Educational and cultural background as a learner individual difference and the role of motivation in learning

Abstract

In the literature of learner characteristics in applied linguistics, learning attitudes, strategies and motivation have received most attention. These learner individual difference variables have usually been seen as background learner variables that modify and personalize the overall trajectory of the language acquisition processes (Dornyei, 2009).It means the individual differences of learner affect the learning and teaching process. And also, without any motivation or positive attitude, there can hardly be a successful process of learning. The question why people learn foreign languages can be put forward.A variety of factors can create a desire to learn. Perhaps the learners love the subject they have chosen, or maybe they are simply interested in seeing what it is like. Perhaps, as with young children, they just happen to be curious about everything, including learning. So, there are given some results of research on individual learner differences and the role of motivation in learning.