Testing Chinese Learners of English for Language Learning Difficulties By the Linguistic Coding Deficit/Difference Hypothesis

Abstract

Ganschow and Sparks (1991), reckoning on the correctness of their Linguistic Coding Deficit/Difference Hypothesis (LCDH) to attribute the main source of foreign language learning difficulties to language- based problems, rather than to affective variables, attempted to extend its validity by devising a Foreign Language Screening Instrument for Colleges (FLSI-C) in the USA. The author of this study here proposes to test whether the hypothesis holds for language learning difficulties among Chinese-speaking college students learning English as a foreign language (FL) in Taiwan, and presents evidence for the following two propositions: (1) that a modified Chinese language version of the FLSI-C is a valid and reliable instrument, and (2) that the high-risk and no-risk students identified by the modified instrument differ on the Chinese Language Aptitude Test (CLAT) and, according to self-reports, on the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al. These propositions are accordingly vindicated and lead the author to affirm the validity of the LCDH for interpreting difficulties encountered by Chinese college learners of English.