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Abstract

This study¹ was undertaken to assess the role of the three stu dent variables, namely intelligence, language aptitude and motivation, in the acquisition of English as a second language. A total of 297 fifth form students (Grade Eleven) from seven schools in the Fiji Islands were administered psychological instruments to obtain measures on intelligence, language aptitude and motivation. These scores were then correlated with their scores on English obtained at the Fiji Junior School Certificate examination conducted by the Ministry of Education. Each of the three student variables was found to be significantly correlated to attainment in English at the .01 level for zero order correlation. (The body of the report contains coeffi cients for 1st and 2nd order correlations as well.) Intelligence was found to have the highest correlation coefficient for all the three ethnic groups constituting the sample while motivation registered the lowest. Multiple correlation between the three student variables and English was also significant at the .01 level. The 't' values computed for English scores of students in the upper and lower quartiles for both intelligence and language aptitude were found to be significant at the .01 level while the 't' value for English scores for students in the upper and lower quartiles for motivation was significant only at the .05 level.

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Student Variables in Second Language Learning

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