Individual Differences and Adaptive Strategies in Language Learning Across Diverse Linguistic and Sociocultural Transitions

Second language acquisition is influenced by learners’ individualdifferences, such as motivation, aptitude, and learning strategies,which condition how they cope with new linguistic and socioculturalenvironments. Migrant learners moving from one linguistic contextto another experience multifaceted academic, social, and culturalstruggles, yet research has given restricted attention to the extent towhich such transitions interact with personal attributes, creating alacuna in insight into adaptation strategies and outcomes. This researchexplores three research questions: how students perceive languagelearning across sociocultural contexts, what strategies facilitateadjustment to new linguistic environments, and how individualdifferences shape academic transitions. An explanatory sequentialmixed-methods approach was used, pairing a survey of 120 studentswho moved across linguistic and cultural contexts with narrativeinterviews of five purposively selected participants embodyingdiverse linguistic backgrounds. Quantitative findings show thatorigin language, destination language, and length of time abroad aresignificant predictors of adaptation outcomes, explaining 29% of thevariance in academic performance, with lower adaptation evidencedamong Arabic-speaking students in linguistically distant contexts andhigher achievement supported in German-speaking contexts. Narrativeresults demonstrate self-regulated learning, social scaffolding, andauthentic contextual integration as facilitative strategies for adaptation.Interpreted through the Noticing Hypothesis, Sociocultural Theory,Self-Regulated Learning, and Motivational Theory, the findings offer actionable implications for curriculum design, pedagogical practice,and policy while inviting longitudinal research on the dynamicinterplay of individual differences and sociocultural transitions

Cultural diversity · Curriculum · Language acquisition · Language proficiency · Second-language acquisition · Social learning · Sociocultural evolution · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · International Student and Expatriate Challenges · Multilingual Education and Policy