Personality factors as predictors of foreign language aptitude
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Date
2011-12
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Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
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Abstract
The study addresses a problem which is inadequately investigated in second
language acquisition research, that is, personality predictors of foreign language
aptitude. Specifically, it focuses on the Five Factor model which includes Openness
to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism
(Costa & McCrae, 1992) as traits differentiating gifted and nongifted foreign
language learners and predicting results of foreign language aptitude tests.
Although contemporary researchers generally agree that affect is an important
variable in second language acquisition, most empirical studies demonstrate
that personality factors are weakly correlated with cognitive abilities and that
their contribution to the ultimate attainment is minor (cf. Robinson & Ellis,
2008). On the other hand, these factors constitute an integral part of cognitive
ability development (cf. Dörnyei, 2009); therefore, neglecting them in research
on foreign language aptitude would be unjustified. The following study is an attempt
to analyze the Five Factors in two groups of learners: gifted and
nongifted. In order to answer the question as to which and to what extent personality
factors have a predictive effect on foreign language aptitude, the results
were subjected to a multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study are
presented and discussed in a wider context of research on cognitive abilities.
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Keywords
The Five Factors, Personality, Foreign language aptitude, Gifted foreign language learners
Citation
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2011, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 467-489.