Individual Differences in Language Development

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Shore
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development

scholarly journals Finding the key to successful L2 learning in groups and individuals

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wander Lowie ◽  
Marijn Van Dijk ◽  
Huiping Chan ◽  
Marjolijn Verspoor
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Learner Characteristics ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Over Time

A large body studies into individual differences in second language learning has shown that success in second language learning is strongly affected by a set of relevant learner characteristics ranging from the age of onset to motivation, aptitude, and personality. Most studies have concentrated on a limited number of learner characteristics and have argued for the relative importance of some of these factors. Clearly, some learners are more successful than others, and it is tempting to try to find the factor or combination of factors that can crack the code to success. However, isolating one or several global individual characteristics can only give a partial explanation of success in second language learning. The limitation of this approach is that it only reflects on rather general personality characteristics of learners at one point in time, while both language development and the factors affecting it are instances of complex dynamic processes that develop over time. Factors that have been labelled as “individual differences” as well as the development of proficiency are characterized by nonlinear relationships in the time domain, due to which the rate of success cannot be simply deduced from a combination of factors. Moreover, in complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) literature it has been argued that a generalization about the interaction of variables across individuals is not warranted when we acknowledge that language development is essentially an individual process (Molenaar, 2015). In this paper, the viability of these generalizations is investigated by exploring the L2 development over time for two identical twins in Taiwan who can be expected to be highly similar in all respects, from their environment to their level of English proficiency, to their exposure to English, and to their individual differences. In spite of the striking similarities between these learners, the development of their L2 English over time was very different. Developmental patterns for spoken and written language even showed opposite tendencies. These observations underline the individual nature of the process of second language development.

scholarly journals Factors Facilitating Early Emotion Understanding Development: Contributions to Individual Differences

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Marissa Ogren ◽  
Scott P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Academic Development ◽  
Emotion Understanding ◽  
Family Expressiveness ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Children's Emotion ◽  
Children's Environments ◽  
Do So

Children’s emotion understanding is crucial for healthy social and academic development. The behaviors influenced by emotion understanding in childhood have received much attention, but less focus has been placed on factors that may predict individual differences in emotion understanding, the principal issue addressed in the current review. A more thorough understanding of the developmental underpinnings of this skill may allow for better prediction of emotion understanding, and for interventions to improve emotion understanding early in development. Here, we present theoretical arguments for the substantial roles of three aspects of children’s environments in the development of emotion understanding: family expressiveness, discussions about emotions, and language development, and we discuss how these are interrelated. Ultimately, this may aid in predicting the effects of environmental influences on the development of emotion understanding more broadly and the mechanisms by which they do so.

Variation, individual differences and second language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwen Patricia Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Academic Year

Abstract Research on second language acquisition has located individual variation, without clarifying whether language processing prompts learners to differ systematically in the production of syntax and morphology. To address this issue, the study examined the hypothesis on variation in Processability Theory. This theory predicts that, within second language development, individual learners vary systematically in how they respond to developmental conflicts. Specifically, learners have distinct types, which are evident in their use of options and 'trailers' (structures which emerge late). Longitudinal spoken data were collected over one academic year from six adolescent ESL learners. The results revealed different learner types in terms of syntactic options and trailers. However, the learners had less clear types for the morphological options, used unpredicted options, and lacked consistency in their use of syntactic and morphological trailers. The paper suggests that learners vary in processing due to diverse orientations towards the acquisition of either syntax or morphology.

scholarly journals Strategies for Success: Bringing Out the Best in a Learner

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Tyacke
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Style ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Training Courses

Faced with the inadequacies of models of language teaching, researchers and practitioners have moved to models of language learning. Within this framework, many of us have attempted to characterize student learning styles and strategies. It is assumed that raising awareness of such styles and strategies will facilitate language development, by providing a basis on which a principled choice of activities can be made, and encouraging learners to take on more "ownership" of the process. This article argues that, even though we may not be able to change an individual's basic cognitive style, we may be able to make the learning process more transparent. It also suggests that strategy training can be useful, providing principles for such training, and practical suggestions for teacher training courses and classroom practice. Finally it proposes that syllabus design should take individual differences into account, and that such differences have to be carefully diagnosed and analyzed by the classroom teacher in collaboration with the learner.

scholarly journals Sources of variability in language development of children with cochlear implants: age at implantation, parental language, and early features of children's language construction

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
GISELA SZAGUN ◽  
SATYAM A. SCHRAMM
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Early Features

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to analyze the relative influence of age at implantation, parental expansions, and child language internal factors on grammatical progress in children with cochlear implants (CI). Data analyses used two longitudinal corpora of spontaneous speech samples, one with twenty-two and one with twenty-six children, implanted between 0;6 and 3;10. Analyses were performed on the combined and separate samples. Regression analyses indicate that early child MLU is the strongest predictor of child MLU two and two-and-a-half years later, followed by parental expansions and age at implantation. Associations between earliest MLU gains and MLU two years later point to stability of individual differences. Early type and token frequencies of determiners predict MLU two years later more strongly than early frequency of lexical words. We conclude that features of CI children's very early language have considerable predictive value for later language outcomes.

Social Behaviours of Children in a Multicultural Preschool

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen Dixon ◽  
Susan Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
Teacher Strategies ◽  
Preschool Program ◽  
Multicultural Classroom ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Single Culture ◽  
Social Behaviours

This paper describes social behaviours of preschool children in relation to second language development, observed in a multicultural preschool program in Vancouver, B.C. Social behaviours arising from planned curriculum activities and teacher strategies which fostered the use of English were monitored in several play areas of the classroom. Examples are given of behaviours observed early in the year, as well as early stages of cooperative and sociodramatic play. Cultural adjustment of children is discussed as the program takes them from the familiar single-culture home situation to the multicultural classroom where customs and festivals of several cultures are included in the curriculum. Finally, observed individual differences in learning English are discussed and further research currently being carried out on the project is presented.

Interlanguage Development

AILA Review ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
The Future ◽  
Interlanguage Development

The study of language development in second language acquisition naturally leads to information about linguistic processes of second language acquisition, but it also sheds light on learners’ individual differences. This article examines the acquisition of the future in L2 English and explores how learners in a longitudinal study respond to input, instruction, and the general task of learning a second language through the lens of their grammatical development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document