Research Proposal 22.docx

Research Proposal 22.docx

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ResearchProposal22

PersonalityandEnglishLearning

Chapter1.Introduction

Sincetheearly1970s,researchersinthefieldofL2teachingandlearninghaveshiftedtheirattentionfromteachingmethodstolearners’characteristicsandtheirinfluenceonL2acquisition.Withtheinfluenceofsuchashift,moreandmoreresearchershavefocusedonindividuallearnerdifferencessuchaslearningstrategyandlearners’personality.

AccordingtoRodEllis’secondlanguageacquisitionmodel,individuallearnerdifferencesalongwithvarioussituationalfactorsdeterminelearners’choiceoflearningstategies.Thesefactorscanbecategorizedintotwotypes:

individuallearnerdifferencesandsituationalfactors.Alotofresearchhasbeendonetoinvestigatetherelationshipbetweenlearners’personality,theiradoptionoflanguagestrategyandtheirL2achievement.InChina,however,researchonthisissueissomewhatscarce,especiallyinuniversities.Thus,thepresentthesisaimsatinvestigatingtherelationshipbetweenextroversion/introversionpersonality,EnglishlearningstrategyandEnglishachievementofEnglishmajorsinChina.Insodoing,L2teacherscanhaveabetterunderstandingofhowlearnerswithdifferentpersonalitylearnEnglish,thuscanletstudentsbuildself-awarenessandturnthepersonalitytotheiradvantageinordertoimprovetheirEnglishstudy.

[Keywords]personalityextraversion/introversionlearningstrategyEnglishachievement

Chapter2.LiteratureReview

2.1ResearchintoBasicTermsofPersonality

Inthispart,variousdefinitionsandclassificationsofpersonalityareputforward.

2.1.1DefinitionsofPersonality

IntheEncyclopediaBritannica（volume6,1786）,personalityisdefinedas“thecharacteristicwayinwhichaparticularindividualthinks,feels,andbehaves.Personalityembracesaperson’smoods,attitudes,andopinionsandismostclearlyexpressedinhisintentionswithotherpeople.Personalityisthosebehavioralcharacteristics,bothinherentandacquired,whichdistinguisheachindividualandareobservableinhisrelationstotheenvironmentandtothesocialgroup.”

Manypersonalitypsychologistshavegivendifferentdefinitionsofpersonality:

Eysenk:

Personalityismoreorlessstableandenduringorganizationofapersona’scharacter,temperament,intellectandphysique,whichdetermineshisuniqueadjustmenttohisenvironment（p.496）.

Cattell:

Personalityisthatwhichpermitsapredictionofwhatapersonwilldoinagivensituation…Personalityis…concernedwithallthebehavioroftheindividual,bothovertandundertheskin（p.496）.

2.1.2Extraversion/Introversion

EysenckandChan（1982:

154）describeextraversionandintroversionasthefollowing:

Extraversionischaracterizedbybeingoutgoing,talkative,andactive.Extravertsaresocial,likeparties,havemanyfriendsandneedexcitement;theyarepassion-seekersandrisktakers,likepracticaljokesandarelivelyandactive.Onthecontrary,introvertsarechronicallyover-arousedandnervousandarethereforeinneedofpeaceandquiettobringthemuptooptimallevelofperformance.Theyarequiet,preferreadingtomeetingpeople,havefewbutclosefriendsandusuallyavoidexcitement.

Liebert（1974:

148）regardedtheintroversion-extraversioncontinuumastworatheroppositestylesindealingwithone’ssocialenvironment.Atoneextreme,anintrovertwouldbeshyandanxiousinallnewsocialsituationsandwouldmuchprefertowithdrawfrompeoplethantoapproachthem.Theextravert,incontrast,wouldbedistinguishedbyanunusualeaseamongpeopleandamarkedabilityandwillingnesstointroducehimselfandmakefriendswithpeople.

2.2.ResearchonExtraversion/IntroversionandL2Acquisition

ResearchesintheL2acquisitionfieldpayinggreatattentiontoextroversion/introversionpersonality,canbedividedintotwogroups.Thefirstgrouphavemaderesearchesontherelationshipbetweenextroversion/introversionandlanguagelearningachievements,whiletheothergroupontherelationshipbetweenextroversion/introversionandlanguagelearningstrategies.

Thefirstgroupofresearchersfindthatextrovertswouldperformbetterthantheirintrovertcounterpartsinbothoverallskillsandinsomespecificlanguageskills,especiallyinspeakingandlisteningskillsandthatextrovertedlearnersdobetterinacquiringbasicinterpersonalcommunicationskills.Strong（1983）foundthatextrovertchildrenlearntfaster.Robson（1992）foundthatlearnerswhowereextrovertandemotionallystableweremorelikelytoengageinoralactivitiesthantheintrovert.

StillsomescholarsdrawtheconclusionthattheintroverthaveanadvantageinEnglishperformanceasawholeandinsomespecificskillssuchaswriting,reading,grammarandthatintrovertedlearnerswilldobetteratdevelopingcognitiveacademiclanguageability.Busch（1982）foundanegativerelationshipwithL2proficiency.Wang（1990）foundthatpersonalityhaslittleinfluenceonone’scomprehensiveskills.Hu（2002）foundthatextravertdispositionbroughtpositiveeffectonlearningforeignlanguage.

