English Language Teaching in its Social Context

FACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING 29teacher ~ which characteristics seem to you most likely to be associated with succcss insecond language acquisition in the classroom? Which ones would you be less inclined toexpect in a successful learner?In each case rate the characteristic as follows:1 =Very important2 = Quite important3 = Important4 = Not very important5 = Not at all importantA good language learner:a is a willing and accurate guesserb tries to get a message across cvcn ifspecific language knowledge is lackingc is willing to make mistakesd constantly looks for patterns in the languagee practises as often as possiblef analyses his or her own speech and thespeech of othersg attends to whether his or her performancemeets the standards he or she has learnedh enjoys grammar exercisesi bcgins learning in childhoodj has an above-average IQk has good academic skills1 has a good self-image and lots of confidence1 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 5All of the characteristics listed above can be classified into five main categories: motivation,aptitude, personality, intclligcnce, and learner preferences. However, many of the characteristicscannot be assigned exclusively to one category. For example, the characteristic ‘iswilling to make mistakes’ can be considcrcd a personality and/or a motivational factor if thelearner is willing to make mistakes in order to get the message across.