-intelligence is a combination of different abilities (intelligence not one single entity)

-diverse range of cognitive abilities present in individuals

-verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal, musical, naturalist, and existential

-your brain's intelligence to solve new problems without relying on things you already know

-adapting to new situations

-consist of facts, skills, and knowledge you've acquired through experience and education

-information stored in your brain (like historical facts or mathematical skills)

-mediated through L1 skills

-intelligence: a broader concept covering various abilities and learning in general.

- learning a new language is a specific skill separate from overall intelligence

- scores on language aptitude and intelligence tests may not match perfectly because they measure different things, though they share some similarities

While general intelligence and language aptitude have similarities, they aren't exactly the same.

-different aspects and different stages of the language learning process require different cognitive abilities

-different types of learning processes are best enhanced by certain combinations of aptitude factors

-the situation, the classroom, motivation and personality needs to be taken into consideration (no single factor of aptitude)

-debate on whether language aptitude sets a limit on how proficient someone can become in L2 (near-native fluency?)

-one’s capacity to learn an L2 is closely related to the individual’s L1 learning skills, and L2 learning difficulties stem in part from deficits that also occur in native language acquisition

-linguistic coding: L1 literacy skills such as phonological/orthographic processing and word recognition/decoding

-these abilities serve as the foundation for learning an L2

-primary ID variable

-how well you can learn an L2 depends on how good you are with your L1

-improving basic language skills in your native language can help with learning other languages too

(a) successful L2 learners exhibited significantly stronger L1 literacy skills than unsuccessful learners

(b) they were also superior on L1 syntactic measures but not on semantic tasks, and

(c) they had significantly stronger language aptitude (measured by the MLAT)

-important for learning L1 and L2

-people who are good at remembering and understanding sounds tend to be better at learning languages

-word recognition, pseudo-word decoding, phonological memory, phonemic awareness, 'working memory'

-aptitude research thrived when it met real needs, but it declined in the 1970s and 1980s because people saw language aptitude as unchanging and not useful for communicative teaching

Critiques:

-people said language aptitude wasn't fair, old-fashioned, and didn't help much in teaching languages the modern way

Aptitude in different settings:

-it's better at predicting success in structured learning but not as good in teaching where you use language to communicate

Renaissance in the 1990s:

-aptitude research became popular again after being ignored, but lately, progress has slowed because of less interest and changes in education

Lack of interest:

-even though it's really important for learning a new language, researchers aren't very excited about studying how aptitude affects achievement, so it's not getting much attention.

-general ability that helps you do well in all kind of tasks

-IQ tests asses this

-good at different skills (like maths, language learning, problem-solving)

-if you're good at one, you're usually good at the others too

-strengths individual learners have in their cognitive abilities which they draw on during L2 learning and performance (Robinson)

-mainly developed with classroom learning situations in mind

Types of tests and tasks:

-tasks in L1: measuring cognitive abilities

-tasks in an artificial language or a rare L2

MLAT (Modern Language Aptitude Test)

-phonetic coding ability

-grammatical sensitivity

-rote learning ability

-inductive learning ability

PLAB (Primsleur Language Aptitude Battery)

-verbal intelligence

-motivation

-auditory ability

-based on MLAT

CANAL-FT (theory-based test)

LLAMA

-based on MLAT but digital

-aimed at non-English speakers

-languages with non-alphabetic or non-Roman script

Hi-LAB

-aimed at screening out potential high achievers

-professional settings

-curriculum design, course design, assigning students to groups

-important to be aware that it exists and impacts language learning

-L1 literacy - L2 link

-find out whether the problems in L2 come from L1 difficulties

-give the student tasks to practice in the L1 first and then the L2 to help them develop this 'weaker' or 'missing' skill

-create extra tasks or different tasks according to the student's skills and abilities

-let a student have more time to work on a task or write a test (for example if I know the student has difficulties with reading or grammar structures and needs more time to read and understand these structures)

-help students find out which skills are stronger

-give students ideas of how to learn a L2 with those different skills (verbal, bodily-kinesthetic, musical...)

-present and practice learning methodology

-flashcards, quizlet, audio recordings, working in pairs or groups and discuss together, study groups, movements and exercise, create mind-maps or visually nice notes (digital or paper)

- age: central factor in language learning capacity

- age-related variation: mediated through aptitude changes over time

- language aptitude stability: some research suggests stability

- early language learning abilities: emerge by age 3.5, unclear if innate or influenced by environment

- aptitude components: vary by age group (memory for younger children, language analysis for older learners)

- age of onset: influences language learning

- aptitude requirement for native-like language use: higher for adult learners than child learners

- there are bigger skill gaps in people learning a second language compared to those learning their first

- differences in understanding and speaking the first language show up early in childhood and impact reading and writing later

- skills in the first language relate to learning a second language

- testing literacy in the first language in fourth grade can predict how well someone will learn a second language in high school

- learning a second language is connected to how someone learned their first language