The present volume has explored a very wide range of topics within the field of foreign language aptitude with sections covering aptitude test batteries, the testing of diverse groups, innovative perspectives, and pedagogic implications. Each chapter has made a considerable contribution to updating the topic of aptitude. Inevitably, though, the chapters have explored areas that transcend the different heading sections, making new connections and even announcing new areas for aptitude research. The present chapter highlights all of these insights and weaves them into the discussion of a series of themes which emerge, some traditional from established aptitude work and some reflecting the changes we have seen in recent years.

In this introductory chapter, we first provide a brief overview of research paradigms of language aptitude testing and theory construction in the past six decades, summarizing the major achievements and innovations in research methodologies. Following this, we discuss the background and rationale of the current volume, highlighting the key contents of each chapter and evaluating their potential contributions to enhancing our understanding of language aptitude theory and practice. We conclude the introduction by calling upon scholars to work concertedly towards building an integrated language aptitude theory that will allow us to diagnose, predict, and explain the second language learning process and outcomes. Overall, the current volume calls for a paradigm shift of language aptitude research from its previous focus on aptitude testing to theory construction and practical applications.

The present chapter has two general aims. The first is to survey the range of aptitude batteries and sub-tests that are discussed in the literature, and then to explore how they relate to one another and what emphases each of them contains. To achieve this, the various sub-tests will be located in terms of two dimensions: whether they are domain-specific or domain-general, and whether they require implicit or explicit processes and learning. In addition, how the different domains of sound, working memory, processing, language and learning are handled in each of the sub-tests will be explored. The second aim is to explore what insights aptitude tests might contribute to theorizing about the nature of second language learning. The different theoretical accounts will be examined, and then existing aptitude tests will be related to them, indicating clear coverage in some areas, and not very much in others. Overall, it is argued that aptitude work, viewed in this way, should be central to second language acquisition and reveal how we can understand and predict it.

This chapter starts by providing brief accounts of both first and second language speaking, and then surveys empirical work, measurement issues, and theory on the use of second language speaking tasks – the sort of tasks, often with real-world connections, used in communicative language classrooms to nurture second language development and performance. The main section of the chapter is concerned with the relationships between working memory and performance on such tasks. Broadly it is argued that, as yet, there are not many systematic findings relating task characteristics, working memory, and actual performance. In contrast, the conditions under which second language speaking tasks are done (such as planning opportunities, repeated tasks) do show some interesting results. Based on such research, it is argued that working memory plays more of a role in the Formulation stage of speech production. Proposals are made regarding the areas where it would be most helpful to research working memory connections with second language speaking tasks.

This chapter explores how tasks connect with psycholinguistic perspectives. Two preliminary sections will explore the nature of learning (and the contrast between explicit and implicit approaches) and the general options available in task-based instruction (tasks themselves, and then task conditions). Then the two areas, learning and task-based instruction, will be related to one another, to explore whether a task-based approach is more consistent with explicit or implicit learning. The general conclusion is that a task-based approach is extremely flexible, and consistent with either. The chapter then moves on to consider second language task-based performance, and its measurement, describing and contrasting the Limited Attention Capacity Hypothesis and the Cognition Hypothesis/SSARC model.

English is very important in schools in China, but attempts to introduce task-based materials have encountered difficulty. One reason for this is a mismatch between the content of many imported sets of materials and the content that Chinese schoolchildren find engaging. Research was undertaken to explore what such children do find motivating and interesting. The findings suggested a range of new topics that could be the basis for tasks. The findings led to proposals for three ‘worlds’ for students: ‘inner’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘future’, leading to a multi-goal curriculum. A coursebook series was developed based on the research, and a preliminary evaluation revealed positive reactions to these materials.