TY - JOUR
T1 - Tracking the dynamic nature of learner individual differences
T2 - Initial results from a longitudinal study
AU - Jung, Daniel
AU - Dibartolomeo, Megan
AU - Melero-García, Fernando
AU - Giacomino, Lindsay
AU - Gurzynski-Weiss, Laura
AU - Henderson, Carly
AU - Hidalgo, Marian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Adam Mickiewicz University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Individual differences (IDs) have long been considered one of the most important factors explaining variable rates and outcomes in second language acquisition (Dewaele, 2013). While traditional operationalizations of IDs have, explicitly or im-plicitly, assumed that IDs are static traits that are stable through time, more recent research inspired by complex dynamic systems theory (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2020) demonstrates that many IDs are dynamic and variable through time and across contexts, a theme echoed throughout the current issue. This study reports the initial semester of a diachronic project investigating the dynamicity of four learner IDs: motivation, personality, learning and cognitive styles, and working memory. In the initial semester, data from 323 participants in their first year of university-level Spanish were collected and analyzed to determine what type of variability may be present across learners with respect to the four IDs studied at one time point and to discern possible learner profiles in the data or patterns via which the data may be otherwise meaningfully described. The results revealed four types of learner profiles present in the dataset.
AB - Individual differences (IDs) have long been considered one of the most important factors explaining variable rates and outcomes in second language acquisition (Dewaele, 2013). While traditional operationalizations of IDs have, explicitly or im-plicitly, assumed that IDs are static traits that are stable through time, more recent research inspired by complex dynamic systems theory (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2020) demonstrates that many IDs are dynamic and variable through time and across contexts, a theme echoed throughout the current issue. This study reports the initial semester of a diachronic project investigating the dynamicity of four learner IDs: motivation, personality, learning and cognitive styles, and working memory. In the initial semester, data from 323 participants in their first year of university-level Spanish were collected and analyzed to determine what type of variability may be present across learners with respect to the four IDs studied at one time point and to discern possible learner profiles in the data or patterns via which the data may be otherwise meaningfully described. The results revealed four types of learner profiles present in the dataset.
KW - Cluster analysis
KW - Dynamicity
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Spanish
KW - individual differences
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U2 - 10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.9
DO - 10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083230208
SN - 2083-5205
VL - 10
SP - 177
EP - 219
JO - Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
JF - Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
IS - 1
ER -