Appendix H: Characteristics of Good Language Learners

 [# 1-7:  With thanks to Joan Rubin’s article in March, 1975 issue of TESOL Quarterly as cited in Anderson & Graham’s article in Feb., 1994 issue of Topics in Language Disorders]   [# 8-11:  With thanks to the Hong Kong Language Training Center]    [Adapted by Professor I. Konyndyk 2001 and 2010.] 

1. They are good guessers and are willing to guess.
2. They have a strong, persevering desire to communicate.
3. They are uninhibited and willing to make mistakes in order to learn to communicate.
4. They focus on form by looking for patterns.
5. They take advantage of available practice opportunities.
6. They monitor their own speech and the speech of others.
7. They pay attention to meaning.
8. They circumlocute (e.g. say “mother of spouse” if they don’t know the word for “mother-in-law.”).
9. They look for opportunities to use the language.
10. They take a systematic and organized approach to language learning.
11. They try different methods of learning language and choose what works best.