Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana

FUNIBER

Master in Teaching English as a

Foreign Language
Subject:

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE

LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

‘Every student can learn…

just not on the same day or in the
same way.’
George Evans

Student: Ojeda, Sandra

Group: 2015-10
Date: 30th, June 2016.
Username: ARFPMTFL2032043
Sandra Guadalupe Ojeda
Tutor: Dr. Safadaran Mosazadeh-Kohan, Majid
 Assignment - IFLD

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

The following are taken from learner self-reports. Read, determine and explain
what aspects of their learning the learners attend to and assess. See the example
provided.

1. I think one problem for me and perhaps everyone else learning a language is you
have to be stimulated to learn.
The student is showing lack of intrinsic motivation. The student’s statement does not
show ‘voluntary persistence at learning’ and ‘personal control and autonomy in the
learning process’, two positive features that Ushioda describes as part of intrinsic
motivation. This lack of motivation may be associated to his/her personality trait
because the student seems to adopt a passive attitude to learning. Gardner (as cited in
Ball, Gassó, Palacios, n.d: p.36) clearly states that attitude to the second language is
an important component of motivation that influences the process of learning. The
student also seem to have an authority-orientated learning style (Willing as cited in Ball
et. al., n.d: p.14) because he/she depends on the teacher.

2. I'm only interested in grammar. I don't like pair and group work activities. It's just a
waste of time.
The student displays an analytic learning style (Willing, as cited in Ball et.al., n.d: p. 14)
as well as a cognitive strategies (Oxford and Ellis as cited in Ball et. al.,n,d: 19)
because he/she is only interested in the language system, which involves the
manipulation of the language through analysis, practise, reasoning, etc.

3. Reading short novels helped me get real daily life in English.

The student has intrinsic motivation and he/she has developed out-of-class language
learning strategies (Byalistok cited in Baker: 1993. 151), especially practising, because
he/she reads short novels in order to understand the English life better. He/she may
also be an introvert, inhibited student and may suffer debilitating anxiety (Scovel as
cited in Ball et.al, n.d: p. 61), which makes him/her get less satisfactory results during
pair and group work activities.

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 Assignment - IFLD

4. ...there are some words that appear again and again in the reading passage. I
generally take them down and try to remember them.
The student display cognitive and memory strategies according to the typology of
language learning strategies made by Oxford and Ellis (as cited in Ball et. al., n,d:
p.19). The student writes down the words that are repeated (cognitive strategy)
and employs action (memory strategy), that is, he/she must use a mechanical
technique such as repetition in order to remember the words.

5. I want to learn English because I want to know more about the English-speaking
world.
The student shows integrative motivation (Gardner, as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p.34)
because he/she is interested in the foreign language speaking culture. This student
shows a developed stage of acculturation (Brown, as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 53).
If the student is driven by this desire he/she must have linguistic and interpersonal
intelligence (Gardner, cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 6) and he may develop social and
communication strategies during the learning process. He/she may have a
communicative learning style (Willing as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 14).

6. In that class we laughed and joked in English. We made friends. They didn't care
about the mistakes I made.
The student shows a well-developed interpersonal intelligence (Gardner cited in Ball,
et.al n,d: p. 6) and a risk-taking and extrovert personality because he /she does not
care about mistakes. McClelland et al. (as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 61) state that ‘a
risk-taking attitude is helpful for rapid progress in an L2.’ That is also related to
Krashen’s (1982) affective filter theory which states that students who have low
affective filters will acquire the foreign language better. The student also uses the
affective strategy of lowering his/her anxiety using laughter to calm down. (Oxford and
Ellis as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 19)

7. I felt I was losing my English. I found I could only use simple words.
The student may be suffering the neurological effects of age. As Penfield and Roberts
explain (as cited in Ball, et.al., n,d: p. 51), adult learners lose the ‘plasticity of their
brain’ because of the aging process which makes second language acquisition more
difficult. She/ he may also lack cognitive and memory strategies such as practising,

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 Assignment - IFLD

creating a structure of input and output, reviewing well and employing action in order to
reverse the process.

8. I don't believe anyone can learn English just from studying here in our country.
That's why I say we have to live the language... the best way to learn English is to
go somewhere where I don't know anyone who speaks any language but English.
This student has an extrovert and risk-taking personality. According to Reid (as cited
in Ball et. al., n,d: p.14), the learner also has an auditory learning style as well as a
communicative learning style (Willing as cited in Ball et. al., n.d: p. 14) because she/he
expresses the desire to interact with native speakers through oral communication in
order to learn the foreign language. For the same reason, he/she needs social as well
as communication strategies. (Wong-Fillmore as cited in Ball et. al n.d: p. 14). As the
learner wants to live in the foreign culture in order to learn the L2, he/she displays
intrinsic and integrative motivation (Gardner as cited in Ball, et. al. n,d: p. 34) as well as
acculturation (Brown as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 53).

