Personality in Second Language Acquisition

personality in second language acquisition

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Results on the effect of extraversion on success in L2 learning (as measured by
grades)have been inconclusive (Dewaele, 2007). Ehrman (2008) analyzed the
psychological profile(using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) of a sample of the top
two percent best languagelearners out of 3,145 learners. Only one type was
significantly overrepresented, namelyintroverted-intuitive-thinking-judging (INTJ)
types (p. 64). Ehrman concludes that
the best language learners tend to have introverted personalities, a finding which
runscontrary to much of the literature, and, even, to pedagogical intuition. The best
learnersare intuitive and they are logical and precise thinkers who are able to exercise
judgment.(p. 70)
Introverts typically perform slightly better on written tests compared to extraverts,
whotend to perform better in oral tasks (Robinson, Gabriel, & Katchan, 1994).
Research linkingextraversion with functional practice strategies in real
communicative L2 situations hasshown that extraverts tend to prefer social
strategies, like cooperation with others or ask-ing for clarification, and also use more
functional practice strategies like seeking oppor-tunities to use a foreign language
outside the class environment (Wakamoto, 2009). Theextraverts’ inclination to take
risks seems to extend to their linguistic behavior, includingthe use of more
stigmatized language and a willingness to engage in potentially more“dangerous”
emotion-laden topics (Dewaele & Pavlenko, 2002).Introverts have been found to do
slightly better on L2 vocabulary tests (Carrell, Prince,& Astika, 1996; van Daele,
Housen, Pierrard, & Debruyn, 2006). MacIntyre, Clément, andNoels (2007) also
showed that the learning situation interacts with learners’ degree ofextraversion in
vocabulary learning. Introverts were found to perform best after havingstudied in a
very familiar situation, while the extraverts performed best in conditionsinvolving a
moderate degree of novelty.Research has also probed individual differences in the
extent to which L2 learners feeldifferent while operating in an L2. English students
of L2 French showed a negative
link between extraversion and feeling different (Wilson, 2008). Wilson argues that
the morereflective introverts may observe objective differences in their voice and
manner whenusing the L2 but also feel liberated from the inhibitions linked to their
L1 behavior. PolishL2 users in the UK and Ireland have shown the opposite pattern
(O
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ska-Ponikwia, 2011),with extraversion positively linked to the feeling of difference in
the L2 as well as to theamount of L2 usage.
Neuroticism
People who score high on Neuroticism (N) are prone to psychological distress,
unrealisticideas, excessive cravings or urges, and maladaptive coping responses.
High-N individualsagree with the following descriptors: worried, nervous,
emotional, insecure, inadequate,hypochondriacal. Low-N individuals are calm,
relaxed, unemotional, hardy, secure, self-satisfied (Costa & McCrae, 1992).Little
research has examined the effect of Neuroticism in SLA. Neuroticism was foundto
be unrelated to foreign-language attitudes and foreign-language grades of
Flemishstudents (Dewaele, 2007), although a tendency toward a positive
relationship was foundin the English L3 of Flemish learners (Dewaele, 2002a).High-
N foreign-language students seem to perform better in oral examination tasksand
written tests (Robinson et al., 1994). There also appears to be a negative
correlation between Neuroticism and difficulties in expressing emotions in both the
L1 and the L2(O
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ska-Ponikwia, 2011).

