Factors in success

Age. Influence of L1. Influence of other L2s. Affective considerations. Exposure. Motivation. Use. Teacher and teaching style. Work-rate.

Other factors that may affect learning.

Sex Personality Language learning aptitude General intelligence Learning style Learning history Motivation

Motivation

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic Motivation refers to when we do the task for its own sake, because doing it brings us feelings of pleasure, satisfaction or accomplishment. Challenging tasks are welcomed. Examples of tasks performed for intrinsic reasons could include: reading novels in your spare time, doing sports with friends, doing crossword puzzles. Extrinsic motivation refers to when we do tasks in order to attain some external, tangible reward or to avoid some form of punishment. Because they are no more than a means to an end, easy rather than challenging tasks are preferred. Examples of tasks performed for extrinsic reasons could be: revising for an exam, working overtime in a job you dont really enjoy, paying your taxes.

Motivation

There is a strong consensus among researchers that intrinsic motivation is the most powerful. Extrinsic motivation has a far weaker effect on performance, and some studies have even suggested that adding an extrinsic reward to an already intrinsically motivating task in fact worsens performance!

Motivation
Integrative vs. instrumental motivation The integrative / instrumental model is specifically associated with foreign and second language learning and is central to the work of Robert Gardner and his fellow researchers. It is sometimes confused with the extrinsic / intrinsic model but it is not the same though there does seem to be a fair degree of overlap between the instrumental motivation described here and the extrinsic motivation outlined above.

Motivation
Integrative vs. Instrumental motivation A learner with integrative motivation has an interest in the second or foreign language community, wants to communicate with speakers of that language and, at least to some degree, to integrate with their culture. A learner with instrumental motivation studies a language with a view to achieving particular goals to do with employment, qualifications, or for political (or even military) reasons. They may be indifferent or even hostile to the foreign language community. (It is said that Osama bin Laden speaks passable English; his motivation for learning was presumably not integrative.)

Motivation

Studies have shown that both types of motivation can account for successful language learning. Perhaps not surprisingly, integrative motivation has proven to be the more powerful in English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts, where learners are living in an environment where English is the day-to-day language. In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, where English is not widely spoken outside the classroom, instrumental motivation appears to be more decisive.