Language Aptitude in Young Learners: The Elementary Modern Language Aptitude Test in Spanish and Catalan Maria del Mar Suárez Vilagran ADVERTIMENT. La consulta d’aquesta tesi queda condicionada a l’acceptació de les següents condicions d'ús: La difusió d’aquesta tesi per mitjà del servei TDX (www.tdx.cat) ha estat autoritzada pels titulars dels drets de propietat intel·lectual únicament per a usos privats emmarcats en activitats d’investigació i docència. No s’autoritza la seva reproducció amb finalitats de lucre ni la seva difusió i posada a disposició des d’un lloc aliè al servei TDX. No s’autoritza la presentació del seu contingut en una finestra o marc aliè a TDX (framing). Aquesta reserva de drets afecta tant al resum de presentació de la tesi com als seus continguts. En la utilització o cita de parts de la tesi és obligat indicar el nom de la persona autora. ADVERTENCIA. 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LANGUAGE APTITUDE IN YOUNG LEARNERS: THE ELEMENTARY MODERN LANGUAGE APTITUDE TEST IN SPANISH AND CATALAN Tesi doctoral presentada per Maria del Mar Suárez Vilagran com a requeriment per a l'obtenció del títol de Doctora en Filologia Anglesa Programa de Doctorat Lingüística Aplicada Bienni 2002-2004 Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona, 2010 Directora: Dra. Carmen Muñoz Lahoz CHAPTER 1: APTITUDE AS AN INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 1.1. Introduction It is no wonder that there exists a vast array of individual learner variables which have been proved to have an influence on learning outcomes and failures in mastering a second or foreign language (L2/FL)1. As it happens in FL acquisition (henceforth SLA), the process of acquiring a first language (L1) is also influenced by individual variables. However, although individual differences (IDs) in L1 verbal ability exist, all children are capable of acquiring their mother tongue unless a disability prevents them from so doing. This is not the case, though, of FL learning, as FL learners may never succeed in their endeavour to reach a native-like level of competence. Several variables have been suggested to play a role in this often quasi, yet rarely complete, mastery of a FL. However, much research is needed that clearly explains how these IDs interact in the FL learning process and how they also work in a different way depending on the method of teaching instruction FL learners are following or in which context (either formal or informal) learners are. The present chapter begins by presenting how the cognitive development of children and adolescents is related to L1 acquisition processes. This allows us to have a general framework to refer to when dealing with milestones in L1 acquisition in middle childhood and puberty, milestones that could also affect the acquisition of a foreign language. In section 1.2.2, the reader will find an overview of ID research in both L1 and FL acquisition from a psycholinguistic perspective. Then, the chapter sets out to give a detailed account of FL aptitude as the ID that plays the most important role in FL acquisition along with motivation (section 1.3). In the second place, the different components of language aptitude will be presented separately and in relation with information-processing accounts of SLA and learning styles (section 1.4). This distinction is of use when it comes to explaining the possible different types of FL learner profiles (section 1.5). 1 In this dissertation, unless specified, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is used to refer to the acquisition of a foreign language (i.e. FL/L2 learning in school/formal settings), not to the acquisition of a second language in informal environments (L2). In the literature review, “FL” and “L2” will be used as they are used in the papers mentioned. 7 Chapter 1. Aptitude as an individual difference The remainder of this chapter examines the relationship between aptitude and other factors related to FL language learning, giving special attention to those which are relevant to the current dissertation. Thus, in section 1.6.1, the reader will find different perspectives as to whether aptitude is innate and stable or, on the contrary, it can be trained, and what the effect of one’s L1 skills is on FL aptitude is. In sections 1.6.2 and 1.6.3, the differences between aptitude in young learners and aptitude in adults are explored as regards not only age, but also the language learning context and implicit and explicit learning). Sex is also an ID considered in this dissertation (section 1.6.4), as there is the lay belief that females are better language learners but they do not appear to outstand in all the FL learning aspects, so perhaps their salience could be due to the status of their aptitude to learn a FL and/or how “apt” they are in some aptitude components. In the same way that females are thought to be better FL learners than males, so are bi- or multilinguals. Bilingualism and its positive and negative effects in relation to FL learning and aptitude are the issue dealt with in section 1.6.5. This section finishes with a brief mention to how aptitude interacts with intelligence (section 1.6.6.1) and to how some individuals have stood out because of their talent or lack thereof to learn a FL in spite of their (under)developed cognitive state. 1.2. First and Second / Foreign Language Acquisition First and subsequent languages develop following very similar routes. However, what necessarily distinguishes them is that whereas the L1 is acquired while the individual experiences development at many other levels, L2(s) acquisition may start later, once the person has already grown up. In this section, different perspectives of cognitive development and the stages of which it consists are presented and related to one’s L1 acquisition stages, highlighting two related aspects: L1 metalinguistic awareness and becoming literate. These are the topics dealt with in section 1.2.1. Another aspect that makes L1 acquisition different from SLA is how IDs affect both processes, which is the topic of section 1.2.2. While it is unquestionable that IDs are determinant in SLA and may even hamper the success in FL learning — since everybody, given the right exposure, can acquire an L1—, IDs are seldom considered in relation to one’s L1. However, IDs in L1 should not be left aside, as the right development of one’s L1 may also be determinant in the acquisition of additional languages. 8 Chapter 1. Aptitude as an individual difference 1.2.1. Cognitive development and L1 acquisition In first language acquisition research, nativists defend the idea that language develops thanks to the language acquisition device (LAD) (N. Chomsky, 1965), which is a system of principles that allows language to develop innately, independent of the capacities underpinning broader cognitive development. Developmentalists, in contrast, consider language acquisition as more dependent on the learning mechanisms that underpin general cognition. From this perspective, language development is believed to be closely related to cognitive development. The cognitive developmental phases through which children and adolescents go and which reflect on language acquisition have been investigated from several theoretical perspectives. One well-known division of cognitive developmental stages is Piaget’s (e.g. Piaget, 1937, 1960, 1975, 1983; Piaget & Inhelder, 1955, 1966), which was once very popular and later on questioned or adapted to the latest trends in the research into cognitive development. For Piaget and his colleagues, children go through four main periods or stages: the sensory motor period (0-2 years), the pre-operational period (from 2 to 6-7 years), the concrete operational period (from 7-8 to 11-12 years) and the formal operational period (from 12 years on). These stages are established on the basis of the organisation and adaptation children apply to the information they receive. The concept of constructivism is fundamental within this framework. Depending on the developmental stage at which they are, children will assimilate and accommodate the information in one way or another to make it fit in their cognitive structure. Therefore, in front of any information or situation, a 6-year-old child will necessarily react in a way that would be different if he or she was 8 or 10 years old.