Widespread use of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) in L2 studies of individual differences implicitly assumes that L2 aptitude is a distinct cognitive facet. There is considerable evidence for prediction from L1 abilities to L2 learning. In this longitudinal study, L1-MLAT-L2 relations were examined in 307 US secondary students based on…

How does language shape mathematical development? In this article, we consider this question by reviewing findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal research. In this literature, we find that differences in the structures of languages and individual variations in language ability are associated with mathematical performance in both obvious and…

The effect of language aptitude on grammar attainment of second language learners with different ages of onset became one of the hot topics in the last decades. However, most previous studies were conducted in a second language context with inconsistent results, and few studies were conducted in a foreign language context. To fill this gap, the…

The survey results show that students have low writing skills. One of the contributing factors is that students have difficulty developing ideas from writing, which causes the writing process to be slow. Apart from that, passive learning activities also have an impact on students' writing abilities. Based on this, the aim of this research is to…

How people conceptualize learning is related to real-world educational consequences across many domains of education. Despite its centrality to the educational system, we know little about how the public reasons about language acquisition, and the potential consequences for their thinking about real-world issues (e.g., policy endorsements). The…

The study investigates how psychological and social factors relate to productive collocation knowledge in late L2 learners of Swedish (French L1) (N = 59). The individual factors are language aptitude (measured through the LLAMA aptitude test), reported language use, social networks, acculturation, and personality. Multiple linear regression…

The learning of a second language is distinct from other types of learning, and involves a complex interplay of cognitive, affective, motivational, and emotional factors. Two important factors are language mindsets, the beliefs that learners hold regarding their language learning ability, and foreign language anxiety, the language…

This paper is an attempt to deal with language learners' beliefs. Researchers used Elaine Kolker Horwitz's model (1988), Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory, and they applied it to explore the views of Kurdish EFL university students concerning language learning. The study aims to investigate and expose their opinions regarding language…

The influence of individual difference variables on second language (L2) listening comprehension has been an area of research that has been gaining renewed attention in recent years. The current study investigated the effects of two cognitive variables, aptitude and metacognitive awareness, on 107 native-Korean, English as a foreign language…

While the demographic diversity of children served in early childhood classrooms continues to grow, world language learning opportunities for English-speaking preschoolers remain a rarity. Efforts to teach world languages in addition to English at the preschool level may be hampered by limited early childhood educator expertise, lack of…

This study addresses the role of domain-general mechanisms in second-language learning and knowledge using an individual differences approach. We examine the predictive validity of implicit-statistical learning aptitude for implicit second-language knowledge. Participants (n = 131) completed a battery of four aptitude measures and nine grammar…

Purpose: We investigated the efficacy of "Story Champs" for improving oral language in third-grade Spanish-English bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: We implemented a concurrent multiple-baseline across-participants single-case design with four bilingual Spanish-English third-grade students with DLD.…

Aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) research is of both theoretical and practical interest to second language (L2) learning, since it provides insights into the processes linking learner-internal individual difference factors and learner-external contextual variables including instructional approach--variables that jointly determine L2 outcomes.…

In this study, neural representation of adult second language (L2) speakers' implicit grammatical knowledge was investigated. Advanced L2 speakers of Japanese living in Japan, as well as L1 Japanese speakers, performed a word-monitoring task (proposed as an implicit knowledge test) in the MRI scanner. Behavioral measures were obtained from…

The Douglas Fir Group (2016) sought to articulate a transdisciplinary agenda for SLA but said little about multilingualism specifically. Moreover, many multilinguals are under siege in a worrisome world where threats to human difference have risen to the mainstream in the aftermath of Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. I argue that…