Factors affecting a successful language learner
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25170/ijelt.v8i1.1529Keywords:
EFL, succesful learning, teacher's role, parental influence, self motivationAbstract
This paper reports an investigation of factors affecting a successful language learner. It describes how events throughout the learning processes support the learners in becoming successful in learning English as a second language (EFL). Data was collected from personal experiences regarding English language learning by the three student participants and three lecturer participants in the English Department Manado State University, Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews and personal narratives were used to gather the data. There were three key themes generated from the interview data: family and community, institutional influences and individual factors. The findings highlight that family members, teachers and individuals play important roles in supporting learners becoming successful in learning English.
References
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Laine, E. J. (1988). The affective filter in foreign language learning and teaching. Report 2: A validation study of filtering factors with a focus on the learner's FL self-concept. (No. Jyvaskyla Cross-Language Studies No. 15). Finland: Jyvaskyla University, Dept. of English.
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Lin, A. M. Y., Wang, W., Akamatsu, N., & Riazi, M. (2002). Appropriating English, expanding identities, and re-visioning the field: From TESOL to teaching Englishf for glocalized communication (TEGCOM). Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 1(4), 295-316.
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Morris, F. A. (2001). Language learning motivation for the class of (2002): Why first-year Puerto Rican high school students learn English. Language and Education, 15(4), 269-278.
Norton, B. (1989). Towards a pedagogy of possibility in the teaching of English internationally: People's English in South Africa. TESOL Quarterly, 23(3), 401-420.
Norton, B. & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35(2), 307-322.
Oxford, R & Shearin, J. 1994. Language learning motivation: Expanding the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal, 78(1), 12-28.
Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis (Vol. 30). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Tremblay, P. F. & Gardner, R. C. (1995). Expanding the motivation construct in language Learning. The Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 505-520.
White, H. (1973). Meta-history: The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Brumfit, C., (Ed). (1995). Teaching english to children: From practice to principle. Essex: Longman.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1993). Critical ethnography of a Sri Lankan classroom: Ambiguities in Student Opposition to Reproduction through ESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 27(4), 601-626.
Clyne, M. (Ed.). (1986). An early start: Second language at primary school. Melbourne: River Seine.
Crookes, G.and Schmidt, R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopening the research agenda. Language Learning, 41(4), 469-512.
Crystal, D. (1997). The Cambridge encyclopaedia of language (Second Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dornyei, Z. (1994a). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language Classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 273-284.
Dornyei, Z. (1994b). Understanding L2 motivation: On with the challenge. The Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 515-523.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ely, C. M. (1986). Language learning motivation: A descriptive and causal analysis. The Modern Language Journal, 70(1), 28-35.
Gardner, R. C. (1983). Learning another language: A true social psychological experiment. Journal of Language and Social psychology, 2(2-4), 219-239.
Gardner, R. C. (1990). Attitudes, motivation, and personality as predictors of success in foreign language learning. In T. S. Parry & C. W. Stansfield (Eds.), Language Aptitude Reconsidered (pp. 179-221). Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
Gardner, R. C. & Lambert, W. E. 1972. Attitudes and motivation in second-language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Gardner, R. C., Masgoret, A. M. & Tremblay, P. F. (1999). Home background characteristics and second language learning. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18(4), 409-437.
Gardner, R. C., Smythe, P. C., Kirby, D. M., & Bramwell, J. R. (1974). Second language acquisition: A social psychological approach (No. Research Bulletin No. 32). Ontario: Ministry of Education.
Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Labov, W. (1972). The Transformation of experience in narrative syntax. In W. Labov (Ed.), Language in the inner city: Studies in the black English vernacular. (pp. 354-396). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Laine, E. J. (1978). Foreign language learning motivation: Old and new variables. Paper presented at the 5th Congress of L'Association Internationale De Linguistique Appliquee, Montreal.
Laine, E. J. (1988). The affective filter in foreign language learning and teaching. Report 2: A validation study of filtering factors with a focus on the learner's FL self-concept. (No. Jyvaskyla Cross-Language Studies No. 15). Finland: Jyvaskyla University, Dept. of English.
LeBlanc, J. C. (1997). The Fundamentals of second-language teaching. Mosaic, 5(1), 3-8.
Lin, A. M. Y., Wang, W., Akamatsu, N., & Riazi, M. (2002). Appropriating English, expanding identities, and re-visioning the field: From TESOL to teaching Englishf for glocalized communication (TEGCOM). Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 1(4), 295-316.
Mills, J. (2001). Self-constuction<sic> through Conversation and Narrative in Interviews. Educational Review, 53(3), 285-301.
Morris, F. A. (2001). Language learning motivation for the class of (2002): Why first-year Puerto Rican high school students learn English. Language and Education, 15(4), 269-278.
Norton, B. (1989). Towards a pedagogy of possibility in the teaching of English internationally: People's English in South Africa. TESOL Quarterly, 23(3), 401-420.
Norton, B. & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35(2), 307-322.
Oxford, R & Shearin, J. 1994. Language learning motivation: Expanding the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal, 78(1), 12-28.
Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis (Vol. 30). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Tremblay, P. F. & Gardner, R. C. (1995). Expanding the motivation construct in language Learning. The Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 505-520.
White, H. (1973). Meta-history: The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
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2012-05-31
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