Abstract
Language-learning aptitude and crosslinguistic similarity between learners’ first language (L1) and the target second language (L2) are both known to facilitate successful L2 learning. However, these phenomena have rarely been investigated together in the same study. To address this research gap in second language acquisition, the present study was carried out with 92 international students of Swedish as a L2, with diverse L1 backgrounds. The participants first completed a language aptitude test upon entering a six-week introductory L2 course at the beginning level. Their L1 background was categorized in relation to the target language as either similar (Germanic L1) or distant (non-Germanic L1). At the end of the course, the participants completed a test of L2 achievement. Regression analyses of achievement scores, with language aptitude and L1 background as independent variables, revealed that crosslinguistic similarity explained at least as much variance in L2 achievement as did language aptitude. When comparing the effects of aptitude in the two L1 subsamples, language aptitude was found to be more important for the learners with a typologically similar L1, than for the learners with a more distant L1. In addition, the results provide support to theoretical proposals made in the individual differences literature that indicate that auditory processing ability may be of particular importance in the earliest stages of L2 acquisition.
Highlights
Second-language (L2) classrooms may be heterogeneous in many ways, for example with respect to the learners’ age, aptitude, motivation, educational and linguistic background (Ellis, 2008)
Addressing the heterogeneous context faced by many L2 teachers in multilingual classrooms, this article aims at exploring contributions of both language learning aptitude and L1 background to successful L2 achievement, examining data from a mixed L1 group of adult beginning learners of Swedish as a L2
research questions (RQs) 1: Relative contributions of language aptitude and L1 background The first RQ addressed the relative contributions of language aptitude and of having a L1 that is similar to the target L2
Summary
Second-language (L2) classrooms may be heterogeneous in many ways, for example with respect to the learners’ age, aptitude, motivation, educational and linguistic background (Ellis, 2008). The variables of most interest in a given setting are the ones that are most clearly related to learning outcomes in that particular context. If all learners in a group are about the same age, or motivated to learn, individual differences in those variables tend to be small and inconsequential for learning outcomes. Foreign language aptitude and first-language (L1) typological proximity to the L2 to be learned are examples of variables whose impact on language acquisition has been shown to be considerable, but in distinctly separate research traditions (Li, 2019; Odlin, 1989).
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