Objective public testing methods were brought into use in language programs in the 1930s, primarily to justify decisions to exclude unqualified students from high school foreign language classes. In the United States, after World War II, government language programs supported research into the assessment of language aptitude to improve selection…

The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) was part of a project examining biographical, motivational, attitudinal, personality, and cognitive aptitude variables in 1,000 adult students preparing at the Foreign Service Institute for overseas assignments, with various subsamples completing different instruments. Data were analyzed using correlation,…