The role of aptitude in second language segmental learning: The case of Japanese learners’ English /ɹ/ pronunciation attainment in classroom settings

Abstract

Building on the extensive work conceptualizing, developing, and validating foreign language aptitude for successful second language acquisition (e.g., Skehan, 2015, inApplied Linguistics), the current project expounded the cognitive abilities relevant and instrumental to adult Japanese classroom learners’ pronunciation attainment of English /ɹ/. The speech production of 50 Japanese participants was elicited, acoustically analyzed, and linked to different aspects of their aptitude profiles (phonemic coding, associative memory, and sequence recognition). Whereas those with higher phonemic coding demonstrated better performance in a relatively easy dimension of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (lower F2 for tongue retraction), those with greater associative memory demonstrated more advanced performance in the relatively difficult dimensions of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (longer transition duration for phonemic length; lower F3 for labial/alveolar/pharyngeal constrictions). The role of incidental learning aptitude (i.e., sequence recognition) remained unclear. The findings here indicate that explicit aptitude related to phonological analysis and memory may play a key role in predicting the incidence of advanced second language segmental proficiency attainment in classroom settings.

Domain-general auditory processing determines success in second language pronunciation learning in adulthood: A longitudinal study

“…Of note, perceptual and cognitive individual differences are thought to play less of a role for relatively learnable features such as better perceived tempo and articulation rate (Lahmann, Steinkrauss, & Schmid, 2017). By comparison, individual differences in auditory processing may be more influential in determining the attainment of advanced-level L2 pronunciation accuracy and fluency, characterized as greater segmental and prosodic refinement (Granena & Long, 2013;Saito, 2019).…”

“…More recently, our research team has begun to examine the role of aptitude in L2 pronunciation learning (e.g., Saito, 2019). Drawing on Carroll and Sapon's (1959) model of foreign language aptitude, our precursor studies have isolated one particular component of explicit phonological awareness, namely, phonemic coding, as particularly predictive of pronunciation attainment.…”

Probing the Internal Validity of the LLAMA Language Aptitude Tests

“…Several studies used the LLAMA to examine the role of aptitude in ultimate L2 attainment in naturalistic settings (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008;Forsberg-Lundell & Sandgren, 2013;Granena, 2014;Granena & Long, 2013) and showed that a high degree of aptitude is crucial in order for postadolescent learners to acquire a high level of L2 morphosyntactic proficiency. In the context of instructed language learning, performance on the LLAMA (either the entire battery or subtests thereof) has been shown to correlate with speech fluency and grammatical and lexical complexity (Saito, 2017(Saito, , 2019Saito & Hanzawa, 2016), grammatical knowledge (Yalcin & Spada, 2012; see also Hamrick, 2015), and global proficiency (Artieda & Muñoz, 2016;Larson-Hall & Dewey, 2012). Studies on bilingual development (Bylund, Abrahamsson, & Hyltenstam, 2012), heritage language acquisition (Bylund et al, 2010), and L1 attrition (Bylund & Ramirez-Galan, 2016) showed that LLAMA performance was positively correlated with L1 maintenance and development in a L2 context (but more so for childhood than adult language attriters).…”

“…The LLAMA test battery incorporates features of both traditional and contemporary approaches to aptitude testing. The more traditional components, which originate from the fact that the LLAMA was loosely based on the MLAT (Meara, ), include tasks of associative word memory and grammatical inferencing, whereas the novel component is found in the introduction of a sequence recognition test (e.g., Service & Kohonen, ; Speciale, Ellis, & Bywater, ), which have commonly been assumed to assess implicit learning abilities (e.g., Saito, ). The linguistic stimuli used in the LLAMA battery are based on a northern Canadian indigenous language, and (unless test takers have extensive knowledge of the northwest British Columbian languages of Canada) performance on the LLAMA should be independent of their L1.…”

Individual differences in memory predict changes in breakdown and repair fluency but not speed fluency: A short-term fluency training intervention study

“…A growing body of research suggests that cognitive aptitude, that is, an array of perceptual and cognitive abilities that are utilized for the second language (L2) learning, is an important explanatory factor for L2 attainment in classroom (e.g. Muñoz, 2014;Ranta, 2002;Saito, 2017Saito, , 2019, during study abroad (e.g. Grey et al, 2015;Tare et al, 2018), and in naturalistic contexts (e.g.…”