ABSTRACT
Individual differences that can, potentially, infl uence second language learning outcomes were traditionally divided into cognitive, affective and personalityrelated factors (Gardner, 1985). Recent conceptualizations of individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) research, however, consider these three dimensions of students’ characteristics to be strongly interrelated. Dörnyei (2010) has outlined a tripartite system of individual differences, consisting of cognition, emotion and motivation, and has demonstrated how cognition and motivation dynamically interact, both in the appraisal of language learning tasks (Dörnyei & Tseng, 2009) and in the formation of the learner’s self-concept (Dörnyei, 2010). In an earlier paper, Schumann (1998) argued that “emotional reactions infl uence the attention and effort devoted to learning, and . . . patterns of appraisal may underlie what has been considered motivation in SLA” (p. 8). He proposed that emotional reactions play an important role in explaining why students repeatedly engage with learning activities or avoid them. The affective appraisal of learning tasks, the instructional environment and social relations within the classroom, and emotional responses are also interrelated, and they add an additional social dimension to affective factors (Garrett & Young, 2009).
