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LEARNER`S PERSONALITY – does it matter?

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LEARNER’S PERSONALITY – does it matter?

The present paper will deal with the problem of personality differences of the learner. The aim of the paper is to prove that the process of learning a foreign language by an extrovert and introvert is not alike. What is more I will show that it is crucial for teachers to get to know their students and their needs if they want to teach and develop learner’s language skills effectively. I will evidence that activities are more useful when their selection is based on previous observation of a learner. The experiment will be conducted in order to confirm that assumption. In the experiment, which will consist of two parts, two learners (an extrovert and introvert) and their learning will be scrutinized.

 

 

1.1. The aim and description of the research

            In the present paper I will try to prove that personality of the student is a very important factor in a process of foreign language acquiring. I will also show that it is crucial for the teacher to be aware of the student’s personality type.

               The research will be conducted on two students whom I meet weekly and teach English in one-to-one style. At the very beginning of my research I assume that the students who will be searched are similar in many aspects but are representatives of two opposite personality types. I made this assumption on the basis of the knowledge about my students which I had gather through some initial observations and a short interview which I made before starting the research.

               The first step will be to find the similarities in the two pupils. The factors like age, the attitude towards learning the language, aim of our meetings etc will be taken into account. While looking for the likenesses I will pay a special attention to the level of proficiency of both pupils and one subchapter will be devoted to examining it. The students will be given different tasks in which I will check their language skills. Then I will test my students on personality type. Here the personality test based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator will be introduced. In this way I will show that personality is the main difference between the two and that it is the factor that shapes the course of our meetings and the process of learning in general. In this part of the paper I will attempt at confirming my assumption concerning the common and distinctive agents of both students.

               In the further part of the research I will introduce varied tasks to the students and will observe and compare their course. First I will want to see how the pupils of varied personality types respond to the skill which is thought to be the most difficult – speaking. I will describe how the activity was taken by the students (what the reaction to it was) and how it went in the case of both learners. Then I will be interested in finding out how my students respond to activities which are believed to be pleasurable, relaxing and such that introduce some fun to the process of learning the language (those will be called “fun activities”). After I carry out the fun activity I will move on to introducing to the students a regular activity in which no fun factor is engaged (those will be called “non-fun activities”). Like in the case of the fun activity I will observe and compare the attitude of the learners to them and their course.

               In the research I hope to spot different reactions and what follows, dissimilar needs of the learners. For my research two methods of getting information about students (observation and interview) will be used.

 

4.1.1. The methods used in the research

               There are many methods of gathering data about the student which the teacher can use. Many authors, among whom there are Janowski A. (1975) and Łobocki M. (2006) devote some chapters or even the whole books to describing various methods and techniques of pedagogical searches. The two of them seemed to me to be the most useful and providing the greatest amount of information.

 

4.1.1.1. Observation

               Observation is not only seeing some facts, events or phenomena. It is the way we see, gather and interpret received data in their natural course and remaining within observer’s sight. In the terms of school, the mentioned elements of observation appear in the following order: seeing, recording (often in form of written relation) and attempt at data interpreting. Observation is very useful in various researches as it allows to state some hypothesizes and is helpful in their later confirmation (Łobocki, 2006: 117 – 119). The author points out on many advantages of that method. Thanks to observation teachers are able to get to know their students and the reasons of their certain behaviour. This method can be used anywhere, at any time and fits all the age groups (we cannot use for example the method of questionnaire with small children as they cannot write). The other important plus of the method is that thanks to it teachers can constantly improve their didactic work. By the observation of students, their reactions and behaviour teachers can notice also their own mistakes and eliminate them in the future work.

 

4.1.1.2. Questionnaire

               Janowski (1975: 173) defines a questionnaire as addressing some questions to a person. The interviewers (people who introduce a questionnaire), even though they get answers to the asked questions, does not get the information about the researched matter. By paying attention to the questioned person’s gestures, non-verbal signals etc. and reading through the lines data that are looked for are received. The author points out that creating the atmosphere of safety and trust is here of great importance. The student must feel at ease and have conditions to concentrate and relax at the same time. That is why a student should be affirmed that for example they spelling, handwriting etc. do not matter.

