This document discusses cognitive factors that influence second language learning. It identifies two main categories of internal factors - affective factors like motivation, anxiety, and attitudes; and cognitive factors like intelligence, language aptitude, and learning strategies. Language aptitude includes abilities like identifying sounds, understanding grammar, and memorizing words. Successful language learners employ a variety of learning strategies and teachers can help learners develop strategies that fit their strengths. Individual differences in these factors contribute to differences in how quickly or successfully students learn a new language.

1. COGNITIVE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
Submitted as partial requirement for
EDUC 550: Second Language Acquisition
Dulcinea R. Nuñez-Santos, Ph. D.
2019
Master in Education (M. Ed.) Program
Specialization in the Teaching of English as a Second Language
Efrain Suárez Arce, HQT S01262247

2. INTRODUCTION
 When learning a second language, some students progress rapidly
while others struggle and make slower progress. Some learners never
quite achieve complete command of a second language. There are
some individual characteristics that make some learners more
successful than others. Our aim is to discuss these internal
characteristics and perhaps see which of these seems most likely to be
associated with success in second language learning.

3. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
 Social psychologists have argued that individual differences between
learners is the most common factor that effect development of
language. Even when following a common developmental route the
degree of success learners achieved by each learner is always different
from each other, and this is due to differences in each individual.

4. LANGUAGE LEARNING FACTORS
 There are a number of factors that influence someone's
success at mastering a new language. Internal factors that
affect the learning of a second language are those which
stem from the learner's own mind. Some students learn a
new language more quickly and easily than others. Clearly,
some language learners are successful by sheer
determination, hard work and persistence.

5. HOWEVER…
 However there are other factors that influence success that are mostly
beyond the control of the learner. These factors can be broadly
categorized as internal and external. It is the interplay between these
two factors that determines the speed and facility with which the new
language is learned.

6. AFFECTIVE FACTORS • COGNITIVE FACTORS
 Gardner and Macintyre (1992, 1883) have divided these internal
factors into two groups: AFFECTIVE FACTORS and COGNITIVE
FACTORS.

7. AFFECTIVE FACTORS INCLUDE…
 the learner's attitude to the learning process
 Anxiety in language-learning
 personality
 Social and cultural attitudes such as gender roles and community views
toward language learning
 Individual attitude towards the second language
 Individual Motivation towards learning a second language
 willingness to communicate.

8. COGNITIVE FACTORS
• INTELLIGENCE
• LANGUAGE APTITUDE
• LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES

9. INTELLIGENCE
 Intelligence refers to mental abilities that are measured by an IQ test.
Intelligence may be a strong factor when it comes to learning that
involves language analysis and rules learning. On the other hand it
may play a less important role in language learning that focuses more
on communication and interaction. It is common observation that
students with good intelligence are able to do well in second language
learning at least in formal classrooms. It is important to keep in mind
that intelligence is complex individual trait and a person may have
many kinds of abilities and strengths.

10. APTITUDE FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
 Aptitude refers to potential for achievements. Language aptitude is a
very effective tool for second language learning, an aptitude test is
designed to make a prediction about an individual future
achievements.

11. APTITUDE
 Aptitude for language learning usually composed of four different types of
activities:
1) The ability to identify and memorize new sounds.
2) The ability to understand function of particular words in sentences.
3) The ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples.
4) The ability to memorize new words.
 Successful language learners are not necessarily strong in all of components of
aptitude. Some learners may have a strong memory but only an average ability to
figure out grammatical rules. Learners do not all share the same aptitudes (Harley
and Hart, 1997).

12. LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES
 Strategies are the implications that we apply to learning, it has different levels.
Those who are successful in second language learning have useful strategies, like:
planning, monitoring, rehearsal, organization, etc.
 Learners who are highly motivated to learn a language will use a variety of
strategies. The learner’s preference for learning, whether due to their learning
styles or to their beliefs about how language are learned, will influence the kind of
strategies or implications they choose to learn new material. The more proficient
learners employ strategies that are different from those used by the less
proficient.

13. IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING
 Teachers can select appropriate teaching approaches and activities
based on eacher learner’s intelligence and estimated aptitude to
accommodate their differences and to create a better learning
environment.
 Teachers can use information about preference for learning to help
learners to learn better learning strategies and thus develop greater
flexibility in their second language learning.

14. CONCLUSION
 Individual differences in intelligence, aptitude, and learning strategies have
been found to be important factors that contribute to success in learning. It
remains difficult to make precise predictions about how a specific individual
characteristic influences success as a language learner, because research
results have not been entirely satisfactory, perhaps because of lack of clear
methods for measuring individual characteristics or perhaps because of the
complex interaction of those characteristics.

15. REFERENCES
 • Spada, N and P, M, Lightbrown. How languages are learned.
 • Gardner and Macintyre (1992, 1993) views in Second language learning
theories.
 • Skehan, p. 1991. Individual differences in second language learning.
Studies in second language acquisition.
 • Spada, N. 1987. Relationships between instructional differences and
learning outcomes: Applied linguistics.