A lecture about Individual Differences in SLA & SLL

(Motivation & Attitude) By: Mohammed ALMALLAH

1. 1. Individual Differences in Second Language Learning
2. 2. 2 The “Good Language Learner” • Are there personal characteristics that make one learner more
successful than another?
3. 3. Types of variation Motivation Age Attitude Personality Aptitude
4. 4. Evaluate these statements: • Studying a foreign language is important to my students because they will
be able to participate more freely in the activities of other cultural groups(yes ).
5. • Studying a foreign language can be important for my students because it will some day be useful in
getting a good job. (Yes
6. 5. Keywords: • integrative motivation: learning the language in order to take part in the culture of its
people. • instrumental motivation: learning the language for a career goal or other practical reason.
7. 6. Motivation • The child learning a first language does not have good or bad motivation in any meaningful
sense • The usual meaning of motivation for the teacher is probably the interest that something generates in
the students: (a particular topic, a particular song, may interest the students in the class, to the teacher’s
delight).
8. 7. Why do people learn languages ? A survey in six countries of the European union 94% •Communication
abroad 86% •Facilitation of computer work , and comprehension of music texts 64% •Sounds better in
English 51% •No expression in national language
9. 8. Another survey by (EuroBarometer, 2006).
10. 9. Integrative motivation Vs. Instrumental motivation • Some people want to learn a second language with
an integrative motivation such as ‘I would like to live in the country where it is spoken’, or with an
instrumental one such as ‘For my future career’, or indeed with both, or with other motivations entirely.
11. 10. Integrative motivation Vs. Instrumental motivation • The distinction between integrative and
instrumental motivation has been used as a point of reference by many researchers. • Zoltan Dornyei (1990)
argues that it is biased towards the Canadian situation where there is a particular balance between the two
official languages, English and French. He therefore tested the motivation of learners of English in the
European situation of Hungary. He found that an instrumental motivation concerned with future careers
was indeed very powerful. Though an integrative motivation was also relevant, it was not, as in Canada,
12. 11. Motivation and teaching • Students will find it difficult to learn a second language in the classroom if
they have neither instrumental nor integrative motivation. (Schoolchildren have no particular contact with
the foreign culture and no particular interest in it, nor do their job prospects depend on it; their attitudes to
L2 users may depend more on the stereotypes from their cultural situations than on any real contact).
13. 12. Motivation and teaching • Otherwise teachers may have to go along with the students’ motivation, or at
least be sufficiently aware of the students’ motivation so that any problems can be smoothed over. • In a
teacher’s ideal world, students would enter the classrooms admiring the target culture and language,
 wanting to get something out of the L2 learning for themselves, eager to experience the benefits of
bilingualism and thirsting for knowledge.
14. 13. Motivation and teaching • Motivation also goes in both directions. High motivation is one factor that
causes successful learning; in reverse, successful learning causes high motivation. The process of creating
successful learning which can spur high motivation may be under the teacher’s control, if not the original
motivation. For example, the choice of teaching materials and the information content of the lesson should
correspond to the motivations of the students.
15. 14. Attitudeg Evaluate these statements : • It is important to be able to speak two languages. • I will always
feel more myself in my first language than in my second.
16. 15. Attitude Keywords: Additive Bilingualism: L2 learning that adds to the learner’s capabilities in some
way. Subtractive Bilingualism: L2 learning that takes away from the learner’s capabilities Acculturation:
the ways in which L2 users adapt to life with two languages
17. 16. Additive and Subtractive bilingualism • In additive bilingualism, the learners feel they are adding
something new to their skills and experience by learning a new language, without taking anything away
from what they already know. • In subtractive bilingualism, they feel that the learning of a new language
threatens what they have already gained for themselves.
18. 17. Acculturation Is it considered to be of value to maintain cultural identity and characteristics?
19. 18. Acculturation Is it considered to be of value to maintain relationships with other groups?
20. 19. Acculturation (the acculturation model)
21. 20. Discussion topic Some people say "I'm no good at learning languages". Is this just a question of attitude
(because of a previous bad experience) or were some people born lacking the ability to learn a new
language?