Foreign language aptitude has long been a controversial issue in SLA studies. Skehan ( 1998 ) explores two aptitudinal components -- analytic ability and memory -- with a conclusion that the two capacities are mutual ...Foreign language aptitude has long been a controversial issue in SLA studies. Skehan ( 1998 ) explores two aptitudinal components -- analytic ability and memory -- with a conclusion that the two capacities are mutual exclusive. To demystify Skehan's hypothesis, this paper tentatively advances an alternative view of mutual dependence on the basis of a considerable amount of empirical findings. This view suggests that adult L2 learners can exploit both capacities in order to achieve overall linguistic goals in L2 learning.展开更多
文摘Foreign language aptitude has long been a controversial issue in SLA studies. Skehan ( 1998 ) explores two aptitudinal components -- analytic ability and memory -- with a conclusion that the two capacities are mutual exclusive. To demystify Skehan's hypothesis, this paper tentatively advances an alternative view of mutual dependence on the basis of a considerable amount of empirical findings. This view suggests that adult L2 learners can exploit both capacities in order to achieve overall linguistic goals in L2 learning.