Keywords
working memory
experience
language aptitude tests
instruction
How to Cite
Number of views: 1973
Number of downloads: 687
Abstract
The traditional definition of language aptitude sees it as “an individual’s initial state of readiness and capacity for learning a foreign language, and probable facility in doing so given the presence of motivation and opportunity” (Carroll, 1981, p. 86). This conception portrays language aptitude as a trait, in the sense of exhibiting stability over long periods of time and being immune to training. The trait view of language aptitude tends towards the notion that it is innate, and indeed language aptitude has often been associated with the popular notion of a “gift for languages” (cf. Rosenthal, 1996, p. 59). The view of language aptitude as an innate trait has, however, long been questioned (see e.g., Neufeld, 1978). Recently, this questioning has intensified (see Singleton, 2014), especially since the development of a widespread consensus that working memory needs to be recognized as an important component of language aptitude (see Wen, 2016). Working memory was also once thought of as a trait, but is now recognized as susceptible to the influence of experience and instruction (see e.g., Williams, 2012). The present paper will track the trajectory of the above theoretical discussion and will explore the implications of the stage it has now reached.References
Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (2008). The robustness of aptitude effects in near-native second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(4), 481-509. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S027226310808073X
Adi-Japha, E., Berberich-Artzi, J., & Libnawi, A. (2010). Cognitive flexibility in drawings of bilingual children. Child Development, 81(5), 1356-1366.
Au, J., Buschkuehl, M., Duncan, G. J., & Jaeggi, S. M. (in press). There is no convincing evidence that working memory training is NOT effective: A reply to Melby-Lervåg and Hulme (2015). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(1), 331-337.
Au, J., Sheehan, E., Tsai, N., Duncan, G. J., Buschkuehl, M., & Jaeggi, S. M. (2015). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22(2), 366-377.
Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(11), 417-423.
Baddeley, A.D. (2003). Working memory and language: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36(3), 189-208.
Baddeley, A. D. (2007). Working memory, thought, and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (pp. 47-90). New York: Academic Press.
Blom, E., Küntay, A. C., Messer, M., Verhagen, J., & Leseman, P. (2014). The benefits of being bilingual: Working memory in bilingual Turkish-Dutch children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 128, 105-119.
Bolibaugh, C., & Foster, P. (2013). Memory-based aptitude for nativelike selection: The role of phonological short-term memory. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude and ultimate L2 attainment (pp. 203-228). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bunting, M. F., & Engle, R. (2015). Foreword. In Z. Wen, M. Mota, & A. McNeill E. (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp. xvii-xxiii). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Carroll, J. B. (1973). Implications of aptitude test research and psycholinguistic theory for foreign language teaching. International Journal of Psycholinguistics, 2(1), 5-14.
Carroll, J. B. (1981). Twenty-five years of research on foreign language aptitude. In K. C. Diller (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp. 83-118). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Carroll, J. B., & Sapon, S. M. (1959). Modern Language Aptitude Test: MLAT; manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Chan E., Skehan, P., & Gong, G. (2011). Working memory, phonemic coding ability and foreign language aptitude: Potential for construction of specific language aptitude tests – the case of Cantonese. A Journal of English Language, Literatures and Cultural Studies, 60(1), 45-73. doi: 10.5007/2175-8026.2011n60p045
Cheung, H. (1996). Nonword span as a unique predictor of second-language vocabulary learning. Developmental Psychology, 32(5), 867-873.
De Bot, K. (2008). Second language development as a dynamic process. Modern Language Journal, 92(2), 166-178.
De Bot, K. (2015). A bias in citation patterns in applied linguistics: The case of the bilingual advantage. In J. Navracsics & Sz. Bátyi (Eds.), First and second language: Interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 22-32). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó.
De Bruin, A., Treccani, B., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Cognitive advantage in bilingualism: An example of publication bias? Psychological Science, 26(1), 99-107.
Dehn, M. J. (2008). Working memory and academic learning: Assessment and intervention. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Dehn, M. J., Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (2015). Essentials of working memory assessment and intervention. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
DeKeyser, R. (2012). Interactions between individual differences, treatments and structures in SLA. Language Learning, 62(Suppl. 2), 189-200.
Dörnyei, Z. (2010). The relationship between language aptitude and language learning motivation: Individual differences from a dynamic systems perspective. In E. Macaro (Ed.), Continuum companion to second language acquisition (pp. 247-267) London: Continuum.
