Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers 25.11.

2015
Lecture 7

What influences success in SLA?

Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers, WS15-16

Dr Achilleas Kostoulas
(w/ thanks to Dr Nancy Campbell for materials)

Lecture Overview
• In what ways do language learners differ?
• Are some language learners just ‘gifted’?
• Do our beliefs and behaviours matter?

Factors that have been studied in ID

research:
• General intelligence
• Language learning aptitude
• Motivation
• Learning styles
• Learning strategies
• Self-image
• Self-efficacy
• Tolerance of ambiguity
• Anxiety
• Attribution
…

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Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers 25.11.2015
Lecture 7

Dornyei’s dynamical model of the Self

Cognitive Affective Motivational

factors factors Factors

Some caveats…
• Given sufficient amounts and quality
instruction all learners can succeed in second
language learning
• Individual difference characteristics are not
stable – they are context-specific.
• The self is not modular. Learners are more
than the sum of their individual traits.

Dornyei’s dynamical model of the Self

Cognitive Affective Motivational

factors factors Factors

SELF

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Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers 25.11.2015
Lecture 7

What is language learning aptitude?

Language Learning Aptitude (LLA) is the ability
to learn foreign languages with relatively less
effort than other individuals.

• LLA is distinct from outcomes.

• LLA is distinct from general intelligence.

Early aptitude research

• Weak theoretical grounding

• Test based

• Aimed to predict outcomes, in order to make

educational decisions

Early aptitude research: the MLAT

Modern Language Aptitude Test (Caroll & Sapon 1959)
• Phonetic coding ability: ability to perceive and
remember distinct sounds associated with symbols
• Grammatical sensitivity: ability to recognize the
function of a lexical element in a sentence
• Rote learning ability: ability to learn and retain
associations between words in a new language and
their meaning in English
• Inductive learning ability: ability to infer or induce
rules governing the structure of a language

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Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers 25.11.2015
Lecture 7

Early aptitude research: the PLAB

Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery
• Verbal Ability: ability to handle the mechanics
of learning a foreign language
• Auditory Ability: ability to hear, recognise and
reproduce sounds in a foreign language

Decline of LLA research

• Theoretical foundations weakened after the
demise of structural linguistics
• Some uses of the tests were difficult to
reconcile with democratic principles in
education.

Current understandings of LLA

• Phonemic Coding Ability: the ability to
discriminate between sounds
• Language Analytic Ability: “the capacity to
infer rules of language and make linguistic
generalizations or extrapolations” from
linguistic input (p. 204)
• Memory

(Skehan 1998)

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Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers 25.11.2015
Lecture 7

Components of Language Learning Aptitude

(Skehan 1998: 217)

Towards agency-informed thinking

“Our discussion revolves around the central
issue of how an emphasis on the ‘natural’ in
language learning – either natural aptitude or
natural acquisition outside the classroom –may
deprive language learners of a sense of agency
in classroom settings” (Ryan & Mercer 2011)

What are mindsets?

“Mindsets represent some of the basic
assumptions individuals make about various
human attributes, such as intelligence or
personality” (Ryan & Mercer, 2010: 437)

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Lecture 7

Two Mindsets in FLL

Fixed Mindset
• A learner may see language
learning ability as being a
fixed, static trait which is an
unchangeable entity such as
an innate talent.
Growth Mindset
• A learner may see language
learning ability as being
more dynamic and open to
change and development
through own hard work and
effort.

These are not a fixed

dichotomy!

Core beliefs about language learning

Fixed mindset Growth mindset

To be a successful learner
requires talent
Successful langauge
learning occurs naturally
Languages can be best
learnt in places where
they are widely spoken
Learners are passive
vessels
Aptitude for Anyone can learn a language if
language learning they work hard on it
The nature of Language learning requires
language learning long-term purposeful /
strategic effort
The site of language Language learning can take
learning place anywhere the learner
chooses to make the effort
The role of the An active participant
language learner

Language learning behaviour

Fixed mindset Growth mindset
Need for challenge?
Reaction to setbacks?
Attitudes to effort?

Response to feedback?
Errors?

Comparisons to other
people?

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Lecture 7

How to develop growth mindsets?

• Teacher feedback
• Internal comparisons
• Explicit discussion of beliefs
• Strategic effort

Mercer & Ryan 2010: 442-443

Summary

Language Abilities can be

learning ability is nurtured through
a fixed “talent” hard work

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