ERIC Number: EJ1251172
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 43
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2083-5205
EISSN: N/A
Tracking the Dynamic Nature of Learner Individual Differences: Initial Results from a Longitudinal Study
Jung, Daniel; DiBartolomeo, Megan; Melero-García, Fernando; Giacomino, Lindsay; Gurzynski-Weiss, Laura; Henderson, Carly; Hidalgo, Marian
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, v10 n1 p177-219 2020
Individual differences (IDs) have long been considered one of the most important factors explaining variable rates and outcomes in second language acquisition (Dewaele, 2013). While traditional operationalizations of IDs have, explicitly or implicitly, assumed that IDs are static traits that are stable through time, more recent research inspired by complex dynamic systems theory (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2020) demonstrates that many IDs are dynamic and variable through time and across contexts, a theme echoed throughout the current issue. This study reports the initial semester of a diachronic project investigating the dynamicity of four learner IDs: motivation, personality, learning and cognitive styles, and working memory. In the initial semester, data from 323 participants in their first year of university-level Spanish were collected and analyzed to determine what type of variability may be present across learners with respect to the four IDs studied at one time point and to discern possible learner profiles in the data or patterns via which the data may be otherwise meaningfully described. The results revealed four types of learner profiles present in the dataset.
Descriptors: Individual Differences, Longitudinal Studies, Second Language Learning, Student Motivation, Personality Traits, Cognitive Style, Short Term Memory, Undergraduate Students, Spanish, Public Colleges, Introductory Courses
Adam Mickiewicz University Department of English Studies. Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Ul. Nowy Swiat 28-30, 62-800 Kailsz, Poland. e-mail: ssllt@amu.edu.pll; Web site: http://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/ssllt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Information Analyses
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A