Speaking two or more languages has been shown to improve individual cognitive abilities (e.g., Bialystok, 2010; Bialystok & Craik, 2010; Creese & Blackledge, 2010; Cushen & Wiley, 2011; Lee & Kim, 2011; Yang, Yang, & Lust, 2011). According to these researchers, bi- and multilingualism is an intensive experience that modifies the brain structure and some cognitive processes. For instance, bilinguals are doing better in control tasks, in attention tasks, and they seem to have a better working memory. In view of these benefits and due to the challenges connected to globalisation and migration, multilingualism is one of the main objectives of the European Union. Published European Commission documents promote learning two other languages beyond the national language of the country of residence rather than only one lingua franca (COM, 2008). To prepare students for a multilingual society has become a central issue for educational policymakers. In this regard, different academic research fields, such as education and applied linguistics, try to answer the question which factors affect second language (L2) learning and which favourable conditions can and should be created by families, schools and policymakers. Researchers who investigated individual differences in L2 learners pointed to concepts such as motivation and attitude, investment or desire as well as certain personality factors as being at the heart of success in language learning (Dewaele, 2012a). However, results on individual differences have not yet led to clear results. Those researchers who have dealt with language mastery (see e.g. Korzilius, Van Hooft, Planken, & Hendrix, 2011), generally have focused on personality dimensions and not on human basic values (Schwartz, 1992; Döring et al., 2010). A study conducted by Gross and Dewaele (2017) has dealt with the relation between human basic values and multilingualism, whereas the relation between values and L2 outcomes has not been studied. To fill this gap in research and literature is one of the aims of this study. Furthermore, researchers working on L2 learning have acknowledged the complex interrelation of independent variables affecting the learning process and have accepted that a dynamic perspective is necessary (Dörnyei, 2009; Dewaele, 2012b). Learners have unique previous histories, there is a particular language constellation in the country of residence and the wider sociopolitical as well as educational context may influence the learning process. Furthermore, the students’ success may be effected by a negative connotation of diversity within schools as well as by a monolingual habitus (Gogolin, 2008). To date, there has been little agreement on whether L2 learning is influenced more socially or more individually, whereby it is hypothesised that the interaction between individual characteristics and external factors is decisive. The present study follows this avenue of research, exploring the influence of learner-internal factors, such as their linguistic background, values and attitudes, and learner-external factors, such as the parents’ occupational status, the educational and the sociopolitical context, on second language learning.

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