Hi-LAB: A New Measure of Aptitude for High-Level Language Proficiency

Few adult second language (L2) learners successfully attain high-level proficiency. Although decades of research on beginning to intermediate stages of L2 learning have identified a number of predictors of the rate of acquisition, little research has examined factors relevant to predicting very high levels of L2 proficiency. The current study, conducted in the United States, was designed to examine potential cognitive predictors of successful learning to advanced proficiency levels. Participants were adults with varying degrees of success in L2 learning, including a critical group with high proficiency as indicated by standardized language proficiency tests and on-the-job language use. Results from a series of group discrimination analyses indicate that high-level attainment was related to working memory (including phonological short-term memory and task set switching), associative learning, and implicit learning. We consider the implications for the construct of high-level language aptitude and identify future directions for aptitude research.

[1]  Michael H. Long,et al.  Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains , 2013 .

[2]  Michael H. Long,et al.  Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment , 2013 .

[3]  Scott R. Jackson,et al.  Aptitude-treatment interaction studies in second language acquisition: Findings and methodology , 2013 .

[4]  Michael H. Long.  Maturational constraints on child and adult SLA , 2013 .

[5]  Yvonne Brehmer,et al.  Working-memory training in younger and older adults: training gains, transfer, and maintenance , 2012, Front. Hum. Neurosci..

[6]  Stef van Buuren,et al.  MICE: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R , 2011 .

[7]  John W. Schwieter,et al.  Inhibitory control predicts language switching performance in trilingual speech production* , 2011, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

[8]  Patrick C M Wong,et al.  Learning a novel phonological contrast depends on interactions between individual differences and training paradigm design. , 2011, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[9]  Carmen Muñoz,et al.  A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment , 2010, Language Teaching.

[10]  Dorit Ravid,et al.  Cross-linguistic evidence for the nature of age effects in second language acquisition , 2010, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[11]  Ingrid Fontanini,et al.  Working memory capacity and L2 University Students comprehension of linear texts and hypertexts , 2009 .

[12]  Kenneth Hyltenstam,et al.  Age of Onset and Nativelikeness in a Second Language: Listener Perception Versus Linguistic Scrutiny , 2009 .

[13]  Kenneth Hyltenstam,et al.  THE ROBUSTNESS OF APTITUDE EFFECTS IN NEAR-NATIVE SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION , 2008, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[14]  David Birdsong,et al.  Second Language Acquisition and Ultimate Attainment , 2008 .

[15]  Kenneth Hyltenstam,et al.  Maturational constraints in SLA , 2008 .

[16]  Michael H. Long.  Stabilization and Fossilization in Interlanguage Development , 2008 .

[17]  Peter Skehan,et al.  Chapter 18. Individual Differences in Second Language Learning , 2008 .

[18]  A. Gelman,et al.  Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models , 2006 .

[19]  Michael F. Bunting,et al.  How does running memory span work? , 2006, Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[20]  A. Miyake,et al.  Individual Differences in Second-Language Proficiency , 2006, Psychological science.

[21]  Vera Kempe,et al.  The role of learner and input variables in learning inflectional morphology , 2006, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[22]  Michael H. Long.  Problems with supposed counter-evidence to the Critical Period Hypothesis , 2005 .

[23]  Richard P. Heitz,et al.  An automated version of the operation span task , 2005, Behavior research methods.

[24]  Josef C. Schrock,et al.  Working memory capacity and the antisaccade task: individual differences in voluntary saccade control. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[25]  Albert Costa,et al.  Lexical Access in Bilingual Speech Production: Evidence from Language Switching in Highly Proficient Bilinguals and L2 Learners. , 2004 .

[26]  John Edwards,et al.  Bilingualism , 2004 .

[27]  Nicole A. Lazar,et al.  Statistical Analysis With Missing Data , 2003, Technometrics.

[28]  R. Sternberg.  2. The theory of successful intelligence and its implications for language-aptitude testing , 2002 .

