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The tests of German and Spanish metalinguistic knowledge (MLK tests) were designed by the researchers, following a template used by Roehr (2008b). Each MLK test consisted of two sections. The first section measured learners’ ability to explicitly describe and explain aspects of the L2, operationalised as the ability to correct, describe, and explain highlighted sentence-level […]

The notion of working memory has only fairly recently begun to play a more prominent role in L2 research. Working memory refers to ‘the system or mechanism underlying the maintenance of task-relevant information during the performance of a cognitive task’ (Shah & Miyake, 1999, p. 1). In other words, working memory allows for the temporary […]

In the context of L2 learning, language-learning aptitude can be defined as a complex set of abilities that enable some learners to acquire new language material more quickly and with greater ease than others (Dornyei, 2005). Thus, an individual’s performance on a test of language-learning aptitude is expected to predict how fast and with how […]

The construct of metalinguistic knowledge refers to a person’s explicit knowledge about language (Alderson, Clapham, & Steel, 1997; Bialystok, 1979; Elder, Warren, Hajek, Manwaring, & Davies, 1999). Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be brought into awareness, that is potentially available for verbal report, and is represented declaratively.1 It can be contrasted with implicit knowledge, […]

The findings of the current study extend the line of research in Zyzik and Azevedo (2009) and provide new insights into L2 learners’ difficulties with word class contrasts. The incidence of faulty L2-L1 equivalents suggests that word class information is not automatically transferred from the L1, and moreover, that words can exist in the L2 […]