Psychology for Language Learning

Psychology for Language Learning

Also by Sarah Mercer TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF LANGUAGE LEARNER SELF-CONCEPT Also by Marion Williams PSYCHOLOGY FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS: A Social Constructivist Approach (co-authored)

Psychology for Language Learning Insights from Research, Theory and Practice Edited by Sarah Mercer University of Graz, Austria Stephen Ryan Senshu University, Japan and Marion Williams University of Exeter, UK

Selection and editorial matter Sarah Mercer, Stephen Ryan and Marion Williams 2012 Individual chapters their respective authors 2012 Foreword Zoltán Dörnyei 2012 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-30114-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-30115-3 ISBN 978-1-137-03282-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137032829 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

To the memory of Richard Pemberton, a pioneer in the field of learner autonomy in language education.

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Contents List of Figures and Tables Foreword Zoltán Dörnyei Notes on Contributors ix x xii 1 Introduction 1 Sarah Mercer, Stephen Ryan, and Marion Williams 2 Self-concept: Situating the Self 10 Sarah Mercer 3 Identity: The Situated Construction of Identity and Positionality in Multilingual Classrooms 26 Naoko Morita 4 Personality: Personality Traits as Independent and Dependent Variables 42 Jean-Marc Dewaele 5 Motivation: L2 Learning as a Special Case? 58 Ema Ushioda 6 Implicit Theories: Language Learning Mindsets 74 Stephen Ryan and Sarah Mercer 7 Attribution: Looking Back and Ahead at the Why Theory 90 Pei-Hsuan (Peggy) Hsieh 8 Affect: The Role of Language Anxiety and Other Emotions in Language Learning 103 Peter MacIntyre and Tammy Gregersen 9 Willingness to Communicate: Momentary Volition that Results in L2 Behaviour 119 Tomoko Yashima vii

viii Contents 10 Strategies: The Interface of Styles, Strategies, and Motivation on Tasks 136 Andrew D. Cohen 11 Learning Styles: Traversing the Quagmire 151 Carol Griffiths 12 Metacognition: Awareness of Language Learning 169 Neil J Anderson 13 Goal Orientations: Three Perspectives on Motivation Goal Orientations 188 Lindy Woodrow 14 Self-directed Learning: Concepts, Practice, and a Novel Research Methodology 203 Richard Pemberton and Lucy Cooker 15 Group Dynamics: Collaborative Agency in Present Communities of Imagination 220 Tim Murphey, Joseph Falout, Yoshifumi Fukada, and Tetsuya Fukuda 16 Conclusion: Final Remarks 239 Sarah Mercer, Stephen Ryan, and Marion Williams Glossary 248 Author Index 256 Subject Index 262

Figures and Tables Figures 8.1 Changes in ratings of WTC (per second) over eight tasks 109 9.1 Heuristic model of variables influencing L2 WTC 122 13.1 Chart of performance-avoid goal orientations and ethnicity of learners 197 14.1 Q methodology sorting grid 212 14.2 A participant sorting (rank ordering) the statements onto the grid pattern 213 15.1 Semester start measurements 228 15.2 Semester end measurements 229 15.3 Three overlapping mind times situated in emerging contexts 230 Tables 12.1 Self-assessment instructions for the oral interview 177 12.2 Difference in integrated skills test: Actual scores versus estimated scores 178 12.3 Difference in oral skills test: Actual scores versus estimated scores 179 13.1 Examples of items used to measure goal orientations 195 13.2 Numbers, means, and standard deviations for goal orientations 196 13.3 Correlations between goal orientations and oral performance 197 ix

Foreword Zoltán Dörnyei The main theme underlying this book is the conviction shared by all the contributors that language learning cannot be reduced to a process of input and intake of linguistic information. While there is clearly a well-definable linguistic code as the outcome of the language acquisition enterprise, the process of learning is a holistic one, affecting and drawing on the whole range of the learner s personality features, mindsets, and mental capabilities. The selection of chapters in this volume offers an up-to-date and in-depth description of the main facets of this learner learning interface. Having written a book about the same topic not that long ago (The psychology of the language learner, 2005), the interesting question for me was to see how the field has moved forward since I prepared my summary (which, of course, is a polite way of saying that I was keen to check whether these guys really had anything new to say...). What struck me first was the list of contributors; while a single-author book can often provide a more coherent narrative than an edited volume, the latter has the advantage of potentially offering focused specialist insights, and this volume is a prime example of this. The editors have successfully netted some of the foremost and most active researchers in the field to contribute chapters in their specialization areas. I can well imagine how much effort organizing this collaborative work must have taken on their part, but the result is certainly very impressive! Regarding the content, outstanding scholars are expected to generate rich substance and this is indeed the case in this volume. The chapters go beyond offering standard reviews of the relevant literatures; while they do contain succinct summaries of the evolution of the topics in question, they also consciously highlight the latest concerns, deliberations, dilemmas, and crossroads. In this sense, the book can be used as a reference book of the all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about... type, which, of course, raises the question: know about what? We must realize that this is not a comprehensive summary of all the psychological aspects of the second language acquisition (SLA) process as it does not cover psycholinguistic and neurobiological issues. This restriction was intentional in order to create sufficient coherence within the volume: as the editors state right at the beginning, their focus was on the main x

Foreword xi psychological constructs typically addressed by educational psychology, centring on the learner as the primary agent of the acquisition process. Within this domain, however, the collection of studies in the volume aims for comprehensiveness, and readers will obtain a detailed and rounded picture, with no obvious omissions. This is an invaluable feature of any work in an age when it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep abreast of any research area. In sum, I wholeheartedly recommend this book as an excellent overview of a complex but intriguing research domain. Anybody interested in the fundamental question of why some learners master a foreign language faster and more easily than others will find a solid theoretical basis with lots of practical implications in this ambitious volume. It is a must for the bookshelves of applied linguists and language teaching specialists alike.

