Individual Differences in Second or Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

According to Oxford (1999), “an understanding of individual differences is very important to successful instruction in a second or foreign language.” Different studies and literatures of the past showed that the main reason why many of the second language learners do not succeed, while some leaders do well, without exerting too much effort, is because of the different characteristics of learners, such as personal traits, motivation or language aptitudes – or known as the individual differences (IDs) (Doughty and Long, 2003). Thus, with IDs, it shows that every individual or human are unique, therefore, their reactions and interests of a specific learning instruction will be different from one another. As a result, explaining and describing the pattern of IDs is considered as important in second language acquisition.

IDs in resource availability and the patterns of cognitive abilities contribute to are important in order to: (a) elucidate differences between learners in the efficiency of second language (L2); (b) illustrate differences in understood, supplementary and unambiguous L2 learning process; and (c) give details about child-adult differences in the process of acquisition and any general theory of SLA (Robinson, 2001).

In connection to IDs, it is important to focus on the different learning styles. Learning is defined as the interactive process between activities of student and teacher in the given learning environment (Keefe, 1987). With the IDs, it also follow that students learn in different way (Price, 1977). Caplan (1981) explained that the brain structure can influence the acquisition of language structure, while Schwartz, Davidson and Maer (1975) supported that the hemispheres of the brain have perceptions avenues, which the study of Stronck (1980) showed that some types of cells found in some brains cannot be found in others.

            As a result, Oxford (1990) developed and proposed a Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, which include 6 major groups.

Strategies	Description
1. Cognitive Strategies	Enable the learner to control and influence the language material directly   (via reasoning, analysis, note-taking and synthesis)
2. Metacognitive Strategies	Apply to manage the learning process in general (via recognizing own preferences and needs of an individual, planning, monitoring mistakes and evaluating result )
3. Memory-related Strategies	Enables the learners to connect one L2 item or aspect with another but do not entail deep understanding
4. Affective Strategies	Enables the leaner to manage and control the level of their motivations and emotions.
5. Social Strategies	Helps the leaner to learn through interaction and connection with others, at the same time understand the target culture (via asking questions and clarification, exploring, talking with native speaking partner and focusing on social and cultural norms)

References

Price, G, Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1977). A summary of research on learning style. New York, NY: American Educational Research Association.

Robinson, P. (2001). ‘Individual differences, cognitive abilities, aptitude complexes and learning conditions in second language acquisition’. Second Language Research. 17(4), 368 – 392.

Keefe, J. W. (1987). Theory and Practice. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Doughty, C. & Long, M. (2003). The handbook of second language acquisition. Wiley-Blackwell.          

Second and Foreign Language Learning Through Classroom Interaction