MSI Press Blog

  Learning a foreign language is often seen as a battle between natural talent and sheer determination. Some believe that those with an innate aptitude for languages will effortlessly soar to near-native proficiency, while others argue that persistence trumps talent. Research by Leaver, published in the Journal of Distinguished Language Studies   2003 ("Interviews with High-Level Speakers: Surprises in the Data") , weighs in on this debate, revealing that those who reached near-native fluency overwhelmingly credited tenacity as the key factor—more than any other kind of motivation . More Than Just Motivation Language learners often rely on different types of motivation to drive their progress: Instrumental motivation – learning a language for practical benefits like career advancement or academic success. Integrative motivation – learning to become part of a new culture, forming connections with native speakers. Intrinsic motivation – enjoying the learning process itsel...

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. Among the variables studied, motivation turned out to be a mixed bag, and somewhat unpredicted. Several frameworks of motivation were considered.  Interviewees mentioned both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for enrolling and succeeding in foreign language study. Many individuals were both extrinsically and intrinsically motivated; each form of motivation contributed in its own way to the individual’s willingness to continue learning through near-native levels of proficiency. Roughly 88% of the interviewees identified their motivation as something that could be classified extrinsic, including 82% that were cle...