A Case Study of Learner Factors That Affect L2 Acquisition

This case study aims to investigate what factors have the most influence on L2 learning achievement. Two adult language learners, one male and the other female, who had shown successful achievement of learning English, were interviewed on the basis of an English proficiency self-assessment, a language aptitude test, and a questionnaire that asked about their L2 learning environment and experiences and personal characteristics such as language aptitude, learning styles and strategies, attitudes and motivation, and so forth. The results indicated that some common aspects of their characteristics were positive attitudes, instrumental motivation and self-confidence, and different features were language aptitude, learning strategies, personality attributes, and language anxiety. The most significant factor that drove the male participant to succeed in L2 achievement was his strong motivation caused by positive attitudes towards the English language and its culture. The noticeable feature of his personal characteristics was his learning strategies. For the female participant, the salient factors that achieved her L2 success were language aptitude and her strong motivation.