Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

It is generally held that some people have ‘a flair for languages’, but it has proved difficult to establish the notion empirically, except in the more prosaic and restricted terms of what characteristics correlate with success in language learning at school, for which whole test batteries were devised in the 1950s and 1960s (MLAT, PLAB). Not surprisingly, aptitude measurement was initially seen as being important where resources are limited and language teaching can in practice be restricted to those most likely to benefit from it (for example, in military training). Governments are, however, typically committed to providing language learning opportunities for all. Interest in aptitude has therefore shifted from focusing on it as a measurable characteristic to be used for predicting learning success or failure towards a more descriptive interest in tracing the relationship between relative progress in first language development and subsequent progress in second or foreign languages. The potential of aptitude measures/descriptions as the basis for tailoring courses to suit learners’ needs (rather than for guaranteeing or denying them access to courses) has not yet been adequately explored ( Skehan, 1989 : 39). The result of aptitude research in general has tended to confirm the notion of aptitude as a relatively stable and educationally important characteristic of the individual. ... log in or subscribe to read full text