 

4.2. The course of the research       

4.2.1. Part 1

               I had known my students for several weeks before I started my research hence I have gathered some basic information about them. I already knew the most obvious thing like the gender – they are both boys. I was aware of the fact that they attend the same school and class so I assumed that they are the same age and that the purpose of our one-to-one meetings is to get prepared for the Matura exam (secondary school certificate). In this part of the paper I will take a closer look at my students in order to get more information about them. Here I want to find shared and distinctive features of the two learners. For that purpose I prepared series of tasks and questionnaires.

 

4.2.1.1. Examining the students for similarities

4.2.1.1.1. Basic data about the students

               I needed various information about my students. From the reading I have done I knew all the aspects that the teacher must not forget about while establishing the way of approaching the student. Since the list of those is vastly developed I decided to choose only a few and take a closer look at them. I picked the following points: attitude of the learner towards learning and the language itself, purpose of learning, age, gender and the type of motivation. I prepared the questionnaire consisting of ten questions, nine of which are open, and one is of a multiple choice kind (appendix 1). The questionnaire is a tool by which I wanted to gather necessary data, the similarities.

               I handed the sheet to the students at the beginning of one of our meetings as a warm-up activity. I asked them to read the questions aloud, ask me for the meaning of some words if necessary and give an honest answer to each question. After filling the questionnaire I continued the meeting with the issues planned for the lesson.

               After the questionnaire was carried out with both students I analyzed filled sheets and interpreted provided data. I prepared a table in which I summed up the information.

 

Table 2. Similarities between the two students

Factor

Student A

Student B

Age

Gender

Motivation

 

Purpose of learning

Attitude towards learning

Attitude towards the language

19

male

extrinsic (to pass the exam)

to pass the exam

positive

positive

18

male

extrinsic (to pass the exam)

to pass the exam

positive

positive

 

 

               As the table clearly shows the students are of the same sex. There is a slight age difference but for my research it is of no importance as my pupils still belong to the same age group – they can both be rated among teenagers. Questions number 3, 4 and 5 of the questionnaire I prepared were intended to be a source of some data about the students’ connections with the language they had had before they came to meet me. They also gave me a preliminary view on the level of proficiency in English which will be deeply scrutinized in the next chapter. Here I might make a statement that the level of both students is alike; however I would like to refrain from doing so, as at the moment arriving at any conclusions may not be objective. I expect to get clear, undeniable evidence for my presumptions only in the next chapter.  The answers to the entries 6 – 10 of the questionnaire were to give me clue about learners’ motivation, purpose of learning, attitude towards learning and the language. First I wanted to establish the kind of motivation. For that purpose I made use of the answers to ninth question of the questionnaire. Brown (1994:38) says that: “Extrinsically motivated behaviours, on the other hand, are carried out in anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond the self. Typical extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades…” Since for both of the questioned students the main reason of learning, the prior driving force is the preparation for the examination and positive grade on the Matura exam I conclude that we have here to do with the extrinsic type of motivation. Extrinsic type of motivation, however, does not mean that the students cannot have a positive attitude towards learning the language and be willing to do so. The answers to questions 6, 7 and 10 prove that, to certain degree, there is an interest in the target language. That is conductive to positive attitude which I observed in the case of the students A and B.

 

4.2.1.1.2. Level of proficiency

               I decided to test my students on all four skills in order to have a clear picture of their level of English. From some previous observations and the questionnaire (see chapter 4.2.1.1.1.) I assumed that both learners might be at more or less intermediate level but I wanted to have an irrefutable confirmation.

               I intended one of my weekly meetings with the searched students on establishing their level of proficiency. Without informing my learners about the research being conducted I moved to checking skills on by one. I conducted the whole test on the student A, a few days later on the student B.

