Volume: 4  Number: 3  Page: 169–197  doi:10.2167/ijm080.0

Predicting Language Learners' Grades in the L1, L2, L3 and L4: The Effect of Some Psychological and Sociocognitive Variables

Jean-Marc Dewaele Department of Applied Linguistics, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK

This study of 89 Flemish high-school students' grades for L1 (Dutch), L2 (French), L3 (English) and L4 (German) investigates the effects of three higher-level personality dimensions (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism), one lower-level personality dimension (foreign language anxiety) and sociobiographical variables (gender, social class) on the participants' language grades. Analyses of variance revealed no significant effects of the higher-level personality dimensions on grades. Participants with high levels of foreign language anxiety obtained significantly lower grades in the L2 and L3. Gender and social class had no effect. Strong positive correlations between grades in the different languages could point to an underlying sociocognitive dimension. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, foreign language anxiety, language grades

© 2007 J-M. Dewaele

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