Personality and second language learning

A behavioural exploration of language aptitude and experience, cognition and more using Graph Analysis

Language aptitude has recently regained interest in cognitive neuroscience. Traditional language aptitude testing included phonemic coding ability, associative memory, grammatical sensitivity and inductive language learning. Moreover, domain-general cognitive abilities are associated with individual differences in language aptitude, together with factors that have yet to be elucidated. Beyond domain-general cognition, it is also likely that aptitude and experience in domain-specific but non-linguistic fields (e.g. music or numerical processing) influence and are influenced by language aptitude. We investigated some of these relationships in a sample of 152 participants, using exploratory graph analysis, across different levels of regularisation, i.e. sensitivity. We carried out a meta cluster analysis in a second step to identify variables that are robustly grouped together. We discuss the data, as well as their meta-network groupings, at a baseline network sensitivity level, and in two analyses, one including and the other excluding dyslexic readers. Our results show a stable association between language and cognition, and the isolation of multilingual language experience, musicality and literacy. We highlight the necessity of a more comprehensive view of language and of cognition as multivariate systems.

Factors influencing second language learning based on the research of Lightbown and Spada

Deep insights into the factors influencing second language learners can positively impact learners' self-intervention and guide language teachers in selecting appropriate teaching materials and strategies. Drawing from Lightbown and Spada's framework encompassing motivation, aptitude, personality, intelligence, and learner preferences, this paper examines the relationship between individual learners' characteristics and second language learning effects across five aspects by dialectically considering the research methods suitable for different learner variables. By incorporating recent research and offering practical implications, this paper has the potential to contribute valuable insights to both researchers and practitioners in the field of language education.

Individual variability and the effect of personality on non-native speech shadowing

The present study examines whether personality traits are predictive of success in non-native speech shadowing. Seventy-four monolingual native speakers of English shadowed French words containing high rounded vowels /y/ and /u/ produced by a native French model talker and provided information about their personality through a Big Five Inventory questionnaire. Acoustic analyses support the idea that some personality traits predicted the degree of similarity between the talkers and the model. In this case, shadowed productions by talkers who had higher scores in extraversion and neuroticism were significantly more similar to the model than those who had lower scores.

Aprendizagem por interação e traços de personalidade

Esta pesquisa estudou a relação entre traços de personalidade e aprendizagem por conflito sócio-cognitivo. Participaram da pesquisa 120 sujeitos, de 5 a 7 anos, de três escolas públicas. Todos os sujeitos foram avaliados pela Escala Infantil de Personalidade e pela prova piagetiana de conservação de comprimento. Foram selecionados para o experimento 36 sujeitos que apresentaram nível não-conservador. Quatro traços de personalidade foram avaliados, neuroticismo, psicoticismo, extroversão e adequação. O experimento constituiu-se por três sessões de intervenção com sete situações de aprendizagem por conflito sócio-cognitivo em cada sessão, com pares de sujeitos, na prova de comprimento. Um dia após as intervenções realizou-se o pós-teste 1 e 25 dias após o pós-teste 2, ministrando a prova de conservação de comprimento, individualmente. A aprendizagem no pós-teste imediato foi explicada pelo traço psicoticismo e adequação.