SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, FOREIGN LANGUAGE APTITUDE, AND INTELLIGENCE: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSES.Miyuki Sasaki. New York: Peter Lang, 1996. Pp. xii + 155. $40.95 cloth.

Abstract

There are few in-depth studies that have attempted to explore the complex relationships among second language proficiency, foreign language aptitude, and intelligence. Information on such studies is usually found only in unpublished dissertations or in greatly reduced form in journal articles. This text is a rare example of a full-length report of such a study. Based on data from 160 EFL students in Japan, the researcher employed an extensive array of analytical procedures relating performance on English language proficiency measures with performance on a three-part aptitude battery and an intelligence measure. The proficiency measures included multiple-choice tests of grammar, cohesion, vocabulary, listening, and reading using short and long texts as well as a cloze and a free composition. The foreign language aptitude battery was a Japanese version of a test modeled after the short version of the Modern Language Aptitude Test. The measures of verbal intelligence and reasoning came from an existing Kyoto University test with 12 subtests.