Notes on Contributors Neil J Anderson is Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. His research interests include metacognition, language learner strategies, learner selfassessment, second language reading, motivation in language teaching and learning, and ELT leadership development. Professor Anderson is the author or co-editor of several teacher education texts including: Exploring second language reading: Issues and strategies and Practical English language teaching: Reading. Andrew D. Cohen is a professor in phased retirement in the Program in Second Language Studies, University of Minnesota, USA. His fields of special interest include language learner strategies, second language pragmatics, and language assessment. He is co-editor of Language learner strategies: 30 years of research and practice, co-author of Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet, and author of Strategies in learning and using a second language. Lucy Cooker teaches at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests are in language learner autonomy, self-access language learning and learner identities, and she has a developing interest in research methods. She is co-editor of The applied linguistic individual: Sociocultural approaches to autonomy, agency and identity. Jean-Marc Dewaele is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at Birkbeck, University of London, UK. He is interested in individual differences in second and additional language acquisition and multilingualism. He wrote the book Emotions in multiple languages. Joseph Falout is an assistant professor at Nihon University, Japan. His research interests include motivational variables of teachers and learners in EFL sociocultural contexts. He edits for OnCUE Journal and Asian EFL Journal. xii

Notes on Contributors xiii Yoshifumi Fukada teaches at the International Christian University, Japan. His research interests include L2 learners and users dynamic identities, their agency in their English learning and social interactions (in and out of class), and their use of English as a Lingua Franca in international communities. Tetsuya Fukuda is a professor at Yamano College, Japan. He is interested in the sociocultural and political aspects of language learning in Japan, especially factors that motivate students to learn and use English, and how students perceive varieties of English in and out of the classroom. Tammy Gregersen is Professor of TESOL at the University of Northern Iowa, USA. Her research interests target second and foreign language classroom applications (including non-verbal communication) when considering individual differences, such as anxiety, motivation, and strategy use. Carol Griffiths is currently working as a teacher trainer at Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey, having previously worked in New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, China, North Korea, and the UK. Her main research interests centre on language learning strategies. She is editor of the book Lessons from good language learners. Pei-Hsuan (Peggy) Hsieh is an education specialist at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston, USA. Her research interests include learner motivation specifically, learners self-efficacy for foreign language learning, and attributions for academic performances. Other areas of interest include teaching effectiveness and learning strategies. Peter MacIntyre is Professor of Psychology at Cape Breton University, Canada. His research interests centre on the role of affective variables in communication, including ways in which anxiety, motivation, and willingness to communicate influence both native and second language use. Sarah Mercer is a lecturer at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research interests include all aspects of language learner psychology in particular affect, beliefs, mindsets, and the self. Recently she has become especially interested in complexity perspectives on these areas. She is

xiv Notes on Contributors the author of the book Towards an understanding of language learner self-concept. Naoko Morita is a lecturer at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her research interests include sociocultural and sociopolitical perspectives on identity and language learning, academic discourse socialization in multilingual educational contexts, and heritage language education and maintenance. Tim Murphey is a professor at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. His research interests include transdisciplinary understandings of agency, identity, community, motivation, and learning. He is co-author of Group dynamics in the language classroom and the author of Teaching one to one and Language hungry! Richard Pemberton was an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham, UK, until ill health forced him to withdraw from work in December 2011. He taught on the MA TESOL programme and supervised PhD students, and his research interests included self-directed language learning and the development of criticality. With his customary generosity of spirit, he remained committed to seeing his chapter through to completion. Sadly, Richard died on 19 January 2012 at the age of 54. Stephen Ryan is a professor in the School of Economics at Senshu University, Japan. He is interested in all aspects of language learning psychology, but especially issues of learner motivation and identity connected to the role of English as a language of globalization. Ema Ushioda is Associate Professor in ELT and Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK, where she jointly coordinates the MA ELT programmes. Her main research interests are language learning motivation, autonomy, sociocultural theory, and teacher development. Recent publications (with Zoltán Dörnyei) include Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.) and Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Marion Williams was formerly Reader in Applied Linguistics at the University of Exeter, UK, where she coordinated the postgraduate programmes in TESOL. She is interested in all aspects of psychology in language learning. Her research interests include motivation, attributions,

Notes on Contributors xv and teacher education. She is the joint author of Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach, Thinking through the curriculum, and Teaching young learners to think. Lindy Woodrow is Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her research interests include language learning psychology, especially motivation, self-efficacy, and anxiety. She is the author of the book Adaptive second language learning: The case of EAP students. Tomoko Yashima is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication at Kansai University, Japan. Her research interests include intercultural contact, acculturation, attitudes, motivation, and affect in L2 learning. She is the author of the books published in Japanese: Motivation and affect in foreign language communication and L2 communication and intercultural adaptation.