BIO

Hello! My name is Luis Wong and I'm both a senior and transfer student from the FSU-Republic of Panama campus, majoring in Behavioral Neuroscience. My career goal is to get into perfusion school to become a certified cardiovascular perfusionist. This research project piqued my interest because it will help to further elucidate on the topic of second language learning, and it relates to my personal experience as a second language learner. I have always been curious about language learning since I have had the pleasure to study abroad in several countries throughout my life (Panama, China, and The States), along with learning their respective languages.

Learning A Second Language Unconsciously

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the bearing of 3 different implicit language aptitude scores [LLAMAD, Artificial Grammar (AG), and Passive Priming (p)] on L2 speech performance. It was hypothesized that all three of these implicit aptitude scores would have significant positive correlations with L2 speech performance. 250 speech samples were recorded by Chinese college student English-L2 learners and rated on comprehensibility and accentedness. The averaged ratings were then compared to the students’ corresponding LLAMAD-, AG- and p-scores resulting from separate tests. It was found that LLAMAD-scores had a significant positive correlation, AG-scores had no significant correlation, and p-scores had a significant negative correlation with L2 speech performance. These results have a bearing on L2 education at large; L2 education traditionally centers on conscious (explicit) language-learning and scholars have called into question the exclusion of unconscious (implicit) language-learning. This data suggests conflicting support for the inclusion of unconscious language-learning streams into L2 curriculum.

Keywords: language learning, unconscious, language aptitude