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Aptitude, phonological memory, and second language proficiency in nonnovice adult learners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

KIRSTEN M. HUMMEL
KIRSTEN M. HUMMEL*
Affiliation:
Laval University
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Kirsten M. Hummel, Département de Langues, Linguistique et Traduction, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec G1V 0A6, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This study explores the relationship between aptitude, phonological memory (PM), and second language (L2) proficiency in nonnovice adult learners of English as an L2. Native speakers of French (N = 77) enrolled in a university Teaching English as a Second Language program were the participants in the study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three main factors corresponding to the variables examined: L2 proficiency, aptitude, and PM. Multiple regression analyses revealed aptitude subtests and PM together predicted 29% of the variance in L2 proficiency. Additional regression analyses carried out on lower and higher proficiency subgroups, created by a median split on proficiency scores, revealed that none of the variables predicted L2 proficiency in the higher proficiency subgroup. PM remained as a significant predictor for the lower proficiency subgroup, extending the pattern of results found elsewhere in younger populations to adult nonnovice L2 learners.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 225 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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