Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

The Good Language Learner Revisited
If all the above is true, it predicts that above all the "good language learner" is an
acquirer, who first of all is able to obtain sufficient intake in the second language, and
second, has a low affective filter to enable him to utilize this input for language
acquisition. The good language learner may or may not be a conscious learner. If he is,
he is an "optimal Monitor user". We would therefore not be surprised to see above
average or superior language aptitude in such a performer.
Data from Naimon et al. (1978) support these generalizations. They surveyed thirty-four
"good language learners", and found that immersion and motivation were the most
frequent responses to the question of what factors influenced successful second language
acquisition. Further, they reported that "there is some evidence in the interview... that
those subjects who learned a language in the country of the target language, though
frequently combined with self-study, usually acquired it successfully" (p. 34). This
conclusion is similar to that reached by Carroll (1967), in his study of college foreign
language majors, as well as in other studies (Krashen, 1976a; Chapter 3, this volume).
The Good Language Learners in Naimon et al. (1978) agreed that the study of grammar
alone was not enough: "Several interviewees, who had achieved high marks in their
language courses at school, now attached little significance to this aspect of success" (p.
34).
Thus, the mixture of formal and informal experience with the second language appeared
to be the most popular approach. One subject, for example, Mr. ."E", while immersing
himself in the country where the target language was spoken, would study on his own, a
lesson a day in formal grammar.
Good language learners/acquirers must do more than just be present in informal and
formal environments, however. It appears to be the case that they "go out and get" intake
and have a low enough filter to utilize it for language acquisition. While many of them
consciously learn (12/34 in Naimon et al. indicated that conscious rules were useful for
them; in Wesche, 1977, 6/11 said the same thing), they appeared to be optimal Monitor
users, using learning as a supplement to acquisition in certain conditions.
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