Learners’ Personality

Every single learner had a unique personality. Some of their personality is good for learning process and the other personality is not enough to reach the goals. A “good” language learners distinguished by performance at “Level Four” (on a five-point scale) on an oral interview test that uses the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) level definitions (Federal Interagency Language Roundtable, 1999). Level Four proficiency, also referred to at one time by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages as “Distinguished” proficiency, implies almost no limitations on the ability of the individual to use the language, including control of multiple registers, fine lexical distinctions, and pragmatic skill close to native. Some refer to this level as “near-native” (Leaver and Shekhtman, 2002).

A “good” language learner

A “good” language learner is a willing and accurate guesser, tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking, they are willing to make mistakes, constantly looks for patterns in the language, practices as often as possible, analyzes his or her own speech and the speech of others, etc.

Personality characteristics

There are a number of personality characteristics that may affect language learning process, such as:

Motivation

Dörnyei (2001) – a process-oriented model of motivation that consists of 3 phases:

1. choice motivation: getting started and setting goals

2. executive motivation: carrying out the necessary tasks to maintain motivation

3. motivation retrospection: appraisal of and reaction to learners’ performance

Extroversion and introversion

Extraversion and Introversion are seen as “complementary attitudes or orientations of energy. In the Extraverted attitude, energy and attention flow out, or are drawn out, to the objects and people in the environment” (Myers, McCauley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998, pp. 25-26). Extraverts will therefore, be energized by interaction with others and will be keen to interact, often showing “a desire to ‘talk things out’ ” (Myers et al., 1998, p. 26), particularly in the first instance to aid with learning activities such as problem solving and analysis.

Inhibition and risk-taking

It has been suggested that inhibition discourages risk-taking, which is necessary for progress in language learning. Inhibition is often considered to be a particular problem for adolescents, who are more self-conscious than younger learners. Inhibition is a negative force, at least for second language pronunciation performance. Be aware that inhibition may have more influence in language performance than in language learning

Anxiety

There are two type of anxiety, trait anxiety and state anxiety:

1. Trait anxiety: a more permanent predisposition to be anxious

2. State anxiety: a type of anxiety experienced in relation to some particular event or act; temporary and context-specific

Conclusion

The “good” learner need the best teacher and the organized class that support the characteristics of learner. The condition of the class should be prepared for all types of characteristics, for example: if the learner are in introvert personality that enjoy individual or one-on-one activities, energized by ideas, prefer concentrating on a few tasks at one time, think before discussing or deciding, and tend to observe and reflect. The teaching style must accommodate with those situation. The lecturer or teacher need to organize and structure learning activities, attuned to topic being taught, and prefer quiet and orderly classrooms. Each personality needs different learning style.

Sources

Chen, Emily. (2008, September 20). “Personal factors”, (3 Factors Affecting L2 Learning). Available: (Accessed: 2013, November 19)

Zimmerman, A. P., Johnson, R. G., Hoover, T. S., Hilton, J. W., Heinemann, P. H., & Buckmaster, D. R. (2006). Comparison of Personality Types and Learning Styles of Engineering Students, Agricultural Systems Management Students, and Faculty in an Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University

Nosratinia, Mania. (2012). The Effect of personality Type, Learning Styles and Strategies on Iranian MA EFL Learners. Tehran: Islamic Azad University

Ellis, A. E. (2006). Personality type and learning environments: Two case studies. Victoria: Swinburne University of Technology

Ehrman, Madeline. (2009). Personality and good language learners. QuarkXPress

Ram´ırez-Esparza, N., Harris, K., Hellermann, J., Richard, C., Kuhl, P. K., & Reder, S. (2011), Language Learning 62:2, June 2012, pp. 541–570. Michigan: University of Michigan

Richardson, R. C. & Anker, E. (2010). Personalities in the Classroom: Making the Most of Them. Kappa Delta Pi Record