9. If I have a good level of written and spoken English when I finish C.O.U., I may be
offered a good job in the future.
The student shows instrumental motivation because he/she thinks that learning a
foreign language can work to his/her advantage to get a job. (Gardner and Lambert as
cited in Ball et. al. n,d: p. 34). This student also has a high internal locus of control
because he/she thinks having a good level of written and spoken English is achievable.
(Heider and Weiner as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 31-32)

10. I don't like exams at all. Written exams are OK but when I have to do oral exams
in English I get really nervous.
According to this statement, the student has a situation-specific type of anxiety
because he/she does not like speaking in front of other people in oral exams (Ball
et.al.,n,d:p. 60).

11. English pronunciation is so difficult for me. I try to imitate the tapes and the
teacher, but I always get it wrong.
The student’s statement is related to the idea of ‘there being a biological timetable for
effective SLA’ (Penfield and Roberts as cited in Ball, et.al. n,d: p. 51). That is, when
learners reach puberty they lose the flexibility of the brain and their ‘language ego’

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 Assignment - IFLD

becomes fixed (Larsen and Smalley as cited in Ball, et.al. n,d: p. 52). These factors
make it extremely difficult for adolescents and adults to have a native-like pronunciation
and mastery of the language. The student also shows a high level of inhibition, which
has a negative effect on L2 pronunciation. (Guiora et al. as cited in Ball et.al. n,d: p.
61),

12. I have two pen friends in England and I often write letters to them in English. It's
fun.
The student shows to have developed an ‘active task approach’ (Naiman et.al cited in
Pickard. 1996: p. 3-4) because he/she is ‘actively involved in the language learning
task’ by writing to pen friends, which is one of the added language learning activities
mentioned by Naiman et. al.

13. I don't know what the whole thing is about. What's the use of learning English? I
don't think I will ever use English in my future life.
The student displays lack of instrumental motivation. (Gardner as cited in Ball et. al.,
n,d: p. 34). He/she does not find any advantage in learning the foreign language even
though ‘English has become a life skill’ (Graddol as cited in Bal et. al., n,d: p. 34).

14. Antonio is very good at English. He remembers things quickly and he doesn't
mind speaking English in front of the other students.
This student has a natural ability to learn languages. Skehan (as cited in Bal et. al., n,d:
p. 8) believes aptitude is the most influencing factor in language learning success. The
student lacks situation-specific anxiety and a low affective filter

15. I always fear I'm going to say things wrong and so I speak very little in class.
The student has debilitating anxiety (Scovel as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 61) because
she/he cannot control her/his fears about making mistakes when speaking in front of
other people (this also shows the student has situation-specific anxiety). Besides,
she/he is too worried about making mistakes, which prevents him/her from
communicating with others in the classroom. The students’ anxiety and emphasis on
‘monitoring’ accuracy can be associated to the Monitor and Affective Filter Hypotheses
described by Krashen (1982).

16. I enjoy doing projects but I'm not sure whether I'm really learning much with them.

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 Assignment - IFLD

This student lacks the metacognitive strategy of being aware and reflecting upon
his/her learning process to see if there is some progress or not. (Oxford and Ellis as
cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p.19) This can also be related to "fossilisation" (Selinker
1972), which refers to a stage in language learning when the learner cannot see any
progress being made.

17. In the last exam I got a "B+”, now I want to be given an "A", and I'm going to work
for it.
This student has a high internal locus of control (Heider and Weiner as cited in Ball et.
al., n,d: p. 31-32) because he/she thinks that the desired mark is achievable. He/she
also has intrinsic motivation which ‘leads to voluntary persistence at learning’ (Ushioda
as cited in Ball et. al., n,d: p. 33) and also shows ‘an expression of personal control
and autonomy in the learning process’ (idem).

18. Whenever we do listening exercises in the English class, I always try to

concentrate on the most important words and then I do a lot of guessing. It
sometimes works!
According to the student’s statement, she/he has developed the metacognitive strategy
of directing and selecting attention because she/he is able to concentrate on key words
in a listening exercise. She/he also uses the compensation strategy of guessing
intelligently

19. I always try to imitate the teacher's pronunciation and I even write in Spanish how
the word sounds in English.

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 Assignment - IFLD

References

-Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. IRAL 10(2): pp. 209-31.

-Ball, P.; Gassó, E.; Palacios, I. (n.d.). Individual Factors in the Learner’s
Development. Spain: Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana FUNIBER.

- Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition.

Oxford: Pergamon.