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Language aptitude research: From testing to theory and practice
Date Issued
2023
Publisher
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Citation
In Wen, Zhisheng, Peter Skehan, & Richard Sparks. (eds.), 2023, Language aptitude theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
Language aptitude refers to the set of cognitive abilities that allow us to understand,
explain, diagnose, and predict why and how some individuals can learn a
second/foreign language more effectively and efficiently than their peers, other things
being equal (cf. Carroll, 1990; Doughty, 2019; Wen & Skehan, 2021). Since the
modern inception of the concept in the 1950s in the USA (Spolsky, 1995), language
aptitude research has undergone rollercoaster periods of developmental stages. The
1950s, 60s, and 70s, for example, were marked by interest and enthusiasm in the topic.
But, skepticism and marginalization about language aptitude developed during the 80s
and 90s. Subsequently, language aptitude research regained momentum around the
turn of the new millennium (Vuong & Wong, 2019), boosted by Robinson's edited
volume (2002) on the topic twenty years ago. The last few years have witnessed an
exponential growth of publications of journal papers, edited volumes, and journal
special issues (e.g., Reiterer, 2018; Wen et al., 2019; Granena, 2020; Doughty &
Mackey, 2021; Li & De Keyser, 2021). As Doughty and Mackey have succinctly
commented in their recent introduction to the latest issue of the Annual Review of
Applied Linguistics (2021) dedicated to the theme, language aptitude has now become
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one of the most "important, intriguing, messy, and often controversial" topics in
second language research (Doughty & Mackey, 2021, p. 1).
As indicated in the introduction chapter to a recent volume (Wen et al., 2019),
when language aptitude research in the past sixty years is put into the framework of
Richard Snow's (1992) criteria for 'an aptitude theory', (i.e., construction of language
aptitude tests, aptitude theory construction, application of language aptitude to
practice), we can claim that significant achievements have been made in the first set
of criteria concerning the construction of language aptitude tests. Most of these
well-established aptitude test batteries, among which the seminal Modern Language
Aptitude Test (MLAT; Carroll & Sapon, 1959) is the most representative, can be
utilized to predict second language learning outcomes fairly reliably, with an overall
correlation of around R = 0.350~0.50 (Li, 2015). Notwithstanding these commendable
achievements in aptitude test construction and development, progress in aptitude
theory construction has been less impressive. So far, a language aptitude theory with
adequate explanatory power for foreign/second language learning is still lacking.
Then, when it comes to the third criteria, i.e., application of language aptitude to
inform practice, progress has been rather slow (Wen, Skehan, Biedroń, 2017).
To partially rectify this situation, the current volume has been developed to
revisit and consolidate existing achievements made in language aptitude testing so far.
More importantly, it aims to further push developments in aptitude theory and practice.
In this introductory chapter, we first provide a brief state of the art review of language
aptitude in the past six decades, summarizing the major research paradigms and
methodologies and evaluating their achievements and limitations. Following these
reviews, we discuss the background and rationale of the current volume, highlighting
the key contents of each major chapter and their contributions to enhancing our
understanding of the nature and implications of language aptitude theory and practice.
We conclude the introduction by calling on scholars from multiple disciplines to make
concerted efforts to follow and extend Richard Snow’s legacy (Corno et al., 2002) to
build a viable language aptitude theory that will allow us to diagnose, predict, and
explain the second language learning process and outcomes
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