However,theotherresearchersfindthatthereisnoobviousrelationshipbetweentheextroversion/introversionpersonalityandthelearners’Englishperformance.Lu（2002）foundthatthelearnerswhoweremidwaybetweenextroversionandintroversionperformedbest,andtheintrovertedlearnerstookthesecondplacewhiletheextrovertedonesweretheleastproficient.

InChina,onlyinrecentyears,someresearchersbegintoinvestigatetherelationbetweenextroversion/introversionpersonalityandtheemploymentoflanguagelearningstrategies.Wang（2005）investigatedthatthereexitedarelationshipbetweenpersonalitytypesandwritingstrategies,andpersonalitytypesplayedanimportantroleinwritingandthroughstrategiespersonalitytypesexertedinfluenceonwritingperformance.Zhang（2006）foundthatextrovertlearnerswereinclinedtouselearningstrategiesgenerallymorefrequentlythanintrovertlearnersandparticularlyintheuseofmemory,cognitiveandcompensationstrategies.TheresearchresultissimilarwiththatofTang（2005）,whoexposedthatextrovertsgenerallyemployedstrategiesmorefrequentlythatintroverts.

2.3LanguageLearningStrategies

Oxford（1990:

8）defineslanguagelearningstrategiesas“specificactionstakenbythelearnertomakelearningeasier,faster,moreenjoyable,moreself-directed,moreeffective,andmoretransferabletonewsituations.”

Chamot（1987:

71）putsforwardthat“learningstrategiesaretechniques,approaches,ordeliberateactionsthatstudentstakeinordertofacilitatethelearningandrecallofbothlinguisticandcontentareainformation.”

Cohen（2000:

4）believes“languagelearningandlanguageusestrategiescanbedefinedasthoseprocesseswhichareconsciouslyselectedbylearnersandwhichmayresultinactiontakentoenhancethelearningoruseofasecondlanguageorforeignlanguage,throughthestorage,retention,recall,andapplicationofinformationaboutthatlanguage”.

WenQiufang（1993）defineslearningstrategiesasactionstakenbylearnerforefficientlearning.Thedefinitionemphasizestwopoints：

（1）thepurposeofusingstrategiesistoimprovelearningefficiency;

（2）thenatureofstrategiesislearners’actionsratherthanideasandtheactionscanbebothexternalandinternal.

However,Ellis（1994）believesthatthebestapproachtodefininglearningstrategiesistolisttheirmaincharacteristics.Ellismakesalistofeightcharacteristics:

（1）Strategiesrefertobothgeneralapproachesandspecificactionsortechniquesusedtolearnasecondlanguage;

（2）Strategiesareproblem-orientated—thelearnerdeploysastrategytoovercomesomeparticularlearningproblem;（3）Learnersaregenerallyawareofthestrategiestheyuseandcanidentifywhattheyconsistofiftheyareaskedtopayattentiontowhattheyaredoing/thinking;（4）Strategiesinvolvelinguisticbehaviorandnon-linguisticbehavior;（5）Linguisticstrategiescanbeperformedinthesecondlanguageaswellasinthefirstlanguage;（6）Somestrategiesarebehavioralwhileothersaremental,thussomestrategiesaredirectlyobservable,whileothersarenot;（7）Inthemain,strategiescontributeindirectlytolearningbyprovidinglearnerswithdataaboutthesecondlanguagewhichtheycanthenprocess.However,somestrategiesmaycontributedirectly;（8）Strategies’employmentvariesconsiderablyasaresultofboththekindoftaskthelearnerisengagedinandindividuallearnerpreferences.

Allinall,learningstrategiesareactionstakenbylearnerstoaidtheacquisition,storage,andretrievalofinformation.Nomatterwhattheyarecalled,thereisnodoubtstrategiescanmakelearningefficientandeffective.

2.3.1ClassificationoflearningStrategies

Justasdifferentresearchersdefinelearningstrategydifferently,languagelearningstrategieshavebeenclassifiedbymanyscholarsindifferentways.

Amongdifferentclassificationsoflanguagelearningstrategies,Oxford’taxonomyis“perhapsthemostcomprehensiveclassificationoflearningstrategiestodate”（Ellis,1999:

530）.

Oxford（1990）dividedlanguagelearningstrategiesintotwogeneraltypes,directstrategiesandindirectstrategiesandtheycanbefurthersubdividedinto6groups.Directstrategiesrefertomemorystrategies,cognitivestategies,compensationstrategies,whileindirectstrategiesconsistofmetacognitivestrategies,affectivestrategiesandsocialstrategies.Amongthem,memorystrategiesaretechniquesadoptedtohelplearnerstoreandretrievenewinformationefficiently,includingcreatingmentallinkages,applyingimagesandsounds;andemployingactions.Cognitivestrategiesareskillsenablinglearnerstounderstandand