This study examines the potential dynamicity of motivation, personality, learning and cognitive styles, and working memory over two semesters of Spanish study at the university level. The project contributes to the empirical question surrounding the degree of dynamicity of these learner IDs.
While Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) underscores the need to track multiple variables over time to understand their impact on second language (L2) development (Larsen-Freeman, 1997; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008), few studies have done this longitudinally and even fewer have examined individual differences this way.
This presentation contributes to this gap by presenting the first year of a longitudinal study collection that examines the potential dynamicity of motivation (operationalized by the L2 Motivational Self System, introduced in Dörnyei, 2005), personality (operationalized by the HEXACO assessment, Ashton & Lee, 2009), learning and cognitive styles (adapted from the PLSPQ [Reid, 1995] and the SAS [Oxford, 1993]) and working memory (measured by the Operation span test, adapted by Stone & Towse, 2015).
332 university-level participants provided data twice during their first year of language study. In the first (fall) semester, learners were enrolled in either an accelerated first year course or the second semester of the first-year sequence, and in the second (spring) semester learners were enrolled in a third semester Spanish course. We present the results from MANOVA analyses based on learners who contributed data at both time points to determine if the aforementioned IDs demonstrated change (dynamicity) from one semester to the next during the first year of language study. We also present two cluster analyses to see if ID profiles (Skehan, 1989) were distinguishable in each semester. Finally, we situate these results within our larger longitudinal study and outline our plan for the second iteration.
