Motivational variables in second-language acquisition.

Most previous research on second-language acquisition has been guided by the belief that the acquisition of skill in a second language depended almost completely upon linguistic aptitude and since substantial validity coefficients have been obtained with most aptitude tests (5, 9, 11, 26, 50, 56), the postulation of a concept of "linguistic aptitude" see as warranted. On the other hand, many researchers have argued that other variables such as motivation, interest, personality, etc., are probably of equal value in determining second-language achievement (15, 17, 18, 24, 28, 41, 42, 46, 50, 52, 54), however such of the research concerned with these variables has failed to adequately justify this position (15, 17, 18, 46).