Young learners’ bilingual status and cognitive development in foreign language aptitude testing

Abstract

Young learners’ L1s preference, cognitive development and bilingual status might influence their performance on language aptitude tests, particularly if these are language-dependent. The objective of this study was to test the validity, reliability and consistency across populations of two such tests: the Modern Language Aptitude Test-Elementary in Catalan (MLAT-EC) and in Spanish (MLAT-ES). 629 bilingual students from grades 3 to 7 took the MLAT-ES and the MLAT-EC for test comparison in a counterbalanced order. The results show that their performance on both tests presented hardly any significant differences considering students’ L1 preference (Catalan, Spanish or no preference). In addition, these bilingual examinees outperformed the predominantly monolingual samples in the MLAT-ES norming study. The same score patterns related to young learner cognitive development stages were found across test versions. These results reinforce the confidence in the validity of the MLAT-E adaptations and support the hypothesis that bilingualism results in greater aptitude.