Cognition Plus: Correlates Of Language Learning Success

This article examines the relationships of a variety of individual difference variables to end‐of‐training proficiency ratings in speaking and reading for a large sample of adults in intensive training in a wide range of languages at the U.S. Department of State. Variables included tested cognitive aptitude, learning strategies, learning styles, personality, motivation, and anxiety. Although tested cognitive aptitude showed the strongest correlations with proficiency test results in both skills, the other variables also correlated in ways that show how rich and complex the individual learner's role in language is. Results may contribute to increasingly sophisticated student counseling and to efforts to enhance student autonomy by tailoring treatments to student characteristics. They also increase knowledge of attributes that may affect language training to the upper proficiency levels.