What do we know about individuals who reach near-native 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. The study, following common thought, expected to find similarities among the best language learners. Actually, that turned out not to be the case. While almost all individuals in the study had firm opinions about how to acquire a foreign language successfully, these opinions, experiences, and approaches did not always coincide with each other. Whether they had learned a foreign language through flashcards, memorization, rehearsal, and performance, in country, or through much self-study, they almost routinely felt that their way was the best. (We will report on other characteristics in future Thursday blog posts.) --- M