Abstract
The present research examines the importance of time factors as predictors of success in language learning. Time factors are periods of time which students spend on language learning. The research addresses four main questions: (1) what is the nature of the relationship between language learning and time; (2) what is the relative importance of time factors to language learning; (3) to what extent can time factors predict success in language learning; and (4) what do students spend most time on? A group of 118 students of French and EFL at the Universities of Sussex and Brighton completed a questionnaire during the period March to May 1995. This questionnaire collected data on the periods of time students spent on language learning and on student proficiency levels, using self-report instruments. This data was triangulated with similar data collected from 23 interviewees, and 6 case-study students. The results of a correlational analysis indicated that total hours of study and active residence was the best predictor of student proficiency, and that there seemed to be a logarithmic relationship between this predictor and proficiency. The best multiple regression model accounted for 67% of variance in proficiency levels. Students of French spent most time on classwork and homework, whereas the EFL students spent most time chatting to non-native speakers and listening to the radio.