This study aimed to develop, pilot, and validate an aptitude test for Hungarian learners of English. A literature review on the construct and tests of aptitude is followed by two parts: a pilot phase on the development of a new aptitude... more
This study aimed to develop, pilot, and validate an aptitude test for Hungarian learners of English. A literature review on the construct and tests of aptitude is followed by two parts: a pilot phase on the development of a new aptitude test and a main study involving 419 12-year-old children in 10 schools. Data were collected on the aptitude test, English proficiency tests, and a measure of learners’ motivation. The article explores how aptitude scores relate to learners’ performances on the proficiency measure, motivation, gender, school achievements, and grades in English. The results of a multiple-regression analysis indicate that the variable of language aptitude explained over 20% of the variation in English language performance, thus proving to be the best predictor of outcomes.
The present paper reports results of a longitudinal research project studying the contribution of cognitive skills and other factors to proficiency in a foreign language (L2) in the Hungarian educational context. The larger project aims... more
The present paper reports results of a longitudinal research project studying the contribution of cognitive skills and other factors to proficiency in a foreign language (L2) in the Hungarian educational context. The larger project aims to describe the levels of L2 proficiency of school-aged populations in order to explore the conditions and factors contributing to processes and outcomes in foreign language education in public schools. For this purpose, paper and pencil tests were administered in English and German as a foreign language to nationally representative student samples. The project also aims to find answers to some theoretical questions; therefore, a questionnaire and other assessment instruments complemented L2 tests to provide insights into how participants' cognitive, affective and first language (L1) variables, as well as their social and school variables interact with one another over time. Students' general thinking and learning abilities were assessed with an inductive reasoning test.In the present paper we focus on the relationship between students' proficiency in English or German and inductive reasoning skills to show how general cognitive abilities interact with levels of L2 proficiency. We use a multivariate context to explore complex relationships between L2 levels in English and German and inductive reasoning skills if influences of other variables are controlled. We present results of multiple regression analyses on L2 listening, reading, and writing tasks in the two target languages. In the present paper we use both cross-sectional and longitudinal data to examine the relationships between students' L2 proficiency in the first phase (2000) and two years later (2002). Thus, a longitudinal research design was implemented by repeating cross-sectional assessment at a two-year interval.
Children who studied English as a foreign language in Hungary with a communication/content-based approach were compared with similar children who studied English with a form-based traditional approach. The former were slightly more... more
Children who studied English as a foreign language in Hungary with a communication/content-based approach were compared with similar children who studied English with a form-based traditional approach. The former were slightly more accurate in their production of grammatical morphemes in an oral interview, and were more fluent, confirming that communication-based approaches do not sacrifice accuracy for fluency.
Providing feedback on students’ writing is considered important by both writing teachers and students. However, contextual constraints including excess workloads and large classes pose major and recurrent challenges for teachers. To... more
Providing feedback on students’ writing is considered important by both writing teachers and students. However, contextual constraints including excess workloads and large classes pose major and recurrent challenges for teachers. To lighten the feedback burden, teachers can take advantage of a range of automated feedback tools. This paper investigated how automated feedback can be integrated into traditional teacher feedback by analyzing the focus of teacher and Grammarly feedback through a written feedback analysis of language- and content-related issues. This inquiry considered whether and how successfully students exploited feedback from different sources in their revisions and how the feedback provisions helped improve their writing performance. The study sample of texts was made up of 216 argumentative and narrative essays written by 27 low-intermediate level students at a Myanmar university over a 13-week semester. By analyzing data from the feedback analysis, we found that Gr...
