTolerance of ambiguityRisk-takingLanguage learning stylesAgeGender

Noticing hypothesis (Schmidt)

Output hypothesis (Swain)

Errors

SECOND/FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Not everyone reaches the same levels of competence in an L2:

Similarities (route of acquisition)

Individual differences (level of attainment, speed)

Aptitude

The individual may be thought of as possessing some current state of capability of learning that task. 4 independent abilities in SL (Carroll, 1981):

1. Phonetic coding ability

2. Grammatical sensitivity3. Learning ability for FL materials (the ability to learn associations

between sounds and meaning rapidly and efficiently)

4. Inductive language learning ability

Motivation

High motivation spurs learners to interact with native speakers of the L, which in turn increases the amount of input (Krashen, 1982).

Extrinsic: external reward, compulsion, outside relationships.. Instrinsic: personal satisfaction and psychic reward Integrative: to integrate oneself with the Tculture Instrumental: to get a better job or to meet a requirement

Anxiety

A state of apprehension and a vague fear (Scovel, 1978)

Facilitating anxiety: It keeps students alert Debilitating anxiety: It harms L2 learners’

performance

Self-esteem

It is a self-judgment of worth or value based on feelings of “efficacy” (White, 1959)

Positive beliefs about oneself and one’s learning ability make a definite contribution to learning success

Tolerance of ambiguity

It is the acceptance of confusing situations

When learning an L2 there is uncertainty about meanings, referents, and pronunciation, so a degree of tolerance is essential (Ely, 1989)

Risk-taking

Research indicates that it is more useful for L learners to take moderate but intelligent risks (guessing meanings based on knowledge despite making mistakes) rather than taking no risks at all or taking extreme risks.

Language learning styles

The general approaches students use to learn any subject (Oxford, Ehrman and Lavine, 1991)

Analytic/parameter (field independence, field dependence)

Sensory preferences: visual, auditory, kinesthetic

Language learning styles

Analytic/global (field independence, field dependence)

Analytic: They tend to concentrate on grammatical details and avoid more general communicative abilities

Global: They use socially interactive, communicative strategies which emphasize the main idea over details

Age

Older learners have an advantage in terms of rate of acquisition of syntax and morphology; however, ultimate fluency and native-like pronunciation in a new language are acquired better among those who start learning it as children (Scarcella, Oxford, 1992)

Age

Adults proceed more rapidly through the initial stages of syntactic and morphological development than children but not at the later stages, and they often experience fossilization –the permanent cessation of S/F L development (Selinker, 1972)

Gender

Research indicates that women used more learning strategies than men and use them more often (Oxford, Nykos and Ehrman (1988)

Instructional implications ?

AptitudeMotivationAnxietySelf-esteemTolerance of ambiguityRisk-takingLanguage learning stylesAgeGender

Instructional implications ?

Motivation

Do everything to heighten L2 learning motivation:

Materials and tasks communicative, exciting, relevant, challenging, stimulating, and presented according learning styles

Instructional implications ?

Anxiety

Do everything to reduce anxiety

Avoidance of overcorrection, intimidation, sarcasm, rewards, fair testing, cooperative learning, music, humor..

Instructional implications ?

Self-esteem

Helping students assess their progress realistically and positively

Aid students in discounting, when feasible, the perceived importance of those areas in which they do not perform well

Instructional implications ?

Tolerance of ambiguity and risk-taking

These can be developed through a nonthreatening classroom atmosphere and training in strategies that facilitate taking risks (guessing, using synonyms)

We must help learners relax and not be worried if they do not understand everything right away

Instructional implications ?

Learning and teaching styles

Teachers must be aware of students’ styles (there are styles inventories) and provide varied, multisensory lessons that appeal to many different learning styles

It is also important that we help learners stretch beyond their “stylistic comfort zone” to develop new language learning strategies

Instructional implications ?

Age and Gender

Adults need relevant material and topics to do their best. Content will be very different from children content

Male and female students often prefer different content. Cultural differences are also important