Eleven state-of-the-art chapters explore age-related variables and language aptitude as explanatory factors in second language (L2) development in this carefully edited volume. It presents a refreshing combination of rigorous review chapters and research reports that question current assumptions about maturational constraints and aptitude, break new ground, and propose productive directions for future inquiry.
Arguing that age of onset “is the most reliable predictor of success” in L2 learning (p. 3), Long’s opening chapter reviews controversies surrounding the explanatory power of maturational constraints. Noting that research has failed to produce definitive evidence that late-starting learners can achieve nativelike L2 proficiency, the chapter concludes by identifying 10 positive developments in the field’s understanding of age-related constraints. In the second chapter, Spadaro affirms the centrality of lexical knowledge in L2 attainment. Her study of lexical development reveals significant differences between native speakers and nonnative speakers of English in terms of their attainment of lexical knowledge. Results affirm the operation of a sensitive period for L2 lexical development, which may close around age 6. The third chapter in this section examines evidence for and against claims that increases in first language (L1) proficiency result in “entrenchment” of L1 knowledge, negatively affecting the ease of L2 acquisition. This review essay by Bylund, Hyltenstam, and Abrahamsson addresses the underpinnings of the “bilingual turn in SLA,” positing that “bilingualism effects on L2 attainment are not an either-or phenomenon” (p. 95) and that research should more carefully interrogate the complex influences of bilingualism.
Opening the suite of chapters on aptitude, Granena presents the outcomes of an exploratory validation study of LLAMA, a computer-based language aptitude test. Her multilingual sample of test takers produced results demonstrating robust internal consistency as well as independence among individual indicators (test scores, age, sex). Analyses revealed that LLAMA measures both analytic and sound-sequence learning ability, suggesting that the instrument offers promise as an assessment of implicit language aptitude. Kormos approaches aptitude from a critical perspective in her appraisal of prevailing definitions of the construct. Synthesizing cognitive research and theory, her chapter proposes systematic redefinitions of language, aptitude, and ultimate attainment. Arguing that attainment is “a process of opening up access and participation in a variety of discourse communities” (p. 146), Kormos acknowledges salient roles for “the affective and conative characteristics of L2 learners” (p. 147). In this section’s final chapter, Doughty introduces a new aptitude test designed to predict high-level L2 attainment and proposes that ultimate attainment “can be . . . explained by language aptitude” (p. 172). Echoing previous authors’ efforts to operationalize aptitude, Doughty describes the constructs targeted by the test, which reliably measures cognitive aptitude and classifies L2 learners with known levels of end-state proficiency.
The book’s final section presents three studies of the influence of aptitude in moderating age effects on advanced L2 proficiency. In the first, Granena examines interactions among aptitude, test modality, and syntactic complexity. English-Spanish bilinguals’ and Spanish speakers’ performance on grammaticality judgment tests suggested notable interactions between aptitude and test modality among L2 users, though outcomes did not support a relationship between aptitude and syntactic complexity. Also focusing on aptitude, Bolibaugh and Foster report an investigation of the role of phonological memory, exposure, and disposition toward interaction in promoting the receptive selection abilities of long-term English learners. Native speakers more accurately detected nonnativelike collocations than did long-term L2 users, suggesting that phonological memory tests were most strongly associated with nativelike collocation detection behavior and that the contributions of exposure and motivational predispositions to ultimate attainment require greater scrutiny. In the volume’s final chapter, Forsberg Lundell and Sandgren describe an exploratory study of associations between late L2 French learners’ aptitude and their performance on collocational and grammaticality judgment tests. They found that L2 collocational knowledge tests helpfully predicted L2 attainment and that personality and proficiency indicators were highly correlated.
The book’s final chapter invites readers to reappraise research on sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate attainment and their influence on educational policy and practice. In this coda, Long challenges the younger is better assumption, which persistently governs language policy in schools; he stresses that policy makers must consider complex local exigencies and the real-world value of learning a L2. Researchers and educators will welcome this informative and highly focused book as a substantial contribution to our understanding of the dynamic combination of age and aptitude in promoting L2 learning.
