Individual Differences in Foreign
Language Learning: Effects of Aptitude,
Intelligence and Motivation

Friday March 26th - Saturday, March 27th, 1999.

Hosted by
The Department of English
Aoyama Gakuin University,

Shibuya,
Tokyo.

Plenary Speakers

Professor Peter MacIntyre, University College of Cape Breton, Canada
Professor Peter Skehan, Thames Valley University, U.K.
Professor Robert Sternberg, Yale University, U.S.A.

Workshop

Dr. Elena Grigorenko, Yale University, U.S.A.

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

This conference will relate the constructs of intelligence, aptitude and motivation to issues of language learning in instructed settings. Three keynote speakers (Peter Macintyre, University College of Cape Breton; Peter Skehan, Thames Valley University; and Robert Sternberg, Yale University ) will present papers summarizing the latest developments and research into these constructs. Workshops in using measurement instruments will also be held. One of these will be led by Elena Grigorenko (Yale University) who will demonstrate a new dynamic language learning aptitude test based on Robert Sternberg's theory of intelligence.

There will also be approximately 25 individual presentations following keynote addresses. These will be 30 minutes in length, with ten minutes for discussion. Presentations may be in English or Japanese. Please submit 300 word abstracts to the address below by February 1st 1999. The fee for participation in the conference is 3,000 yen, and this will be payable on site. Please submit abstracts, registration requests and requests for further information to;

Peter Robinson
(Chair, Individual Differences Conference)
Department of English
Aoyama Gakuin University,
Shibuya, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150-8366
Japan.

email: peterr@cl.aoyama.ac.jp

homepage: http://www.cl.aoyama.ac.jp/~peterr

ACCOMMODATION AND OTHER INFORMATION

Information on Aoyama Gakuin University, accomodation in Tokyo, maps and transportation guides to the immediate conference environs can be found on the following website;

http://www.als.aoyama.ac.jp/pacslrf/pacslrf.html

Conference Schedule


Friday 26th March

Saturday 27th March

9:00-9:40

Registration

Soken Lobby

PAPERS

Irie & Sick
Soken 11th Floor

Ziziltepe
Soken 10th Floor

9:45-10:25

Registration

Soken Lobby

PAPERS

Markham
Soken 11th Floor

McLelland
Soken 10th Floor

10:30-11:10

Registration

Preconference mixer

Overseas visitor orientation

Soken Lobby

PAPERS

Robinson & Yamaguchi
Soken 11th Floor

McMurray
Soken 10th Floor

11:10-11:40

Registration

Official Welcome

Soken 12th Floor

BREAK

11:45-12:45

PLENARY

Aptitude
Peter Skehan

Soken 12th Floor

PLENARY

Intelligence
Robert Sternberg

Soken 12th Floor

12:45-2:00

LUNCH

LUNCH

2:00-3:00

PLENARY

Motivation
Peter MacIntyre

Soken 12th Floor

WORKSHOP

Aptitude Testing Elena Grigorenko

Soken 12th Floor

3:00-3:30

BREAK

BREAK

3:30-4:10

PAPERS

Rees
Soken 11th Floor

Yamashiro & McLaughlin
Soken 10th Floor

PAPERS

Ross
Soken 11th Floor

Peterson
Soken 10th Floor

4:15-4:55

PAPERS

Tucker
Soken 11th Floor

Ozek
Soken 10th Floor

PAPERS

Redfield
Soken 11th Floor

Hsiao
Soken 10th Floor

5:00-5:40

PAPERS

Sawyer
Soken 11th Floor

Hiser et al.
Soken 10th Floor

PAPERS

Wanner
Soken 11th Floor

Boku
Soken 10th Floor

5:45-6:25

PAPERS

Ho
Soken 11th Floor

Yashima
Soken 10th Floor

CLOSING DISCUSSION

Grigorenko
MacIntyre
Skehan &
Sternberg

Soken 12th Floor

6:30-7:10

Outings

Social events

Soken Lobby

Outings

Social events

Soken Lobby


Paper presenters, affiliations and titles, in order of presentation


Friday

Jonathan Rees, University of Birmingham, UK. Predicting the future of F.L.A. testing
Amy D. Yamashiro, Saitama Junior College, and John McLaughlin, Kanagawa Prefectural College of Foreign Studies, Japan. Relationships among motivation, anxiety and English language proficiency in Japanese college students
Adam Tucker, University of Hawaii, USA. Relationships among FL aptitude, music aptitude, and L2 proficiency
Yesim Ozek, University of Exeter, UK. The influence of motivational factors on FLL
Mark Sawyer, Kwansai Gakuin University, Japan. Learner differences and pedagogical tasks: Seeking the best mix
Elizabeth Hiser, Kansai University of Foreign Studies, Chris Kenudson, Kansai University, Parill Stribling, Kansai University of Foreign Studies, and Robert Croker, Nagoya University, Japan. Motivation, proficiency and learning styles
Belinda Ho, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. How different types of learners perceive their learning tasks
Tomoko Yashima, Kansai University, Japan. Orientations and motivation in foreign language learning: A study of Japanese college students