               The first step was to check the student’s reading and speaking ability. I prepared a text for intermediate students (appendix 2) by which not only was I able to monitor pronunciation, but also knowledge of vocabulary, grammar constructions and translating expressions and sentences into Polish. At the beginning I asked student A to read the text aloud and underline unknown vocabulary. The next task for him was to try to guess the meaning of the marked words from the context. In the case of trouble I helped him by giving some clues in English or providing with the Polish equivalent of the word. Then I chose some sentences or expressions (the ones that include some problematic constructions or vocabulary) and had the student translate them into mother tongue. This activity was followed by reading and answering the questions concerning the text (see appendix 2) and a short discussion about animals. The student was asked to try to give the answers using his own words. He was allowed to use the text as a base but I wanted to force him into creating his own sentences. In this way I was able to keep account on my student’s ability of speaking (creating correct sentences and expressing one’s thoughts). Two skills – listening and writing were still to be tested. For listening I handed a listening task (appendix 3) consisting of two parts. The student started from reading the instruction for the first part and making sure that he knows what he is expected to do. Here he was given a list of items out of which he was supposed to tick only those, that were mentioned on the recording. Before listening to the recording for the second time I asked the pupil to read instruction for the further section of the listening and the sentences placed under it. This time the student had to face the task of true or false type. I played the recording for the second time. After that student was given a while to analyze his answers, then I played the tape for the third time so that he could make sure whether he was right or not. In the end I checked the answers with the key and discussed mistakes. I saved the student’s copy for analysis and comparison with the one of student B. In the end, in order to check the last skill (writing) I gave my student homework in which he was supposed to describe a day from the past (appendix 4). The task was intended on practicing the tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous and Present Perfect which I had already revised before.  When I got the written pieces I saved them for the needs of my research (appendix 5 and 6). Immediately after the lessons I prepared short notes concerning students’ abilities in different skills. Together with the materials left by students I was able to compare and assess the level of proficiency in English of the two learners.

               I prepared a table in which, using standard way of assessment (grades 1-6), I assessed four skills. In the case of productive skills, which are speaking and writing, I decided to distinguish three categories and take them into account separately. Those are: communication, vocabulary and grammar.

Table 3. Evaluation of four skills

 

Student A

Student B

Speaking:

ü      Communication

ü      Vocabulary

ü      Grammar

 

4

3,5

4

 

3,5

3,5

4

Writing:

ü      Communication

ü      Vocabulary

ü      Grammar

 

4,5

4

3,5

 

4,5

4

4

Reading

4,5

4,5

Listening

4,5

5

              

               Now, after conducting the experiment and having written proves I may clearly state, that my presumption concerning the level of both students was right and that they both may be described as intermediate students of English.

 

4.2.1.2. Personality type test

            The next step in my research is to confirm the assumption that in spite of all the similarities between the searched pupils, which are mentioned in two previous subchapters, there is one distinctness - namely personality type. To establish personality of the students I searched the Internet and found a personality test based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The test consists of seventy-two yes/no sentences each of which one is supposed to take a position on. After doing so there is a button to be pushed and the solution - personality type, preferences and the description of the type appears on the screen. The result is one of the sixteen personality types distinguished by Myers and Briggs e.g. ENFJ (Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging). I decided to use this tool in testing students A and B for their personality.

               At the beginning of one of the lessons I showed my students the test (appendix 7). They were instructed that their task is to read the given sentences and mark “yes” or “no” under each of them (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp). I also told them that the aim of the activity is to find out about their personality type. But apart from that it turned to be a great source of new vocabulary and expressions. As in the preceding search (chapter 4.2.1.1.) I conducted the test first on student A, then on student B. Student read the entries aloud and asked for unknown vocabulary. After making sure that the certain point in the test is understood, student was asked to link it to himself, think whether presented statement is true in his case and mark appropriate answer. Student was asked to jot all the words he did not know and their meanings down in his notebook. Again I left the student’s copy for the need of the research. When the lesson was over I found the test in the internet once again, copied the student’s answers and pressed the button for getting the result. With the student B I did the same actions. Appendices 8 and 9 are printed results of the test.

