[susan53]

I think some of the characteristics of a good learner are :

• They are willing to put some time and effort into it - they don't expect it just to happen.
• If they miss a lesson they actively attempt to catch up before the next one by contacting the teacher or other group members, or simply by working on the coursebook on their own.
• They study regularly and frequently.
• They don't just do the homework set, but review what was done in the class before. When they come to class, they know what was taught in the last lesson and are ready to move on.
• They are willing to try out different learning strategies suggested to them by the teacher, the coursebook etc.
• They recognise that language is a system and actively search for patterns, noting also differences between L1 and L2
• They are not so inihibited about making mistakes that they don't open their mouths, but on the other hand monitor the accuracy of what they say, noticing the teacher's corrections and reformulations and learning from them
• They take every opportunity to practise, including talking to themselves
• When trying to communicate they don't panic, but use inference techniques to work out meaning from contextual clues, and circumlocation strategies to say things they haven't yet learnt.

And perhaps most important of all ... they enjoy it.

Sue