Methodology in Language Learning: In My Mind

The study of language learner characteristics, or individual differences (IDs), has a long tradition in second language studies and nobody would question that factors such as language aptitude, motivation, or learning styles are important contributors to success in mastering a foreign language. Accordingly, the existing literature on individual difference variables is extensive. the field of psychology has been trying to achieve two different and somewhat contradictory objectives: to understand the general principles of the human mind and to explore the uniqueness of the individual mind. The latter direction has formed an independent subdiscipline within the field that has traditionally been termed differential psychology but recently more frequently referred to as individual difference research. As the term suggests, individual differences (IDs) are characteristics or traits in respect of which individuals may be shown to differ from each other. Admittedly, for many psychologists such differences constitute mere distractions to their work: How much easier it would be to formulate valid conclusions and generalizations about the human species if everybody was alike! Research results would then apply to everyone and, based on these findings, we would be able to design effective therapy or intervention that would suit all. Thus, in this ideal world “rules and regulations could be developed to cover all situations, and there would be no unknowns”.

 

A dominant trend in educational psychology has been to characterize the teachers and students who populate classrooms as ‘learning communities’ and to think in terms of the collective more than the individual. Within this orientation, the authors argue, a focus on differences between individual students may be cast as counterproductive to efforts to build communities that work together for the educational good.

 

We can well imagine that second language acquisition (SLA) researchers may become rather irritated with IDs when these prevent the neat formulation of species-wide themes concerning, say, how humans acquire a particular language aspect over time: IDs tend to bring in a ‘Yes but…’ factor because there will always be people to whom some findings do not apply. One exception to this variability in language acquisition is often thought to be the process of first language (L1) acquisition, because this always (or almost always) leads to native-level proficiency in the language.

 

So what exactly are these controversial constructs? How can we define them? How many of them are there? And what do we know about their role? Most of the ID variables are associated with a complex and rather diverse body of research and theorizing within the field of psychology, and the greatest problem in using these variables in L2 studies has been - the lack of sufficient theoretical coherence. IDs are seemingly easy to define: They concern anything that marks a person as a distinct and unique human being. While this may appear by and large true—particularly if we adopt a broad conception of IDs—we need to set some restrictions to avoid regarding, for example, someone’s tendency to wear a brightly colored T-shirt or a bow tie as an ID. Therefore, all scientific definitions of IDs assume the relevance of stability: Differential psychology emphasizes individual variation from person to person only to the extent that those individualizing features exhibit continuity over time. Yet, even with this restriction the kind and number of ways an individual can be different is extensive, due to the innumerable interactions between heredity and environment that occur throughout one’s life span.

 

 

ID constructs refer to dimensions of enduring personal characteristics that are assumed to apply to everybody and on which people differ by degree. Or, in other words, they concern stable and systematic deviations from a normative blueprint. We should note that these descriptions reflect well the basic dilemma for the scientific study of human differences, namely how to conceive of general laws or categories for describing human individuality that at the same time do justice to the full array of human uniqueness.

 

What are the most important individual differences and how will they be discussed in this book? In the narrowest sense, individual differences in psychology have been equated with personality and intelligence. Topics of interest for the journal Individual Differences Research involve a particularly broad range, covering all areas of “personality, interests and values, spirituality, affective disposition, coping style, relationship style, self and identity, the individual in groups and interpersonal contexts, attitudes and perceptions, cognitive functioning, health and lifestyle, assessment, and individual differences related physiological, organizational, and education topics.” Thus, the concept of ‘individual differences’ is rather loose, containing certain core variables and many optional ones. It seems clear that for a book addressing individual differences from an educational perspective one needs to select personality, ability/aptitude, and motivation to start with as these are invariably seen as principal learner variables.

 

Both variables have been shown to play a significant role in affecting language learning success and there is a considerable amount of literature on them. The problem with these two basic demographic variables is, however, that they affect every aspect of the SLA process, including virtually all the other ID variables, and therefore their discussion would have been rather different from the rest of the material in the book, both in terms of length and coherence.

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