Although studies have consistently found negative correlations between second language (L2) anxiety and L2 achievement, the anxiety concept is criticized for the failure to consider confounding variables, particularly first language (L1) achievement, in the relationship between language anxiety and language achievement. Also, past studies tend to…

Purpose: Extemporaneous speech tasks provide an ecologically valid sample to examine speech acoustics, but differing methodologies exist in the literature for segmentation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the utility and reliability of a segmentation approach for extemporaneous speech specified by systemic functional…

This study is the first attempt to explore the relationship between rater variables focusing on raters' language aptitude and their judgments of second language (L2) speech. Thirty-four English listeners rated 65 spontaneous native and nonnative speech samples for comprehensibility, accentedness, and fluency. They also completed the LLAMA language…

A subtest of the LLAMA test battery (LLAMA_D) has been proposed as a potential test of implicit learning aptitude. To improve its construct validity, in the present study, the original LLAMA_D (a) instructions for incidental learning were modified, and (b) confidence ratings of test responses and (c) reaction time (RT) measurements were added.…

Nonverbal behavior can impact language proficiency scores in speaking tests, but there is little empirical information of the size or consistency of its effects or whether language proficiency may be a moderating variable. In this study, 100 novice raters watched and scored 30 recordings of test takers taking an international, high stakes…

It is unknown whether and to what extent cognitive individual differences may play different roles in paper versus computer-based second language (L2) writing. This exploratory study is a first attempt to explore this issue, focusing on the effects of working memory and language aptitude on the quality of paper versus computer-based L2 writing…

Cognitive factors have been recognised as important in the interpreting process, but whether they could serve as valid components of interpreting aptitude still awaits further investigation. This study explores the predictive value of cognitive fluency in the simultaneous interpreting (SI) performance of trainee interpreters. Cognitive fluency…

This study investigated the underlying structure of a set of eight cognitive tests from the two most recent language aptitude test batteries: the LLAMA (Meara, 2005) and the Hi-LAB (Linck et al., 2013) to see whether they had any underlying constructs in common. The study also examined whether any of the observed constructs could predict L2…

Although several studies have explored the effects of task sequencing on second language (L2) production, there is no established set of criteria to sequence tasks for learners in L2 writing classrooms. This study examined the effect of simple ?complex task sequencing manipulated along both resource-directing (± number of elements) and…

This study examines the relationship between different types of language learning aptitude (measured via the LLAMA test) and adult second language (L2) learners' attainment in speech production in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. Picture descriptions elicited from 50 Japanese EFL learners from varied proficiency levels were analyzed…

The current study longitudinally examined the influence of aptitude on second language (L2) pronunciation development when 40 first-year Japanese university students engaged in practice activities inside and outside English-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms over one academic year. Spontaneous speech samples were elicited at the beginning, middle,…

In this study we investigated the correlation between individual linguistic ability based on performance levels and their engagement of typical and atypical language areas in the brain. Eighteen healthy subjects between 21 and 64 years participated in language ability tests, and subsequent functional MRI scans measuring brain activity in response…

The study reported in this paper investigated the relationship between components of aptitude and the fluency, lexical variety, syntactic complexity, and accuracy of performance in two types of written and spoken narrative tasks. We also addressed the question of how narrative performance varies in tasks of different cognitive complexity in the…

An experiment examined whether beginning readers can successfully learn to detect and define homonyms, and whether this ability correlates with vocabulary and/or phonological awareness. First graders received ambiguity instruction involving homonyms in isolation, in riddles, and in text. A control group received reading lessons without a…

The goal of this study is to investigate the role of working memory capacity in L2 attainment and performance. The study uses an L1 reading span task to measure working memory of a group of 59 high-intermediate/advanced learners of English, and a film retelling task to measure their oral production. The analysis first showed a moderate to high…