Ambiguity Tolerance and Field Independence as Predictors of Proficiency in English as a Second Language

The fact that some adults are more successful at acquiring an L2 than others has led to investigations of individual characteristics as predictors of successful L2 acquisition. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the relationship between two learner characteristics, Ambiguity Tolerance (AT) and Field Independence (FI), and adult learners' acquisition of English as a Second Language in the United States. A Multiple Regression Analysis revealed that AT and FI accounted for a significant amount of variance on several end‐of‐semester language measures beyond that which could be accounted for by beginning‐of‐semester performance or other variables. The implications of these findings for further research are outlined.