Doughty, C. J., Campbell, S. G., Mislevy, M. A., Bunting, M. F., Bowles, A. R., & Koeth, J. T. (2010). Predicting near-native ability: The factor structure and reliability of Hi-LAB. In M. T. Prior et al. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 2008 Second Language Research Forum (pp. 10-31). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Ellis, N. C. (1996). Sequencing in SLA: Phonological memory, chunking and points of order. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(1), 91-126.
Ellis, N. C. (2012). Formulaic language and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, 17-44. doi:10.1017/S0267190512000025
Ellis, N. C. (2013). Second language acquisition. In G. Trousdale & T. Hoffmann (Eds.), Oxford handbook of construction grammar (pp. 365-378). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, N. C., & Sinclair, S. G. (1996). Working memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and syntax: Putting language in good order. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A(1), 234-250.
Ellis, R., & Shintani, N. (2013). Exploring language pedagogy through second language acquisition research. London: Routledge.
Engel de Abreu, P. M. J. (2011). Working memory in multilingual children: Is there a bilingual effect? Memory, 19(5), 529-537.
Eysenck, M. (2012). Fundamentals of cognition. Hove: Psychology.
Foster, P. (2001). Rules and routines: A consideration of their role in the task-based language production of native and non-native speakers. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Research pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 75-93). Harlow: Longman.
Foster, P., Bolibaugh, C., & Kotula, A. (2014). Knowledge of nativelike selections in an L2: The influence of exposure, memory, age of onset and motivation in foreign language and immersion settings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36(1), 101-132.
French, L. M. (2006). Phonological working memory and second language acquisition: A developmental study of francophone children learning English in Quebec. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.
French, L. M., & O’Brien, I. (2008). Phonological memory and children's second language grammar learning. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29(3), 463-487.
Gass, S., & Lee, J. (2011). Working memory capacity, Stroop interference, and proficiency in a second language. In M. Schmid & W. Lowie (Eds.), From structure to chaos: Twenty years of modeling bilingualism (pp. 59-84). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gathercole, S. E., & Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working memory and classroom learning. In K. Thurman & K. Fiorello (Eds.), Cognitive development in K-3 classroom learning: Research applications (pp. 15-38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Granena G., & Long M. (2013). Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains. Second Language Research, 29(3), 311-343.
Granena, G. (2013). Cognitive attitudes for second language learning and the LLAMA Language Aptitude Test. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude and ultimate attainment (pp. 3-41). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Ehrman, M. E. (2000). A theory based approach to the measurement of foreign language learning ability: The CANAL-F theory and test. Modern Language Journal, 84, 390-405.
Grotek, M. (2002). Foreign language learning in late adulthood: Memory strategy training (Unpublished MA dissertation). Sosnowiec, University of Silesia.
Holmes, J., Gathercole, S. E., & Dunning, D. L. (2009). Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children. Developmental Science, 12(4), F9-F15.
Jessner, U. (2006). Linguistic awareness in multilinguals: English as a third language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Jessner, U. (2014). Multilingual awareness or why the multilingual learner is a specific language learner. In M. Pawlak & L. Aronin (Eds.), Essential topics in applied linguistics and multilingualism (pp. 175-184). Heidelberg: Springer.
Klingberg, T. (2010). Training and plasticity of working memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(7), 317-324.
Kormos, J. (2013). New conceptualizations of language aptitude in second language attainment. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude and ultimate attainment (pp. 131-152). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. H. (1991). An introduction to second language research. London: Longman.
Lognostics. (2016). Free software from _lognostics. The LLAMA Language Aptitude Tests. Retrieved from http://www.lognostics.co.uk/tools/llama/
MacDonald, M. C., & Christiansen, M. H. (2002). Reassessing working memory: Comment on Just and Carpenter (1992) and Waters and Caplan (1996). Psychological Review, 109(1), 35-54. Retrieved from http://cnl.psych.cornell.edu/pubs/2002-mc-Psych-Review.pdf
Martin, K. I., & Ellis, N. C. (2012). The roles of phonological STM and working memory in L2 grammar and vocabulary learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 34(3), 379-413.
Meara, P. (2005). LLAMA language aptitude tests. Swansea: Lognostics.
Melby-Lervåg, M., & Hulme, C. (2013). Is working memory training effective? A meta analytic review. Developmental Psychology, 49(2), 270-291.
