Working memory, phonemic coding ability and foreign language aptitude: potential for construction of specific language aptitude tests - the case of cantonese

A re-awakening of interest in foreign language aptitude in recent years has also seen some reanalyses of the construct. Prominent in these reanalyses is revised conception of memory and aptitude, and particularly, the role of working memory. A number of studies have explored the relevance of non-word repetition tests as measures of this type of memory. Building on this work, the present article reports on the development of language-specific non-word repetition tests. It is proposed that non-word repetition tests based on the phonological structure of the language to be learned will be particularly effective at predicting second language learning. Non-wordness, in this view, is defined with reference to the target language. The article reports on the development of such tests, focussing on the case of Cantonese, a tonal language, where approaches to the characterisation of non-words are particularly challenging. The article reports on methods of overcoming these difficulties. It also argues that such an analysis of working memory brings this construct close to Carroll’s characterisation of one of the components of foreign language aptitude – phonemic coding ability.