Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Language learning aptitude has been studied for decades, with research largely focused on devising language aptitude batteries, and with some work proposing frameworks to describe this latent construct. However, conceptualisation and operationalisation have rarely been conducted in tandem in past studies, even for many well-known and widely used language aptitude tests. These tests have often been validated primarily through the maximisation of correlations with other tests or selected external criteria, which is then interpretated as “predictive validity”. In this thesis, it is argued that this is inappropriate, as it contributes to recurring problems of misconceptualisation, mismeasurement, and mis-validation of language learning aptitude. To address these issues, this thesis was designed as a proof-of-concept study. It first provides a theoretical review that conceptualises language learning aptitude as the ability to learn a new language, comprising cognitive abilities, reasoning, information processing, and memory. Based on this conceptualisation, language learning aptitude was operationalised in a newly devised test, the Dynamic Test of Language Learning Aptitude (DToLLA), which integrates the Dynamic Testing (DT) method into testing of language learning using inductive reasoning tasks. This study examined whether a Dynamic Testing approach can be applied to language learning tests to exert a diagnostic function for language learning aptitude, by evaluating internal validity as well as external validity through predictive utility and differential validity. The results provided evidence of internal validity in the form of observable learning processes, manifested as local-, global-, and meta-level learning. External validity was supported by the incremental predictive value of DToLLA scores for teachers’ judgments of learners’ learning potential, and differential validity was indicated by stronger predictive associations for learners from a rural public school in mainland China. Overall, this proof-of-concept study contributes a robust conceptualisation of language learning aptitude and demonstrates a validated application of the Dynamic Testing method in language learning tests, representing better alignment between the operationalisation and conceptualisation of language learning aptitude than traditional language aptitude assessments.
Author: Du, Fangfang
Institution: Durham University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7164241000