Saturday

Kay Irie and James Sick, Temple University, Japan. The lunic language marathon: A new language aptitude instrument
Zeynep Kiziltepe, Bogazici University, Turkey. Attitudes and motivation of Turkish students towards learning English
Duncan Markham, Deakin University, Australia. Aptitude in the achievement of L2-like sound production
Neil McClelland, University of Surrey, UK. Goal orientations in Japanese college students learning EFL
Peter Robinson, Aoyama Gakuin University, and Yumiko Yamaguchi, YMCA, Japan. Aptitude, negative feedback, and the acquisition of relative clauses: A classroom study
David McMurray, Fukui Prefectural University, Japan. Learning styles and organizational behaviour in Japanese EFL classrooms.
Steven Ross, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. A multiple method view of individual difference factors in a competency-ased Adult Migrant second language program
Linda Peterson, Japan. Introducing Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences to Japanese university students
Michael Rube Redfield, Osaka University of Economics, Japan. Learner levels and attitudes towards English
Tsung-yuan Hsiao, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan. Testing the factor structure of Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery
Peter Wanner, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan. A longtitudinal study of the relationship between self-efficacy expectancies and conversational fluency
Mariko Boku, Japan. Japanese EFL learners' identities and epenthesis in'and'

PLENARY AND WORKSHOP ABSTRACTS

Plenary
Intelligence and Second-Language Learning:The Theory of Successful
Intelligence

Robert Sternberg, Yale University, U.S.A.

I will describe how a theory of successful intelligence can be used as a basis for improving second-language learning. The major argument of the talk is that if second language were taught and tested in a way that took into account analytical, creative, and practical as well as memory abilities, more students would learn second languages, and to a higher level. The talk will be divided into 3 parts. First I will describe the theory of successful intelligence in general, and why it provides a better account of abilities, in general, and second-language learning abilities, in particular, than do conventional theories of intelligence. Second I will describe how, in general, the theory can be applied to second-language learning and testing. I will discuss teaching and testing in analytical, creative, and practical ways, and give examples in the context of second language. Third I will describe data classroom testing the theory in a variety of generalized contexts. (Elena Grigorenko's workshop will describe the testing of the theory in the context of second-language testing.)

Plenary
Motivation for Adult Second Language Learning: Past, Present and
Future.

Peter D. MacIntyre, University College of Cape Breton, Canada

Considerable effort has been invested in the study of motivation in second language acquisition. However, recently scholars in this area have called for an expansion of the theoretical framework used to study motivation, a call that is being answered. This paper will sketch the development of theory and research devoted to this topic. Within the historical context we will focus upon the work of Gardner and Lambert and the theory, empirical research, and criticism inspired by "the integrative motive." The current state of theory and research will be examined with a particular focus on the recent calls for an expanded theoretical framework and the responses to those calls. The need for empirical research and our field's capacity to draw upon more general theories of motivation will be discussed. Finally, some speculations on future directions for this research area will be offered.

Plenary

Peter Skehan, Thames Valley University, U.K.
Title and abstract TBA

Workshop

THE TEST OF COGNITIVE ABILITY TO MANAGE NOVELTY INFOREIGN-LANGUAGE LEARNING (TAMN): A SIMULATION-BASED APPROACH TO MEASURING FOREIGN-LANGUAGE APTITUDE

Elena Grigorenko, Yale University, U.S.A.

The workshop will present the rationale, description, and partial construct validation of a new foreign-language aptitude test, the Test of Cognitive Ability to Manage Novelty in Foreign-Language Learning (TAMN). Three unique features differentiate it from existing tests. The TAMN is (a) theory-based, (b) dynamic rather than static, (c) simulation-based, and (d) multifunctional (in that, unlike some older tests, it both assesses students' ability levels and provides information on students' strengths and weaknesses, so that appropriate teaching and learning strategies can be devised). The first part of the workshop will describe the existing tests measuring second-language learning ability (MLAT, PLAB, DLAB, and VORD). The second part of the workshop will outline the underlying theoretical basis of the test. The basic theory underlying the test holds that one of the central abilities required for second-language learning is the ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity; this ability is a part of the experiential aspect of intelligence as described by Sternberg's triarchic theory of human intelligence. The third part of the workshop will discuss psychometric properties of the TAMN and present the first construct-validation data on the test.