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...

  Today's book excerpt comes from  Working with Advanced Foreign Language Students  by Boris Shekhtman . Some Characteristics of Advanced Language Learners  SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVANCED STUDENTS   Student-Language Relations So, what does having an advanced student mean to a teacher? It means, of course, that the student already speaks the foreign language with finesse, that the student already knows the host country pretty well, along with its history and culture, that he or she has seen quite a few foreign language teachers before now. (Typically, the advanced student has studied, if not mastered, several foreign languages [Belcher and Connor, 2001; Leaver and Atwell, 2002] and has already developed his or her own ideas about how to learn a foreign language [Ehrman, 2002; Leaver and Shekhtman, 2002].)  Language Learning Motivation and Goals  The advanced student is extremely motivated; rarely do such students study a language simply, so t...

  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 aspects of motivation considered was change in motivation over the rather long course of study/learning. A few interviewees did report a change in motivation over time, depending on place of learning (classroom, study abroad, on-the-job), and other variables. Typically, at earlier levels motivation may have been more intrinsic or achievement oriented; later it became more instrumental. One individual said that she “went from being an idealistic language learner to a realistic language user” (or from integrative to instrumental, in this particular case). Not enough inte...

  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 vicarious motivation. This complex type of mixed motivation was reported by a subset of individuals who were married to a native speaker of their foreign language. Of the roughly 40% of the group with foreign spouses, slightly more than 1/3 described what might be called “vicarious motivation.” The external driver was a relative, and, on the surface, the motivation to learn the language well for the spouse or children would seem to be an extrinsic motivation, perhaps not all that unlike motivation that comes from a teacher or ment...

  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 ...