Language Aptitude
Advancing Theory, Testing, Research and Practice
Second Language Acquisition Research Series

Language Aptitude: Advancing Theory, Testing, Research and Practice brings together cutting-edge global perspectives on foreign language aptitude. Drawing from educational psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience, the editors have assembled interdisciplinary authors writing for an applied linguistics and education audience. The book is broken into five major themes: revisiting and updating current language aptitude theories and models; emerging insights from contemporary research into language aptitude and the age factor or the critical period hypothesis; redefining constructs and broadening territories of foreign language aptitude; exploring language aptitude from a neurocognitive perspective; and exploring future directions of foreign language aptitude research. Focused on critical issues in foreign language aptitude and second language learning and teaching, this book will be an important research resource and supplemental reading in both applied linguistics and cognitive psychology.

List of Contributors

Foreword by Rod Ellis

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction and Overview

Zhisheng (Edward) Wen, Peter Skehan, Adriana Biedroń, Shaofeng Li and Richard L. Sparks

Part I

Revisiting and Updating Tests and Theories

2. The MLAT at 60 Years

Charles W.. Stansfield, and Daniel J. Reed

3. Development and preliminary validation of a foreign language aptitude test for Chinese learners of foreign languages

Lanrong Li, and Shaoqian (Sheila) Luo

4. Language aptitude implicates language and cognitive skills

Peter Skehan

5. Six decades of language aptitude research: A comprehensive and critical review

Shaofeng Li

Part II

Emerging Insights on Age and Ultimate Attainment

6. Difficulty and ease in learning foreign languages at the primary school level: general learning ability, language aptitude or working memory?

Amelia Lambelet, and Raphael Berthele

7. Language aptitude: Insights from U.S. high school students

Richard L. Sparks, Jon Patton, and Julie Luebbers

8. Language aptitude: Insights from Hyperpolyglots

Michael Erard

9. Language aptitude: Insights from L2 adult exceptional learners

Adriana Biedroń

Part III

Redefining Cognitive Constructs and Models

10. Working memory as language aptitude: The Phonological/Executive Model

Zhisheng (Edward) Wen

11. Declarative and procedural memory as individual differences in second language aptitude

Joshua Buffington, and Kara Morgan-Short

12.Cognitive aptitudes for explicit and implicit learning

Gisela Granena, and Yucel Yilmaz

Part IV

Perspectives from Cognitive Neuroscience

13. Neurophysiological indicators of the linguistic components of language aptitude

Jinxing Yue

14. Neuro-psycho-cognitive markers for pronunciation/speech imitation as language aptitude

Susanne Reiterer

15. In search of a cognitive model for interpreting expertise

Minhua Liu

Part V

Research Agenda and Future Directions

16. The future of language aptitude research

Robert DeKeyser

17. From individual differences in language aptitude to personalized learning

Loan C. Vuong, and Patrick CM Wong

Index

Zhisheng (Edward) Wen (PhD, Chinese University of Hong Kong) is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Translation at Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao, China, having previously taught at universities in Hong Kong and mainland China for over 15 years.

Peter Skehan (PhD, Birkbeck College, University of London) has worked as a Professor at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, London; the University of Auckland; Chinese University of Hong Kong; King’s College London; and Thames Valley University.

Adriana Biedroń (PhD, School of English, Poznań) is currently Professor of English at the Faculty of Philology, Pomeranian University in Słupsk, Poland.

Shaofeng Li (PhD, Michigan State University) is Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State University and previously worked as a Senior Lecturer in Applied Language Studies at the University of Auckland.

Richard L. Sparks (EdD, University of Cincinnati) is a Professor Emeritus in the Mount St Joseph University’s Department of Graduate Education, USA.