            The test on personality type resulted in finding out that as I expected the students A and B vary in personality. Student A turned out to be ESFJ (extroverted, sensing, feeling, judging) type whilst student B is INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging) type. For the needs of the paper I do not need to concentrate on more than the fact that one of them is an extrovert and the other one is an introvert. The further characteristics distinguished by founders of the test (feeling, intuitive etc) are not the matter of the present research paper therefore I will refrain from their deeper analysis.

 

4.2.1.3. Findings

               Now, on the basic of the search I have done so far I can state that my assumptions concerning similarities and differences of students A and B has been confirmed. The students’ only distinctness is that they represent opposite personality types. The type of motivation, so the force that drives them to acquiring English, the purpose of learning and the attitude to that process and the language itself, the age and gender remain the same. Proving that is a crucial point of my paper as I can now state that all the differences in the course of my lessons with the two learners will be caused by personality difference.

 

 4.2.2. Part 2

               In the first part of the paper I proved that the students I conduct my research on are of opposite personality. In the second part my aim is to compare the course of various activities and pupils’ response to them. I assume that the course of some tasks done by an extrovert and by an introvert will differ and that it will be the personality which will shape it.

 

4.2.2.1. Response to speaking

               Speaking is said to be the most important skill of all. In fact, when we take the communicative aspect into account, one would never be able to exchange information in a foreign language without acquiring ability of speaking. I decided to scan how my pupils deal with oral performance.

               I prepared an activity for students to practice speaking skill (appendix 10). The task was to read the text aloud, catch the main idea of it and then answer a few questions concerning the matter discussed in the piece of reading (the questions are provided by the authors of the book). My choice of the text was not accidental. I believed that the taken up topic – “What to do on Saturday night” (M. Cieślak, 2005:21) – would appeal to a teenager. This discussion was planned to be followed by another one. I wanted my pupils (who, I remind, are both teenagers) to talk about the date they lately went to. Here I made a comment that I did not want them to tell me anything personal if they did not wish. I informed them that it was fine to make the story up as I did not want to interfere with their privacy. I assumed that I would have a nice, even exciting conversation about different ways of spending free time and dating people. I expected to hear interesting stories about parties, trips, friends etc.

               Before I introduced the task to the students I had prepared an observation sheet in which I listed six aspects to be scrutinized:

  1. Attractiveness of the presented topic – does the topic appeal to them
  2. Eagerness to speak – are the students willing to speak, do they interrupt the teacher being eager to discuss the matter or are not interested in keeping the conversation going
  3. Length of utterances – do the students answer in full sentences or single words of short phrases
  4. Eye contact with the teacher – do they maintain the eye contact or look around the room trying to avoid it
  5. Voice level – do they express their thoughts surely, do they speak loudly or the teacher has problems hearing them
  6. General behaviour – here I want to observe whether learners fell comfortable talking to me, are they relaxed or feel nervous and uncomfortable

         While doing the exercise I had the paper with all the above points in front of me and was making notes. After the experiment was done with both students I analyzed the information and got following results:

  1. Student A – the topic appealed to the student, the second part (my request for describing a date) was welcomed by chuckle; he was eager to speak; the utterances were quite long; eye contact maintained to a large degree and moderate voice level; the student did not let the discussion stop, he kept telling different adventures he had had; student felt comfortable, often laughed while recalling described events
  2. Student B – the student was indifferent, the topic turned out to be unattractive; student did not have much to say, the teacher had to ask many additional questions to have the student talk; utterances were short, insecure, few fully constructed sentences, often reduced to yes/no answers, the student did not have much to share; lack of eye contact; student seemed to be uptight; the activity did not appeal to him

               Since, in the first part of the experiment (chapter 4.2.1.), I proved that the two learners share numerous factors influencing the process of learning with the exception of personality, I assume that all the dissimilarities in the course of speaking activity I noticed are caused by their personality type.

 

4.2.2.2. Response to activity type

            Many authors of the English course books and handbooks do their best to make learning fun. They believe that learners attain the language better when they find it pleasurable. Lots of different games, plays, songs, charades etc. were invented to have students involved in the language. In this part of the experiment I will observe whether it relates to individuals of both, extroverted and introverted nature.

