For example, in motivation questionnaires, learners are often asked whether they willingly seek out opportunities to use their second language with native speakers and if so, how often they do this. The assumption behind such a question is that learners who report that they often seek out opportunities to interact with speakers of the second language are highly motivated to learn. Although this assumption seems reasonable, it is problematic because if a learner responds by saying `yes' to this question, it not only suggests that the learner is highly motivated, but also that the learner has more opportunities for language practice in informal contexts. Because it is usually impossible to separate these two factors (i.e. willingness to interact and opportunities to interact), many researchers have been seriously criticized for attempting to present these characteristics as independent.

In second language learning, it has been observed countless times that in the same classroom setting, some students progress rapidly through the initial stages of a new language while others struggle along making very slow progress. Some learners never achieve native-like command of a second language. Are there personal characteristics that make one learner more successful than the other, and if so, what are they?
The following is a list of some of the characteristics commonly thought to contribute to successful language learning. In your experience-as a second language learner and as a teacher-which characteristics seem to you most likely to be associated with success in second language acquisition in the classroom? Which ones would you be less inclined to expect in a successful learner?
In each case rate the characteristic as follows:
1 = Very important
2 = Quite important
3 = Important
4 = Not very important
5 = Not at all important.
A good language learner:
a is a willing and accurate guesser 1 2 3 4 5
b tries to get a message across even if specific
language knowledge is lacking 1 2 3 4 5
c is willing to make mistakes 1 2 3 4 5
d constantly looks for patterns in the language 1 2 3 4 5
e practises as often as possible 1 2 3 4 5
f analyses his or her own speech and the speech of
others 1 2 3 4 5