The Influence of Out-of-class language Learning on Individuals Differences

劉穎茜

Introduction

“Out-of-class learning constitutes an important context for human development， and active engagement in out-of-class activities is associated with successful language development.” （Benson， P.， & Reinders， H.， 2011） But different out-of-class activities influence different individuals， whether it is effective for the language learning proficiency depends on how well the individual get the language skill.

Out-of-class learning and learning style

In second language acquisition， we often divide learns in three learning styles： ‘visual learners， ‘auditory learners and ‘kinesthetic learners. The out-of-class learning often is self-directed which means the learner him/herself would decide the way he/she study. It might be better for individuals to obtain the target language. In the classroom， especially the big class， teachers in order to meet all of the students need， will chose to teach in an average method for students to learn， it may not be fit for every student at one time. For example， for the auditory learners， they may study efficiently and quickly by listening to the English songs to learn English， however， in school teachers wont use songs to teach too often. For the auditory learners， they may listen to the English songs for a long time when they are out-of-class. And in this way， they can build large number of vocabulary and get the western culture from the songs.

Out-of-class learning and personality

“A number of personality characteristics have been proposed as likely to affect second language learning，” and “it is often argued that an extroverted person is well suited to language learning” （Lightbown， P.， & Spada， N.， 2013）. In the out-of-class activities， especially the ones with highly interacted communicative activities. It is very nourishing for the extroverted students to learn the target language. For example， the English Corner often used after class for students to practice their oral English.

The other thing concerned about leaners personality is the learner anxiety—“feelings of worry， nervousness， and stress that many students experience when learning a second language， for example， feeling anxious when giving an oral presentation in front of the whole class but not when interacting with peers in group work.” （Lightbown， P.， & Spada， N.， 2013） As the out-of-class learning is more independent and self-directed mentioned before， many students may find it more free to study out of school. They might have less leaner anxiety when they study by themselves， such as listening to the music and watching movies.

Out-of-class learning and motivation

For different motivations， the out-of-class activities could have different effectiveness on individuals. “Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert （1972） coined the terms instrumental motivation （language learning for immediate or practical goals） and integrative motivation （language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment through contact with speakers of the other language）.” As what Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert said， “For a long time integrative motivation was considered to be the stronger predictor of successful learning.”， the motivation for communication and cultural enrichment benefits the students better. In out-of-class learning， students are free to chose what they like to learn in the learning process. The motivation behind them direct them to different choices and influence the learning effectiveness on different individuals.

Conclusion

Out-of-class learning with its special features gives learns more chance and different ways of learning language. It influences different individuals in their personal learning characteristics. Different individual may benefit to different extend from out-of-class activities. For teachers， we should balance both of in-class teaching and out-of-class activities to help learners to learn.

課題：

該研究為2018年四川省教育廳人文社會科學項目“EGP轉型ESP的跨學科合作教學模式研究”（項目編號：18SB0757）和2019年度西南財經大學天府學院校級“課程思政”項目，《英語語法》課程的階段性成果。

（作者單位：西南財經大學天府學院）