10 - Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

This chapter discusses the individual differences in second language acquisition. There is some difference of opinion concerning the role of individual differences in second language acquisition. One view is that individual variation is an all-important factor—one that differentiates the process of second language acquisition from that of first language acquisition. The chapter discusses the cognitive and social strategies in second language learning. The cognitive problem facing the second language learners is an immense one. The cognitive problems are much more complex: Before the structures of the new language can be learned, the learner needs first to comprehend them. To deal with the task of learning a language that they have been largely unconcerned about learning, the children had to have some rather special cognitive and social strategies. The chapter discusses the strategies that were revealed through the interactional and linguistic records of the children. These strategies are both social strategies and the cognitive strategies.