               I prepared two tasks – one that contains fun factor and the one without amusing purpose. Again, after both pupils were presented the activities their course was compared.

 

4.2.2.2.1. Fun activity – the description and its course with both students

            The main aim of the task is to practice modal verbs in the present and the past. Students were given a short list of funny situations (appendix 11) to which they were supposed to react using modal verbs. I had devoted one lesson to teaching modal verbs before so the task was to revise the knowledge acquired during the previous meeting. First the student was asked to read the sentences aloud and make sure that he understands it. In the case of problems I was ready to help him comprehend it. Then he was to react to them applying modals. When the learner had trouble coming up with ideas for responding, I provided him with an exemplary sentence in Polish and asked to translate it into target language (see appendix 11).

               When I was comparing the course I based mainly on the observation sheet I used while investigating speaking (see chapter 4.2.2.1.). I found that that the task turned out to be fun for both individuals, they were both engaged and willing to create sentences. However with student A (the one of extroverted nature) the course was smoother, I did not have to use the Polish examples very often, student did not have any problems coming up with ideas for reactions. He was undoubtedly amused and enjoyed practicing grammar that way, laughter was ubiquitous. With student B frequent smiles were observable, the task appealed to him. The difference I noticed concerns the pace of the activity and, as with observing speaking, level of voice was lowered, eye contact was avoided, student did not feel as much at ease as the extrovert.

 

4.2.2.2.2. Non-fun activity – the description and its course with both students

               For non-fun activity I also chose the tasks by which I wanted my students to practice grammar. This way it was easier for me to make a comparison. This time Passive Voice was trained. Students had been taught Passive before, so again I wanted to introduce the tasks which would well revise the issue (appendix 12). Students got two tasks – in the first one they were to change sentences from active to passive voice, the instruction to the second one was similar – they had to do the same but in two ways.

               The correctness of the task was comparable in the case of both students – they lacked some words, they made some mistakes. In general, however they managed to do the task quite well. The behaviour differed. The extrovert was bored and the amount of sentences to transform scared him. He was wriggling and even suggested shortening the task whilst an introvert seemed to be totally fine with the amount and form of the task. He behaved in a much more relaxed manner than during the fun activity. He was relaxed, calm and seemed to have enjoyed transformations.

 

4.2.2.2.3. Findings

               In the second part I found a confirmation to the main assumption of my paper – that personality influences the process of language learning. I showed that the course of the same activity may be completely different when introduced to individuals of different nature. Student B did not enjoy the activity in which he had to speak. The situation in which he was asked to express his ruminations did not appeal to him. It is probably because he felt that his confidentiality was in jeopardy. The fear of oral performance and making mistakes made it hard, at certain moments even impossible to utter anything. On the other hand, when faced with the task which did not demand much openness, candidness, braveness and creativity (the sentences transformations) his performance, as well as accuracy, were good. Contrary the student A managed to reveal his language abilities while responding to the tasks in which he could speak up his interior. He did not hesitate, was not afraid of expressing thoughts.

 

  1. Final conclusions

                When a teacher knows his or her pupils’ needs he or she also knows how to plan the process of teaching them. Knowing character and interests and using common sense a teacher is able to predict what topic for discussion should be chosen and what skill should be practiced. As my experiment proves it is not sufficient to take into account the aspects like age and level of proficiency. Teachers must also bear in mind that not everybody will be willing to talk about parties as for some teenagers computers or books may be the topics for an endless discussion. What is more, when tutors understand personal tendencies of learners they know how to approach them while practicing the four skills. I will consider teaching speaking as an example. Remembering that an introvert’s main features are shyness and timidity we may easily guess that any kind of oral performance is for him or her difficult and stressful. Therefore such individual will perform much better if given time for preparation. So it will be much more effective to ask an introvert to think of arguments for certain discussion and to make some notes before starting conversation.

       By the experiment and arguments presented in the paper I made it evident that personality is one of the aspects that need to be taken into account by the teachers while preparing activities for their students. Only when teachers have a full picture of learners are they able to choose materials which are for their best and, what follows, help students improve and develop their language skills.

 

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