The Effects Of Language Aptitude And Information Processing Styles On The Learning Of Japlish Case-Markers And Sentence Order Under Different Learning Conditions

To date,many individual difference factors have been found to affect second language learning.Meanwhile,whether and how the effects of these factors vary according to different instructional treatments has gained increasing attention since the 1970s.Despite a rising amount of relevant research,many individual difference factors remain unexplored or have not been sufficiently examined.This research targets the effects of language aptitude and information-processing styles on learning Japlish case-markers and sentence orders under different learning conditions.Altogether 60 Chinese adults were recruited as participants and were divided into two groups with thirty participants in each group.Group 1 received explicit instruction on the target structures,and Group 2 was implicitly exposed to materials containing the target structures without formal instruction.Profiles of participants’individual differences were collected through LLAMA_F3(for explicit aptitude),LLAMA_D3(for implicit aptitude),and REI scales(for information-processing styles).Learning outcomes of productive and receptive knowledge of target structures were measured through a picture description task and a grammaticality judgment test under time pressure respectively.Results showed that influences of explicit aptitude,implicit aptitude,rationality,and experientiality were found to vary depending on different learning conditions.None of the four variables seemed to matter in explicit learning,which has been attributed to the power of explicit instruction which could neutralize the influence of individual differences.On the other hand,only explicit aptitude was found to be influential in implicit learning.This finding has been discussed from two aspects.Firstly,participants in this research might subconsciously engage in explicit processing due to their past learning experience.Secondly,the construct(s)and measurement of implicit aptitude remain undetermined,causing it impossible to assure how implicit aptitude facilitates implicit learning.The author has also pointed out the limitations of the dual-process models and the explanatory power of its alternate the single-process models.This research filled the gap that no previous research has examined how the two types of language aptitudes,two styles of processing information,and different learning conditions interact and influence second language grammar learning.These findings have not only shed light on a more comprehensive understanding of these investigated factors but also cast doubts on the dual-process models that are widely acknowledged in cognitive sciences and linguistic studies.