Individual Differences In Second Language Acquisition Research Articles

Individual Differences in Second Language Learning: A Book Review of Kristin Kersten and Adam Winsler (2023) And Shaofeng Li, Phil Hiver, and Mostafa Papi (2022)

In second language acquisition (SLA), an understanding of individual differences (IDs) is the key to grasping both the variant and invariant aspects of it (Li et al. 2022: xxiv). Given the complex and dynamic role of IDs plays in the L2 learning process, researchers have made efforts to reach a clear, accurate, and comprehensive picture of how IDs work. However, current studies on IDs generally adopt a monolithic view lacking systematic integration, which fails to provide a meta-theory of IDs (Dörnyei 2009). The two books under review present relatively comprehensive, thorough, and updated accounts of ID research in SLA. Understanding Variability in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, and Cognition, situated from a multidisciplinary perspective of theory and method like psychology, sociology, and math, sets an example of innovative explorations of IDs in SLA and proposes a nested structure of multiple contextual levels to probe IDs. In contrast, The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences is an excellent encyclopaedia of ID research for its extensive breadth and depth. This book provides an overview of ID-related theories, research, pedagogy-oriented applications, and research methods. In short, these two contributions on IDs, are welcome additions to the traditional universalist perspective in SLA with significant implications for advancing both the theory and practice of IDs and SLA.

Investigating the Psychological and Emotional Dimensions in Instructed Language Learning: Obstacles and Possibilities

In this article I put forth the core argument that Second Language Acquisition (SLA) needs to account for the psychological and emotional dimensions of second language (L2) learning, but that a number of epistemological and methodological difficulties must be surmounted before this new research program can be a reality. To illustrate my arguments, I examine in depth 2 research programs developed by my colleagues and me over the last decade: research on extraversion as a psychological variable investigated within the tradition of individual differences in SLA, and research on the expression of emotion in the L2. Throughout the article, I argue against research isolationism and for more interdisciplinarity in the field of instructed SLA. I contend that research on instructed SLA would benefit from an increased methodological and epistemological diversity and that a focus on affect and emotion among researchers might inspire authors of teaching materials and foreign language teachers to pay increased attention to the communication of emotion and the development of sociocultural competence in a L2.