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personality in second language acquisition
Psychoticism
Psychoticism (P) measures tough-mindedness (Furnham & Heaven, 1999, p. 230).
It isseen as being composed of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in the Big-Five
Model.People scoring high on Psychoticism “tend to be hostile, cold, aggressive,
and have poorinterpersonal relations” (p. 327). Dewaele (2002b) found that high-P
Flemish learners ofEnglish L3 suffered less from foreign-language anxiety in
English than low-P participants.The effect of psychoticism on language grades was
limited: High-P scorers tended to havelower grades in French L2, but not in L1, L3,
or L4 (Dewaele, 2007).
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness refers to the degree of organization, persistence, and motivation
ingoal-directed behavior. Individuals who score high on Conscientiousness tend to
beorganized, reliable, hard-working, self-disciplined, punctual, scrupulous, neat,
ambitious,and persevering, while those who score low tend to be aimless, unreliable,
lazy, careless,lax, negligent, weak-willed, and hedonistic (Costa & McCrae,
1992).Highly conscientious L2 learners would be expected to be harder-working
languagelearners, but this should not affect their L2 production. Wilson (2008)
reported that Britishstudents studying French L2 who scored higher on
Conscientiousness were more likelyto complete the course successfully.Ehrman’s
(2008) description of participants who combine intuition and thinking fit theprofile
of high Conscientiousness. She describes them as being merciless with
themselves,always trying to improve their competence and mastery of the target
language. They arealso more likely to be strategic thinkers, using metacognitive
strategies such as goal-setting,self-assessment, and self-monitoring. They have a
penchant for analysis, love relativelyfine distinctions, and strive to be precise in their
use of words, expressions, and grammar.
Openness-to-Experience
Openness-to-Experience reflects proactive seeking and appreciation of experience
for itsown sake, toleration for and exploration of the unfamiliar. Individuals with
high scoreson Openness-to-Experience are curious, creative, original, imaginative,
and untraditional,and have broad interests. Those with low scores are conventional,
down to earth, inartistic,and unanalytical, and have narrow interests (Costa & McCrae, 1992).
Openness-to-Experienceis significantly related to intelligence (Costa & McCrae, 1992).
This dimension is similarto “Open-Mindedness,” which refers to an open and unprejudiced
attitude toward out-groupmembers and toward different cultural norms and values. It
seems to be a good predictorof foreign-language learning achievement. Verhoeven
and Vermeer (2002) found thatOpenness-to-Experience and, to a lesser extent,
Conscientiousness and Extraversion werelinked to the development of basic
organizational skills involving lexical, syntactic, dis-course, and functional abilities,
the acquisition of pragmatic skills, and the developmentof monitoring strategies
among young L2 learners in the Netherlands.Ehrman (2008) reported that Openness
is correlated with intuition in the Myers-BriggsType Indicator. Learners who score
high on this dimension “concentrate on meaning,possibilities, and usually accept
constant change” (p. 66). They are typically seeking hiddenpatterns, are high-ability
readers, and can pick up native-like ways of self-expression (p. 66).Polish L2 users in the UK
and Ireland who scored high on Openness were also signifi-cantly more likely to feel
different when using their L2, and to use their L2 more frequently(O
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ska-Ponikwia, 2011).

