THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF IMPLICIT-STATISTICAL LEARNING APTITUDE TO IMPLICIT SECOND-LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

• Published in: Studies in second language acquisition Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 606 - 634
• Main Authors: Godfroid, Aline, Kim, Kathy MinHye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Academic Aptitude; Accuracy; Aptitude Tests; Aptitudes; Explicit knowledge; Grammar; Incidental Learning; Individual Differences; Knowledge; Language acquisition; Language Aptitude; Language Tests; Learning Processes; Linguistics; Memory; Predictive Validity; Principal components analysis; Reaction Time; Research Article; Second Language Learning; Validation studies; Validity
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263121000085

This study addresses the role of domain-general mechanisms in second-language learning and knowledge using an individual differences approach. We examine the predictive validity of implicit-statistical learning aptitude for implicit second-language knowledge. Participants (n = 131) completed a battery of four aptitude measures and nine grammar tests. Structural equation modeling revealed that only the alternating serial reaction time task (a measure of implicit-statistical learning aptitude) significantly predicted learners’ performance on timed, accuracy-based language tests, but not their performance on reaction-time measures. These results inform ongoing debates about the nature of implicit knowledge in SLA: they lend support to the validity of timed, accuracy-based language tests as measures of implicit knowledge. Auditory and visual statistical learning were correlated with medium strength, while the remaining implicit-statistical learning aptitude measures were not correlated, highlighting the multicomponential nature of implicit-statistical learning aptitude and the corresponding need for a multitest approach to assess its different facets.