What do we know about individuals who reach native-like levels in a foreign language?
Achieving Native-Like Second Language Proficiency (Speaking) by Betty Lou Leaver is a research-based catalogue of factors that would seem to predict ability to reach the highest level of foreign language proficiency and is based on common characteristics shared by more than 200 near-native speakers, identified by self-report, survey, and interviews by master testers. Following up on previous posts, one of the motivational frameworks considered was achievement motivation. Twenty-six percent of the interviewees mentioned several aspects of achievement motivation . Many of them said that performing well in language learning was important to them, or at least had been so in at early levels of proficiency when they were in beginning language classes. In a few cases, interviewees defined “doing well” as getting a good grade; more commonly, these being adult learners, they defined it as earning the respect and approbation of their peers in the same class. (Teacher approbation has ...