Misyak, J. B., Christiansen, M. H., & Tomblin, J. B. (2010). On-line individual differences in statistical learning predict language processing. Frontiers in Psychology, 1(31). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00031
Mitchell, R., Myles, F., & Marsden, E. (2013). Second language learning theories (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Miyake, A., & Shah, P. (1999). Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Morales, J., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Working memory development in monolingual and bilingual children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(2), 187-202.
Muñoz, C. (2014). The association between aptitude components and language skills in young learners. In M. Pawlak & L. Aronin (Eds.), Essential topics in applied linguistics and multilingualism (pp. 51-68). Heidelberg: Springer.
Neufeld, G. G. (1978). A theoretical perspective on the nature of language aptitude. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 16-26.
O’Brien, I., Segalowitz, N., Collentine, J., & Freed, B. (2006). Phonological memory and lexical, narrative, and grammatical skills in second language oral production by adult learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(3), 377-402.
O’Brien, I., Segalowitz, N., Collentine, J., & Freed, B. (2007). Phonological memory predicts L2 oral fluency gains in adults. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29(4), 557-582.
Parry, T., & Stansfield, C. W. (Eds.). (1990). Language aptitude reconsidered. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Pimsleur, P. (1966). Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Robinson P. (Ed.). (2002). Individual differences and instructed language learning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Rosenthal, J. (1996). Teaching science to language minority students: Theory and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Schmidt, R. (2012). Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. In W. M. Chan, K. N. Chin, S. Bhattm, & I. Walker (Eds.), Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education (pp. 27-50). Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Service, E. (1992). Phonology, working memory and foreign-language learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, A45(1), 21-50.
Singleton, D. (2014). Apt to change: The problematic of language awareness and language aptitude in age-related research. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(3), 557-571.
Skehan, P. (1986). Cluster analysis and the identification of learner types. In V. Cook (Ed.), Experimental approaches to second language learning (pp. 81-94). Oxford: Pergamon.
Skehan, P. (2001). Individual differences in second and foreign language learning. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Guide to Good Practice. Retrieved from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/91
Skehan, P. (2002). Theorising and updating aptitude. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 69-95). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Skehan, P. (2012). Language aptitude. In S. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 381-395). London: Routledge.
Skrzypek, A. & Singleton, D. (2013). Phonological short-term memory and knowledge of L2 collocations: The direction of causality. In E. Mańczak-Wohlfeld & M. Jodłowiec (Eds.), Exploring the microcosm and macrocosm of language teaching and learning. A festschrift on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Professor Anna Niżegorodcew (pp. 115-132). Cracow: Jagiellonian University Press.
Skrzypek, A. (2009). Phonological short-term memory and L2 collocational development in adult learners. EUROSLA Yearbook, 9, 160-184.
Sparks, R. (2012). Individual differences in L2 learning and long-term L1-L2 relationships. Language Learning, 62(Supplement 2), 5-27.
Stansfield, C. W. (1989). Language aptitude reconsidered. Retrieved from ERIC Digest. (ED318226)
Tsai, N., Au, J., & Jaeggi S. M. (2016). Malleability of working memory and implications for second language acquisition. In G. Granena, D.O. Jackson, & Y. Yilmaz (Eds.), Cognitive individual differences in L2 processing and acquisition (pp. 69-88). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. London: Longman.
Verhagen, J., & Leseman, P. P. M. (2016). How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? A comparison between first and second language learners. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141(1), 65-82.
Vinkhuysen, A. A. E., van der Sluis, S., Posthum, D., & Boomsma, D. I. (2009). The heritability of aptitude and exceptional talent across different domains in adolescents and young adults. Behavior Genetics, 39(4), 380-392.
Wen, Z. (2012). Foreign language aptitude. ELT Journal, 66(2), 233-235.
Wen, Z. (2016). Working memory and second language learning. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Wen, Z., & Skehan, P. (2011). A new perspective on foreign language aptitude: Building and supporting a case for “working memory as language aptitude.” Ilha Do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures and Cultural Studies, 60, 15-44.
Wen, Z., Biedroń, A., & Skehan, P. (2017). Foreign language aptitude theory: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. State-of-the-art article. Language Teaching, 50(1), 1-31.
Williams, J. N. (2012). Working memory and SLA. In S. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 427-441). Oxford: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Williams, J. N., & Lovatt, P. (2003). Phonological memory and rule learning. Language Learning, 53(1), 67-121.
Williams, J. N. (2015). Working memory in SLA research: Challenges and prospects. In Z. Wen, M. Mota, & A. McNeill E. (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp. 301-307). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
License
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.