A good language learner

Agax_2018
Learning a foreign language…
Anybody tackling a new foreign language
for the first time would like being
successful.
Unfortunately, not everyone is able to
successfully learn a foreign language.
Many people start out with good
intentions, but then for various reasons
give up their study of a second language.
On the other hand, many people have
mastered foreign languages and become
quite fluent in them. How did they do it
and what is the secret to their success?
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

1. Motivation to Communicate
2. Constant Practice
3. Uninhibited
4. Willing to Make and Learn From Mistakes
5. Looks for Patterns in Language
6. Is a Good Guesser
7. Will Do Anything to Get the Message Across
8. Attend to Meaning, Not Just Grammar
9. Monitors His/Her Own Speech and That Of Others
10. Has Self-Confidence
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

1. Motivation to Communicate
A good language learner needs to have some motivation to use the
language.

2. Constant Practice
A good language learner needs constant practice. The more you
practice, the more fluent you will become in the second language.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

3. Uninhibited
A good language learner is not afraid to speak and initiate a
conversation with a teacher or a stranger. Consequently, the learner
will have more opportunities to practice, because most people
naturally will not start a conversation with a stranger.

4. Willing to Make and Learn From Mistakes

If a language learner is uninhibited, he or she will be willing to make
mistakes and learn from mistakes.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

5. Looks for Patterns in Language

The students who can use language fluently are those who observed
many examples of its usage in speech and writing.

6. Is a Good Guesser
If a student can't understand every important word in a spoken or
written sentence, he or she will attempt to guess the word from
context.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

7. Will Do Anything to Get the Message Across

When a language learner is attempting to express his ideas, he will
spare nothing to get his message across.

8. Attend to Meaning, Not Just Grammar

The good language learner realizes that a second language can't be
learned by only memorizing grammar rules from a book. Language is
primarily intended to communicate meaning and not only be
grammatically correct.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

9. Monitors His/Her Own Speech and That Of Others

When speaking, a good language learner will monitor the
pronunciation, conversation management strategies, and fluency of
both his own speech and partner's speech.

10. Has Self-Confidence

All good language learners are self-confident when using all four
language skills. This self-confidence has been obtained from the
encouragement of others, taking risks, and from scaffolding or the
support given by teachers or target language friends.
The most important characteristic….
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

1. Motivation to Communicate
2. Constant Practice
3. Uninhibited

In motivation questionnaires, learners may be asked how

often they have opportunities to use their second language
with native speakers. The assumption behind the question is
that those who report that they frequently have such
opportunities are highly motivated to learn.
This seems reasonable, but it is not so simple.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner

More motivated to learn or more opportunities for language

practice in their contexts?

Perhaps the most serious error in interpreting correlations is

the conclusion that one of the variables causes the other.

While it may be that one variable influences the other, it may

also be that both are influenced by something else entirely.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner
Intelligence The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

Aptitude A natural tendency ability to do something.

Learning styles The manner for acquisition of knowledge or skills

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an
Personality individual's distinctive character.

Motivation A reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

Attitude A settled way of thinking or feeling about something.

The characteristics determining who or what a person is.
Identity/ ethnicity
Something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion.
Beliefs
Principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is
Values important in life.
Characteristics of a Good Language Learner
Intelligence
Aptitude
Learning styles
Personality How do they
Motivation
Attitude
influence SLA?
Identity/ ethnicity
Beliefs
Values
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Do you agree that older learners rarely
achieve a near-native accent?
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
• What age does learning begins?
• What age should second language learning begin?

• Are children better learners than adults?

• Are children better language learners than adults?
• Are children better second learners than adults?

• What is ´the critical period hypothesis´? Explain it!

Age and the critical period hypothesis…
The Critical Period Hypothesis´ refers to
the idea that the ability to acquire
language is related to aging and there is
an ideal period of time to attain a
language, after which it is no longer
possible.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
In the field of second language
acquisition (SLA), how specific aspects of
learning a non-native language (L2) may
be affected by when the process begins is
referred to as the ‘age factor’.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Because of the way age intersects with a
range of social, affective, educational,
and experiential variables, clarifying its
relationship with learning rate and/or
success is a major challenge..
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
There is a popular belief that children as
L2 learners are ‘superior’ to adults
(Scovel 2000), that is, the younger the
learner, the quicker the learning process
and the better the outcomes.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Nevertheless, a closer examination of the
ways in which age combines with other
variables reveals a more complex picture,
with both favorable and unfavorable age-
related differences being associated with
early- and late-starting L2 learners
(Johnstone 2002).
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
The ‘critical period hypothesis’ (CPH) is a
particularly relevant case in point. This is
the claim that there is, indeed, an
optimal period for language acquisition,
ending at puberty.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
However, in its original formulation
(Lenneberg 1967), evidence for its
existence was based on the relearning of
impaired L1 skills, rather than the
learning of a second language under
normal circumstances.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Furthermore, although the age factor is an
uncontroversial research variable extending
from birth to death (Cook 1995), and the CPH
is a narrowly focused proposal subject to
recurrent debate, ironically, it is the latter
that tends to dominate SLA discussions
(García Lecumberri and Gallardo 2003),
resulting in a number of competing
conceptualizations.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Thus, in the current literature on the subject, references can
be found to:
(i) multiple critical periods (each based on a specific
language component, such as age six for L2
phonology),
(ii) the non-existence of one or more critical periods for
L2 versus L1 acquisition,
(iii) a ‘sensitive’ yet not ‘critical’ period, and
(iv) a gradual and continual decline from childhood to
adulthood.
*(Bialystok 1997; Richards and Schmidt 2002; Abello-Contesse et al.2006),
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
It therefore needs to be recognized that
there is a marked contrast between the CPH
as an issue of continuing dispute in SLA.
On the one hand, and, on the other, the
popular view that it is an invariable ‘law’,
equally applicable to any L2 acquisition
context or situation.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
In fact, research indicates that age effects of
all kinds depend largely on the actual
opportunities for learning which are available
within overall contexts of L2 acquisition and
particular learning situations, notably the
extent to which initial exposure is substantial
and sustained (Lightbown 2000).
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Thus, most classroom-based studies have
shown not only a lack of direct
correlation between an earlier start and
more successful/rapid L2 development
but also a strong tendency for older
children and teenagers to be more
efficient learners.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
For example, in research conducted in the
context of conventional school
programs, Cenoz (2003) and Muñoz
(2006) have shown that learners whose
exposure to the L2 began at age 11
consistently displayed higher levels of
proficiency than those for whom it began at
4 or 8.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
Furthermore, comparable limitations have
been reported for young learners in school
settings involving innovative, immersion-type
programs, where exposure to the target
language is significantly increased through
subject-matter teaching in the L2 (Genesee
1992; Abello-Contesse 2006).
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
In sum, as Harley and Wang (1997) have
argued, more mature learners are usually
capable of making faster initial progress
in acquiring the grammatical and lexical
components of an L2 due to their higher
level of cognitive development and
greater analytical abilities.
Age and the critical period hypothesis…
In terms of language pedagogy, it can therefore be
concluded that:
(i) there is no single ‘magic’ age for L2 learning,
(ii) both older and younger learners are able to
achieve advanced levels of proficiency in an L2,
and
(iii) the general and specific characteristics of the
learning environment are also likely to be
variables of equal or greater importance.
References:
Spada, N. and Lightbrown, P. (2006) How languages are learned. OUP

https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/63/2/170/441108
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Ten-Characteristics-of-The-Good-Language-Learner
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/value
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/critical-period-hypothesis