personality in second language acquisition

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Agreeableness
Agreeableness assesses the quality of one’s interpersonal orientation along a
continuumfrom compassion to antagonism in thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Individuals who scorehigh on this dimension are soft-hearted, good-natured,
trusting, helpful, forgiving, gullible,and straightforward, while those who score low
are cynical, rude, suspicious, uncoopera-tive, vengeful, ruthless, irritable, and
manipulative.Polish L2 users in the UK and Ireland who scored high on
Agreeableness were alsosignificantly more likely to feel different when using their
L2, possibly because they noticedchanges in their own facial and other nonverbal
expressions while speaking in the L2(O
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a
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ska-Ponikwia, 2011).
Creativity
Creativity reflects the complex interplay of cognitive, psychological, motivational,
andsocial factors. Intellect is an important component of creativity, which also
correlates withOpenness-to-Experience. Albert and Kormos (2004) found that
creativity, originality, flex-ibility, and creative fluency had weak but significant links
to performance in oral narrativetasks among Hungarian learners of English. Creative
fluency was positively correlatedwith the quantity of talk but originality was
negatively correlated with the quantity oftalk, and positive correlations were found
between originality and the complexity ofnarratives.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a psychological construct that could influence motivation. Hsieh and
Kang(2010) investigated the link between Korean learners’ self-efficacy, attribution,
and testgrades in English L2. The authors found that learners with higher levels of
self-efficacyattributed their test results to more internal and personal control factors
than those whoreported lower self-efficacy levels. Unsuccessful learners with higher
self-efficacy madestronger personal control attributions than learners with lower
self-efficacy.
Foreign-Language (Classroom) Anxiety andTrait Emotional Intelligence
Foreign-language anxiety (FLA) is defined as “the feeling of tension and
apprehensionspecifically associated with second language (L2) contexts, including
speaking, listening,and learning” (MacIntyre and Gardner, 1994, p. 284). More
specifically, foreign-languageclassroom anxiety (FLCA) can be defined as “a
distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs,feelings and behaviors related to
classroom learning arising from the uniqueness of thelanguage learning process”
(Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986, p. 128). FLCA is linked toany activity in the
foreign language, but is typically highest for speaking. It affects foreign-language
learners at all levels and even non-native foreign-language teachers.Research on
FLA/FLCA has strong pedagogical implications, as it has been reported tointerfere
negatively with learning and performance (Horwitz, 2001). High levels of FLCAin
the classroom have been linked to students discontinuing their study of foreign
languages(Dewaele & Thirtle, 2009). Variation in FLA and FLCA has been linked to
various
socio- biographical variables, quality and quantity of affordances through the know
ledge oftypologically related or other languages, age, gender, academic
achievement, prior history

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personality in second language acquisition
of visiting foreign countries, prior high-school experience with foreign languages,
expectedoverall average for current language course, perceived scholastic competence, and
perceivedself-worth (Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 1999; Dewaele, Petrides, &
Furnham, 2008;Dewaele, 2010).Trait emotional intelligence (EI)—also called trait
emotional self-efficacy—is based onthe idea that individuals differ in the extent to
which they attend to, process, and utilizeaffect-laden information of an intrapersonal
or interpersonal nature (Dewaele et al., 2008).Trait EI is measured via self-report
questionnaires and is located at the lower levels ofpersonality hierarchies. It includes
the following subscales: adaptability, assertiveness,emotion perception, emotion
expression, emotion management, emotion regulation, impul-siveness,
relationships, self-esteem, self-motivation, social competence, stress
management.Trait EI has been found to correlate negatively with Neuroticism, but
positively withExtraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness.Trait EI has been
positively linked to L2 usage (O
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ska-Ponikwia, 2011) and negativelylinked to communicative anxiety in the L1, L2,
L3, and L4 of adult multilinguals (Dewaeleet al., 2008). Emotionally intelligent
individuals were less anxious, probably because oftheir better ability to gauge the
emotional state of their interlocutor. A range of othersociobiographical variables
were linked to communicative anxiety.
Foreign-Language (Classroom) Anxiety and Perfectionism
Perfectionism has been defined as a less exaggerated form of obsessive-compulsive
dis-order. Perfectionist L2 learners tend to make slower progress because the fear of
makingmistakes hinders their learning. They are inhibited about classroom
participation, unwill-ing to volunteer a response to a question unless they are
absolutely sure of the correctanswer, and react badly to minor failures (Gregersen &
Horwitz, 2002). The authors foundthat anxious learners were more perfectionist,
setting themselves higher personal perfor-mance standards, procrastinated more,
were more fearful of evaluation, and were moreconcerned about errors.
Conclusion
Does personality have an effect on SLA and L2 production? The tentative answer is
“yes,” but no single psychological variable can be identified as having more than a
small effectin explaining variance in L2 dependent variables. The main reason is that
psychologicalvariables interact with each other and with sociobiographical and
educational variablesin a potentially infinite and unpredictable way across contexts.
L2 learners with similarpersonality profiles may differ enormously in their progress and
ultimate attainment becauseof variation in the broad context. No single personality trait
therefore predeterminessuccess in SLA. At best some combinations of traits create
a potential for success, whichthe learner can decide to boost through hard work and
practice.
Language Learning,