If we think about our students, overall, we would all recognise that they go about the business of learning and using the language in different ways. Certainly, they achieve different levels of success, and that is usually because their attitude, their fundamental approach, is different. So, can we identify different types of language learners?

I am a member of an IB working party, online, and we are currently exploring the field of CAF – Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency, considered fundamental elements of what is meant by ‘language proficiency’. How can these qualities be taught effectively, and how can they be assessed fairly? In the process, someone discovered a book called The Dynamics of Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency in Second Language Development by Iwona Kowal (2016), and in particular, circulated an extract from the book, identifying four different types of language learner posited by Kowal on the basis of her research. Here are the four types, listed:

• Risk-takers
• Careful learners
• Wanderers
• Smart learners

The labels given to the four types probably already ring bells with you, do they? Now here are the succinct descriptions of each type, with my notes and comments.

• Risk-takers – achieved high levels of complexity and fluency, but who do not pay much attention to correctness

Yes, the kind of student who is a natural communicator, and probably rattles on cheerfully in the same way in her L1. Confident and unselfconscious, and blessedly free of fear of ‘making a fool of herself’. Probably unreflective, and so not much given to self-correction in language, and probably not in content or arguments either. In my experience as an Oral Examiner, a type common in the November session: charming Latin Americans exuberantly engaged in the conversation, but losing marks for a wide range of flaws.

So, how can we instil more attention to correctness / Accuracy? You don’t want to cripple their communicative skills by making them neurotic about details of grammar… but would it be possible to get them to recognise a few of their most common errors, and nudge them to remember to correct them little by little?

• Careful learners - achieved high levels of accuracy and complexity while simultaneously achieving low levels of fluency

The opposite of the ‘risk-takers’ because they are self-conscious, and they do self-correct, perhaps a little obsessively. They take the language seriously, and so want to ‘get it right’ – possibly because of basic perfectionism, or possibly because of a lurking fear of ‘making a fool of themselves’. Due to their constant self-checking, fluency suffers, and the language is produced slowly, hesitantly, and stiffly. They may be clear (good), but they lack sparkle and life in the interaction in conversation (bad).

Is it possible to encourage them to lighten up a bit? This may come naturally the more experience they have, and so lose their nerves… especially if they receive praise for their strong grasp of the language. Could one even record a bit of their speech, and then go through it with them, pointing out how few and unimportant are the errors that so concern them?

• Wanderers – look for ways to integrate new systems in themselves; characterized by low levels in all three dimensions

This seems to me to be a rather tactful or euphemistic definition – to me, “look for ways” really means ‘struggle to find ways’ … i.e. frankly, ‘disorganised’. This may well come from having little idea of the structure of language, not even in their L1 – so all of the many language items they come across, whether grammar or vocabulary, are a rather meaningless and endless list of confusing details. The result, as indicated, is poor performance overall – the language used is neither complex nor accurate nor fluent (which is probably going to be closely connected to poor self-confidence).

So, what to do with this classic ‘weak student’? Probably, some close personal attention and explanation to sort out two or three of the most common errors and confusions – leading to “there, now you see that you can understand and handle it – well done!” Followed up by, perhaps, some strong recommendations of study skills: keeping notes, revising, and so on.

• Smart learners – strong in all three dimensions; can manage complexity, accuracy and fluency very well

Well, nice work if you can get it! Such students clearly have confidence (fluency), good self-correcting skills (accuracy), and an ability to learn and use ever-more sophisticated language (complexity). Such top-of-the-range students point to key qualities in language learners – (i) the reinforced confidence to be convinced that they can always communicate better (fluency); (ii) the ability to note their own mistakes and then correct them without being demoralised (accuracy); and (iii) the interest in the language and the ability to express themselves well to acquire more and better language (complexity).

What to do? Nothing very much – just set them higher challenges, and respond enthusiastically.

So there we are. One can think of other categories, perhaps more and more detailed, but I find that these cover the range of identifiable types quite well.