Language aptitude refers to a set of cognitive abilities that are predictive of learning rate and ultimate attainment in a second language. Since aptitude’s inception in the 1950s, there has been more than six decades of research examining its content and measurement and its associations with other individual difference factors and with learning outcomes. A recent development in aptitude research is the concept of implicit language aptitude—the ability to learn a second language unconsciously. In this talk, I will start by discussing the theoretical models underlying aptitude research, including models on explicit aptitude, the type measured via traditional aptitude tests such as the MLAT, as well as models on the newly emerged implicit aptitude. I will propose a framework accounting for the unique and joint contributions of explicit and implicit aptitude to the process and outcome of second language acquisition. I will proceed to examine the measurement of language aptitude and the empirical evidence for the validity of the construct by applying principles of psychometric assessments. For explicit aptitude, I will focus on predictive validity (whether it is correlated with learning outcomes) and synthesize three streams of research: aptitude and age, the predictive power of aptitude in instructed learning (as found by correlational studies), and the interface between aptitude and treatment effects. For implicit aptitude, which is still in its infancy, I will examine evidence for convergent and divergent validity, which refers to whether measures of implicit aptitude are correlated and whether they are distinct from measures of cognitive abilities in the explicit paradigm, respectively. I will also address the limited, conflicting evidence regarding implicit aptitude’s predictive validity and propose ways to resolve issues and advance the research on this original, significant topic. The talk will conclude with implications of aptitude research for second language teaching, learning, and testing.

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Shaofeng Li is an Associate Professor of Foreign and Second Language Education at Florida State University, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University. Prior to his current position, he worked as a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Li’s main research interests include language aptitude, working memory, task-based language learning, corrective feedback, and research methods. His publications have appeared in Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, Language Learning, Language Teaching, Language Teaching Research, Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, System, among others. He is on the editorial boards of a number of academic journals in the field.