Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education / edited by Wai Meng Chan , Kwee Nyet Chin, Sunil Kumar Bhatt, Izumi Walker.

"This book brings together fifteen papers selected from CLaSIC 2010, the Fouth Centre for Language Studies International Conference, held at the Orchard Hotel in Singapore on December 2-4, 2010."--Preface.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Individual characteristics and foreign language education: An introduction to the book / Wai Meng Chan ... [and others] -- part 1. Cognitive variables. 2. Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning / Richard Schmidt -- 3. Language learning aptitude and foreign language learning / Karin Aguado -- 4. Understanding L2 reading: a cognitive perspective / Swathi M. Vanniarajan -- 5. The effects of motivation and proficiency on pragmatic and grammatical awareness in foreign language learning / Boonjeera Chiravate -- 6. Differentiated instruction for language and learning strategies: classroom applications / Anna Uhl Chamot -- 7. Characterising individual learners on an empirically-developed can-do system: an application of Latent rank theory / Naoki Sugino ... [and others]

Pt. 2. Beliefs, assumptions and attitudes. 8. Learner language in unrehearsed communication: nurturing individual diffrences in the classroom / Elaine Tarone -- 9. Exploring Australian Japanese language teachers' perceptions of intercultural language learning / Caroline Mahoney -- 10. Assumptions about learning and teaching languages amongst Australian pre-service teachers: a pedagogical precess allowing reflection for teacher learning / Lesley Anne Harbon -- 11. Individual difference and context in the study abroad / Phil Benson.

Pt. 3. Motivation, identity and anxiety. 12. The role of stories in teacher development / Naoko Aoki -- 13. Language identity as a process and second language learning / Minglang Zhou -- 14. Fostering learner' affective development through process drama / Indrianti -- 15. Implementing a goal setting program for EFL students: the design, process and results / Shan-mao Chang, Yi-ting Huang and Hsiu-chen Wu -- 16. A study of foreign language classroom anxiety at a Taiwanese university / Ming Chang.

"Learner characteristics have been at the center of second language acquisition and foreign language education research in response to the puzzling questions: Why are there often large differences in second language (L2) learning achievement and why do many learners, though proficient first language speakers, not succeed in learning a L2? The papers in this book explore and challenge the three key factors in individual difference research: language aptitude, language learning strategies and motivation."--Back cover.