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THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE-ANALYTIC ABILITY IN CHILDREN’S INSTRUCTED SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2019

Karen Roehr-Brackin Open the ORCID record for Karen Roehr-Brackin [Opens in a new window]  and
Angela Tellier
Karen Roehr-Brackin*
Affiliation:
University of Essex
Angela Tellier
Affiliation:
University of Essex
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Karen Roehr-Brackin, Department of Language and Linguistics, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: kroehr@essex.ac.uk
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Abstract

Language-analytic ability, or the ability to treat language as an object of analysis and arrive at linguistic generalizations, is at the core of the constructs of language learning aptitude and metalinguistic awareness, which are implicated in our ability to learn explicitly. In the context of child second language (L2) learning, it has been argued that children learn primarily implicitly and that the most important component of aptitude may be memory ability. However, no empirical research to date has investigated the relationship and development of aptitude and metalinguistic awareness longitudinally as well as examined their predictive power for children’s L2 achievement in the classroom. In a study with English-speaking learners aged 8–9 (N = 111), we found that although aptitude and metalinguistic awareness were (still) dynamic, they significantly predicted children’s achievement in L2 French. Moreover, language-analytic ability proved to be the component with the strongest predictive power. This finding suggests that it may not be level of cognitive maturity alone that determines children’s approach to L2 learning; experiencing explicit, form-focused instruction may foster the role of language-analytic ability even in children as young as 8–9 years.

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Research Article
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Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 41 , Issue 5 , December 2019 , pp. 1111 - 1131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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