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ON THE VALIDITY OF AFFECTIVE VARIABLES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: CONCEPTUAL, CONTEXTUAL, AND STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 1
Author(s) -
Gardner R.C.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1980.tb00318.x
Subject(s) - psychology , proposition , spurious relationship , second language acquisition , linguistics , language acquisition , point (geometry) , vocabulary , language proficiency , cognitive psychology , mathematics education , computer science , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , machine learning
This article reviews the proposition that achievement in a second language is related to attitudinal/motivational characteristics of the students. It uses as its starting point articles by Oller and Perkins, and demonstrates that their generalizations that such relationships are weak, and that they are due to the spurious effects of verbal intelligence and language proficiency are not founded in fact. Statistical, contextual, and conceptual issues relevant to their criticisms of this research area are reviewed, as are much more parsimonious interpretations of so‐called “strange” findings. It is recommended that rather than argue over hypothetical relationships, we direct our research attention to unravelling the mysteries of second language acquisition, to the benefit of students and teachers alike.