Personality differences
Perhaps an outgoing, sociable person learns a second language better than a
reserved, shy person. Again, the connection is not usually so straightforward.
Some researchers have investigated the familiar division between extrovert and
introvert personalities. In Jungian psychology the distinction applies to two ten-
dencies in the way that people interact with the world. Some people relate to
objects outside them, some to the interior world. Rossier (1975) found a link
between extroversion and oral fluency. Dewaele and Furnham (1999) found that
more complex tasks were easier for extrovert learners. There would seem to be a
fairly obvious connection to language teaching methods. The introverts might be
expected to prefer academic teaching that emphasises individual learning and
language knowledge; the extroverts audio-lingual or communicative teaching
that emphasizes group participation and social know-how.
Other individual variation
What else? Many other variations in the individual’s mental make-up have been
checked against L2 success.
Intelligence
Intelligence has some connection with school performance. There are links between
intelligence and aptitude in classrooms, as might be expected (Genesee, 1976).
Sex differences
Sex differences have also been investigated. The UK Assessment of Performance Unit
(1986) found English girls were better at French than English boys in all skills except
speaking. In my experience of talking with teachers it is true in every country that
second languages are more popular school subjects among girls. About 70 per cent
of undergraduates studying modern languages in the UK are women (Coleman,
1996). Using SILL, Green and Oxford (1995) found that women overall used more
learning strategies than men, particularly social strategies such as ‘Ask other person
to slow down or repeat’, and meaning strategies such as ‘Review English lessons
often’. Coleman (1996) found that women students were more embarrassed by their
mistakes.
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