[29]  N. Yoshinaga,et al.  11. Aptitude-exposure interaction effects on Wh-movement violation detection by pre-and-post-critical period Japanese bilinguals , 2002 .

[30]  Peter Skehan,et al.  4. Theorising and updating aptitude , 2002 .

[31]  P. Robinson.  Individual differences and instructed language learning , 2002 .

[32]  Alison Mackey,et al.  9. Individual differences in working memory, noticing of interactional feedback and L2 development , 2002 .

[33]  Roderick J. A. Little,et al.  Statistical Analysis with Missing Data: Little/Statistical Analysis with Missing Data , 2002 .

[34]  A. Kersten,et al.  Less Really Is More for Adults Learning a Miniature Artificial Language , 2001 .

[35]  S. Pickering,et al.  Dissociable Lexical and Phonological Influences on Serial Recognition and Serial Recall , 2001, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[36]  R. Dekeyser.  THE ROBUSTNESS OF CRITICAL PERIOD EFFECTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION , 2000, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[37]  M. J. Emerson,et al.  The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions and Their Contributions to Complex “Frontal Lobe” Tasks: A Latent Variable Analysis , 2000, Cognitive Psychology.

[38]  T. Bongaerts,et al.  Authenticity of pronunciation in naturalistic second language acquisition: The case of very advanced late learners of Dutch as a second language , 2000 .

[39]  H. Boshuizen,et al.  Multiple imputation of missing blood pressure covariates in survival analysis. , 1999, Statistics in medicine.

[40]  Lydia White,et al.  How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition , 1996 .

[41]  Susanne Carroll,et al.  The irrelevance of verbal feedback to language learning , 1995 .

[42]  R. Oxford,et al.  Cognition Plus: Correlates Of Language Learning Success , 1995 .

[43]  P. Hancock,et al.  Age differences and changes in reaction time: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. , 1994, Journal of gerontology.

[44]  G. Ioup,et al.  Reexamining the Critical Period Hypothesis , 1994, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[45]  Mark Sawyer,et al.  L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skill , 1992, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[46]  Daniel B. Willingham,et al.  On the development of procedural knowledge. , 1989, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[47]  E. Schneiderman,et al.  The talented language learner: some preliminary findings , 1988 .

[48]  R. Sugden.  Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys , 1988 .

[49]  D. Rubin,et al.  The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects , 1983 .

[50]  Christian Uhlig.  Social groups in the development process , 1968 .

[51]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[52]  周彬彬,et al.  Interlanguage : forty years later , 2014 .

[53]  Gisela Granena.  Age differences and cognitive aptitudes for implicit and explicit learning in ultimate second language attainment , 2012 .

[54]  Susan G. Campbell,et al.  Predicting Near-Native Ability: TheFactor Structure and Reliability of Hi-LAB , 2010 .

[55]  Christopher A. Was,et al.  Reexamining the relationship between working memory and comprehension: The role of available long-term memory , 2007 .

[56]  Peter Robinson,et al.  Practice in a Second Language: Aptitudes, abilities, contexts, and practice , 2007 .

[57]  PETER SKEHAN,et al.  Individual Differences in L 2 Learning 589 18 Individual Differences in Second Language Learning , 2003 .

[58]  G. Extra,et al.  Dutch as a second language in the Netherlands and Flanders , 1998 .

[59]  Rebecca L. Oxford,et al.  Instructional Implications of Gender Differences in Second/Foreign Language (L2) Learning Styles and Strategies. , 1993 .

[60]  J. Stroop.  Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. , 1992 .

[61]  Michael H. Long,et al.  An introduction to second language acquisition research , 1990 .

[62]  Elissa L. Newport,et al.  Maturational Constraints on Language Learning , 1990, Cogn. Sci..

[63]  John B. Carroll,et al.  Modern language aptitude test. , 1959 .