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 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...