Language abilities in preschool years, including those measured with letter knowledge, are predictors of reading development in later school years. The aim of this study was to investigate variation in children's language abilities before they started school in relation to gender and neighborhood level socioeconomic status (SES). Schools from…

We investigated the potential influence of implicit learning mechanisms on L2 morphosyntactic attainment by examining the relationship between age of onset (AoO), two cognitive abilities hypothesized to underlie implicit learning (phonological short-term memory and implicit statistical learning), and performance on an auditory grammaticality…

This study compares the performance of native speakers and adult second language (L2) learners on tasks tapping proficiency in grammar, vocabulary, and collocations. In addition, data were collected on several predictors of individual differences in linguistic attainment, including some related to language experience (print exposure, education,…

Language aptitude remains one of the most understudied predictor variables in L1 attrition research. The current study seeks to address this gap by investigating the effects of language aptitude on L1 retention in late attriters. Forty L1 Spanish-L2 Swedish bilinguals living in Sweden participated in the study, along with 20 functionally…

This inquiry analyzed the relationships between individual differences and gains made in oral proficiency of adult, second language learners of Spanish during one semester studying abroad. Oral proficiency was measured using a pre/post-SA Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI, CAL, 2009). Gain scores were correlated with two cognitive…

The present study investigates the interaction between two types of explicit instructional approaches, deduction and explicit-induction, and the level of foreign language aptitude in the learning of grammar rules. Results indicate that on the whole the two equally explicit instructional approaches did not differentially affect learning…

The study addresses a problem which is inadequately investigated in second language acquisition research, that is, personality predictors of foreign language aptitude. Specifically, it focuses on the Five Factor model which includes Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (Costa & McCrae, 1992) as…

The native oral and written language and foreign language aptitude of students with different levels of anxiety were examined using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. One finding was that "language variables" discriminate high- from low-anxiety students despite similarities in cognitive ability and overall academic achievement…

A British longitudinal study of language acquisition was followed up for further information on the relationship between language acquisition, language aptitude, and second language learning. One of the original cohorts (n=23), now in secondary school, was originally studied for native language learning achievement and was now being studied for…

A study of the intellectual talents involved in learning a foreign language compared the composite predicted score of high school students on the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery with selected factor scores on the Structure of Intellect-Learning Abilities Test to determine whether any of the factors correlate highly with foreign language…

Recent research indicated that a field dependent cognitive style, often culture-based, can cause problems for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). English language ability and learning styles, and field dependence (FD), and field independence, were tested in 157 adult Korean and Japanese ESL learners in university and…

Analysis of data on 2,000 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggests that maternal intelligence is a significant predictor of scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. The HOME Inventory short forms used in the study are appended. (LB)

A study of the relationship of learner characteristics to success in beginning English examined the language aptitude, learning motivation and attitudes, spatial relations, study habits, and years of English instruction of 97 seventh-grade students in a Thai government school. The analysis focused on these variables as they related to the…

Drawing on recent psychological and neurological research on how individual differences might interact with learning a particular language, the study examines how psycholinguistic research and theory can help in assigning military personnel to language training and to a given language. Using the Defense Language Institute's Defense Language…