TARLAC STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Teacher Education

Graduate Studies

Angelo G. Martinez
MAEd English

ENG 501: Second Language Acquisition

INDIVIDUAL LEARNER FACTORS

Individual learner factors are:
1.) Language aptitude
According to Carroll (1981 as cited in Ellis, 1997), aptitude refers to the "specific ability for
language learning which learners are hypothesized to possess". This capability hypothetically depends on
some features of learners.
2.) Motivation
Motivation is considered one of the most important and mandatory factors that L2 learners need
to have. Students’ success in second language learning is heavily dependent on their motivational level
(Dörnyei, 2014).
3.) Language anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion that affects every person. Many factors can cause a person to experience
feelings of anxiety. English language learners, as well as those students learning a foreign language,
experience anxiety when it comes to such classroom activities as speaking in front of a group of their
fellow students, or taking a test in a language other than their first language (L1).
Having said these individual learner factors, these will affect students learning a second language
move through five predictable stages: Preproduction, Early Production, Speech Emergence, Intermediate
Fluency, and Advanced Fluency (Krashen & Terrell, 1983).
Some implications are for ESL teachers who would like to improve their own ability to influence
and grow students’ L2 motivation and to help their students achieve success because knowing how
learners can be motivated to study the language can be addressed correctly.
Research has shown that the effects of anxiety can adversely affect a person’s ability to acquire a
second language. One of the ways in which teachers can alleviate their students' anxiety levels is by using
language learning strategies that help reduce anxiety, rather than elevate it.
INTELLIGENCE
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences contrasts to Sternberg's because Gardner believes that
the 8 types of intelligences he defined were different enough to be classified as their own types of
intelligences. Sternberg argues that one capacity for intelligence exists, but it is made up of three distinct
elements. Although some overlap exists, especially regarding creativity, Gardner's types of intelligences
and Sternberg's aspects also differ. Gardner recognizes aspects of intelligence like kinesthetic, musical,
and naturalist. Sternberg focuses primarily on elements of cognitive development that can be measured
through somewhat traditional means (i.e. multiple choice and essay format).
In relating intelligence to second language learning, Brown (1994: 93) states that in the past it
was conceived that “the greatest barrier to second language learning seemed to boil down to a matter of
memory”, in the sense that if a student could remember something he or she was exposed to, he or she
would be a successful language learner because intelligence was traditionally defined and measured in
terms of linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities. Based on this, it is clear that intelligence contributes
to successful language learning.