Ambiguity in Foreign Language Acquisition and Role of Language Aptitude

Ambiguity in Foreign Language Acquisition and Role of Language Aptitude

Jeftić, Alma

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cognitive theories important for foreign language acquisition and to emphasize the role of language aptitude for foreign language comprehension. Language comprehension is a specific example of the perceptual processes, and the same principles that emerge in perception also play important role in language. Ambiguity resolution is a key component of language comprehension, and it is similar to ambiguity in perceptual processes. According to CANAL-FT cognitive theory of foreign language acquisition, one of the central abilities required for foreign language acquisition is the ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity. This ability will be explained as a part of the experiential aspect of intelligence, based on Sternberg‘s triarchic theory of human intelligence. Novel tasks or situations serve as good measures of intellectual ability and more intelligent individuals move from consciously learning in a novel situation to automating the new learning. Applied to classroom environment, this theory predicts that language aptitude is kind of information processing and developing expertize, rather than an entity fixed at birth. Language aptitude training should increase language performance and lead to ambiguity resolution.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2011-05

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