Introduction

This chapter is concerned with the interaction between two important areas of second language learning research: learning strategies, the theme of this book, and individual variation in language learning. Interest in individual variation as an essential element in second language learning has gained ground in recent years in the light of critiques of the idea that the most important SLA processes have a 'universal' character (e.g. Block, 2003; Breen, 2001; Ellis, 1999; Firth & Wagner, 1997; Norton & Toohey, 2001; Zuengler & Miller, 2006). Although this interest takes a number of forms, learning strategy research provides us with some of the most powerful evidence that we have for individual variation at the level of the learning process. Instruments such as the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990), for example, tend to reveal considerable variations within and among the populations they are administered to. But how are these variations to be explained? In this chapter, we will explore three major approaches to this question: the first focusing on internal and external factors influencing strategy use, the second on the ways in which strategy use is situated within specific contexts and tasks, and the third on learner experience and agency. We will also attempt to identify the different views of 'language learners as individuals' underlying each of these approaches.

Internal and External Influences on Strategy Use

At the heart of the approach discussed in this section is the idea of 'individual differences', a term that has been used to tie together a number of independent fields of research (Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei & Skehan, 2003; Ehrman et al., 2003; Ellis, 1994, 2004; Gardner, 1997; Larsen-Freeman, 2001; Skehan, 1989). Reviews of the literature tend to reserve the term 'individual differences' for internal, biological or psychological attributes that are assumed to influence language learning outcomes.