Expanding Individual Difference Research in the Interaction Approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors demonstrates why investigating the individual differences of all interlocutors with whom learners interact – including peer and heritage learners, instructors, researchers, and native speakers – is critical to understanding how second and foreign languages are taught and learned. Through state-of-the-art syntheses detailing what is known about learners and instructors, and novel empirical studies highlighting new avenues of inquiry, the volume articulates the most pressing needs for individual difference research. The book concludes with a scoping review, which reveals the many interlocutors still yet to be empirically considered and outlines next steps for this research. Uniquely combining linguistic theory, research synthesis, and empirical study, this book encourages students and established scholars alike to expand their conceptualization of individual differences. By demonstrating the importance of considering the individual differences of all interlocutors, the studies are also highly relevant to those teaching second and foreign languages in diverse contexts.

This book examines the role of interlocutors and their individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) development from four theoretical lenses: the cognitive-interactionist approach, sociocultural theory, the variationist approach, and complex dynamic systems theory. A theoretical overview to each approach is written by a preeminent scholar in the framework, and each overview is followed by an empirical study that demonstrates how interlocutor IDs can be fruitfully researched within that framework. To maximize readability and impact, the chapters follow common organizing questions, inviting the engagement of L2 researchers, students, and teachers alike.Collectively, the chapters in the current volume initiate a cohesive discussion of the theoretical roles of the interlocutor within these four popular approaches to SLA; illustrate how interlocutor IDs influence L2 opportunities and/or development; present innovative, original empirical research on interlocutors and their IDs within each approach; and provide theoretical, empirical, and methodological guidance for future research on interlocutors and their IDs. A powerful contribution of this volume, highlighted in the concluding chapter’s synthesis, is the common call across all four approaches for the irrefutable role and need for research on interlocutors and their IDs. The volume also demonstrates how, despite theoretical and methodological differences, the four approaches are advancing congruently toward a more robust understanding of the multifaceted and dynamic nature of all interlocutors and their IDs, and thus toward a more complete and accurate picture of their influence on L2 development.

This book syntheses cutting-edge research on the role of individual differences (IDs) in the field of SLA and in computer assisted language learning. It also outlines the theoretical and methodological issues at the heart of this research, presents empirical findings and charts future directions of this research. Pawlak and Kruk provide an overview of the latest theoretical developments in research on IDs in SLA as well as methodological considerations that are crucial when researching individual variation, with special emphasis on data-collection procedures that are most prominent in CALL. The book goes on to summarize and explore a body of empirical evidence concerning the role of individual difference factors in CALL, singling out existing gaps, methodological problems, and areas in need of further investigation. Finally, the authors provide a guide on how empirical investigations of individual difference factors in CALL can be improved by incorporating latest developments from the broader field of SLA. This book will be of great interest to postgraduates and scholars in the domain of applied linguistics and second language education who are interested in CALL, as well as those studying and undertaking research in second language learning and teaching.

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences provides a thorough, in-depth discussion of the theory, research, and pedagogy pertaining to the role individual difference (ID) factors play in second language acquisition (SLA). It goes beyond the traditional repertoire and includes 32 chapters covering a full spectrum of topics on learners’ cognitive, conative, affective, and demographic/sociocultural variation. The volume examines IDs from two perspectives: one is how each ID variable is associated with learning behaviors, processes, and outcomes; the other is how each domain of SLA, such as vocabulary or reading, is affected by clusters of ID variables. The volume also includes a section on the common methods used in ID research, including data elicitation instruments such as surveys, interviews, and psychometric testing, as well as methods of data analysis such as structural equation modeling. The book is a must-read for any second language researcher or applied linguist interested in investigating the effects of IDs on language learning, and for any educator interested in taking account of learners’ individual differences to maximize the effects of second language instruction.

This book presents comprehensive, thorough and updated analyses of key cognitive individual difference factors (e.g., age, intelligence, language aptitude, working memory, metacognition, learning strategies, and anxiety) as they relate to the acquisition, processing, assessment, and pedagogy of second or foreign languages. Critical reviews and in-depth research syntheses of these pivotal cognitive learner factors are put into historical and broader contexts, drawing upon the multiple authors' extensive research experience, penetrating insights and unique perspectives spanning applied linguistics, teacher training, educational psychology, and cognitive science. The carefully crafted chapters provide essential course readings and valuable references for seasoned researchers and aspiring postgraduate students in the broad fields of instructed second language acquisition, foreign language training, teacher education, language pedagogy, educational psychology, and cognitive development.

This volume consists of a collection of empirical studies and research syntheses investigating the role of individual difference (ID) variables in task-based language teaching (TBLT)—a pedagogical approach that emphasizes the importance of the performance of meaning-oriented tasks in facilitating second language learning. TBLT is subject to learner-external as well as learner-internal factors, with the former referring to task- and context-related factors, and the latter to ID factors pertaining to learner traits, dispositions, or propensities. To date, the research has focused primarily on learner-external factors, and there has been insufficient and unsystematic research on individual difference factors. This volume brings centre stage this important but under-researched dimension by means of a comprehensive, in-depth examination of the role of key ID factors in TBLT. The volume integrates theory, research, and pedagogy by spelling out the mechanism through which IDs influence learning attainment, behaviours, and processes, examining evidence for theoretical claims, and discussing ways to apply research findings and cater to individual differences in the task-based classroom.

The Routledge Handbook of Instructed Second Language Acquisition is the first collection of state-of-the-art papers pertaining to Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA). Written by 45 world-renowned experts, the entries are full-length articles detailing pertinent issues with up-to-date references. Each chapter serves three purposes: (1) provide a review of current literature and discussions of cutting edge issues; (2) share the authors’ understanding of, and approaches to, the issues; and (3) provide direct links between research and practice. In short, based on the chapters in this handbook, ISLA has attained a level of theoretical and methodological maturity that provides a solid foundation for future empirical and pedagogical discovery. This handbook is the ideal resource for researchers, graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, teachers, and teacher-educators who are interested in second language learning and teaching. .