It is generally understood that most language learners beyond a certain age are unlikely to ever reach nativelike proficiency in their second language. However, there exists a unique population of gifted adult learners who do triumph against all odds and achieve nativelike proficiency, and their learning experiences have thus far remained a largely untapped gold mine. The companion to Lessons from Exceptional Language Learners Who Have Achieved Nativelike Proficiency, this volume presents the autobiographical learning stories of 30 such exceptional individuals, opening a narrative window into their learning experiences. This rich corpus of success stories reveals the many steps of these language learning journeys and the learners’ pathways to success. A fascinating and readable collection of personal stories, this volume will be of interest to non-specialist language learners as a motivational primer for their own studies as well as researchers working in language learning psychology, who will find the unique database of learner narratives a useful tool for future research.
Tabella dei contenuti
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. A Unique Bond
2. Escaping the Everyday
3. A New Generation
4. An Ear for Languages
5. The Desire to Blend In
6. Shifting Identities
7. Success Breeds Success
Concluding Remarks
Circa l’autore
Katarina Mentzelopoulos is an ESRC-funded Ph D student at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include language learning motivation, multilingualism and learner identity.
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