Following an extensive review of the literature, this study explores the relationship between L2 achievement and two learner characteristics - field dependence-independence and hemisphericity. Sixty-nine Turkish students of 11 to 12 years of age in an intensive EFL programme were administered the GEFT, the CLEM, and tests of L2 achievement. Significant positive correlations were observed between the GEFT scores and scores on L2 achievement tests. As expected, field independent learners performed better on the discrete-point and cloze tests. Hemisphericity, however, was not found to be related to L2 achievement. These results are evaluated critically and their implications for further research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abraham, R.G.1983: Relationship between the use of the strategy of monitoring and the cognitive style. Studies in Second Language Acquisition6: 17-32.
2.
Aitken, K.G.1977: Using cloze procedure as an overall language proficiency test. TESOL Quarterly11: 59-67.
3.
Bakan, P.1969: Hypnotizability, laterality of eye-movements and functional brain asymmetry. Perceptual and Motor Skills28: 927-932.
4.
Bakan, P.1971: The eyes have it. Psychology Today4: 64-69.
5.
Bakan, P. and Strayer, F.F.1973: On reliability of conjugate lateral eye movements. Perceptual and Motor Skills36: 429-430.
6.
Beaton, A.1986: Left side, right side: a review of laterality research . New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
7.
Beer, J.1988: Hemispheric dominance inferred from your style of learning and thinking on reports of neck cube reversals and maze learning. Perceptual and Motor Skills66: 887-890.
8.
Brown, H.D.1987: Principles of language learning and teaching (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
9.
Bryden, M.P.1966: Left-right differences in tachistoscopic recognition: directional scanning or cerebral dominance. Perceptual and Motor Skills29: 1127-1134.
10.
Carter, E.F.1988: The relationship of field dependent/independent cognitive style to Spanish language achievement and proficiency: a preliminary report . Modern Language Journal72: 21-30.
11.
Chapelle, C. and Roberts, C.1986: Ambiguity tolerance and field independence as predictors of proficiency in English as a second language. Language Learning36: 27-45.
12.
Corballis, M.C. and Beale, I.L.1976: The psychology of left and right. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum.
13.
Corballis, M.C. and Beale, I.L.1983: The ambivalent mind: the neuropsychology of left and right . Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
14.
Dawson, G.D.1981: Sex differences in dichhaptic processing. Perceptual and Motor Skills53: 935-944.
15.
Day, J.1977: Right hemisphere language processing in normal right handers . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance3: 518-528.
16.
Dulay, H., Burt, M. and Krashen, S.1982: Language two. New York: Oxford University Press.
17.
Ehrlichman, H.1977: Field-dependence-independence and lateral eye movements following verbal and spatial questions. Perceptual and Motor Skills44: 1229-1230.
18.
Ehrlichman, H. and Weinberger, A.1978: Lateral eye movements and hemispheric asymmetry: a critical review. Psychological Bulletin85: 1080-1101.
19.
Genesee, F. and Hamayan, E.1980: Individual differences in second language learning. Applied Psycholinguistics1: 95-110.
20.
Gur, R.E.1975: Conjugate lateral eye movement as an index of hemispheric activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology31: 751-757.
21.
Gur, R.C. and Gur, R.E.1974: Handedness, sex, and eyedness as moderating variables in the relation between hypnotic susceptibility and functional brain asymmetry . Journal of Abnormal Psychology83: 635-643.
22.
Gur, R.E., Gur, R.C. and Harris, L.J.1975: Cerebral activation, as measured by subjects' lateral eye movements, is influenced by experimenter location. Neuropsychologia13: 35-44.
23.
Gur, R.E. and Reyher, J.1973: Relationship between style of hypnotic induction and direction of lateral eye movements. Journal of Abnormal Psychology82: 499-505.
24.
Hanania, E. and Shikhani, M.1986: Interrelationships among three tests of language proficiency: standardized ESL, cloze and writing. TESOL Quarterly20: 97-109.
25.
Hansen, J. and Stansfield, C.1981: The relationship of field dependentindependent cognitive styles to foreign language achievement. Language Learning31: 349-367.
26.
Hansen-Strain, L.1984: Field dependence-independence and language testing: evidence from six Pacific island cultures. TESOL Quarterly18: 311-324.
27.
Hansen-Strain, L.1987: Cognitive style and first language background in second language test performance. TESOL Quarterly21: 565-569.
28.
Hartnett, D.D.1975: The relation of cognitive style and hemispheric preference to deductive and inductive second language learning. UCLA , Los Angeles, MA thesis.
29.
Hartnett, D.D.1980: The relationship of analytic and holistic cognitive styles to second language instructional methods. UCLA, Los Angeles, PhD dissertation.
30.
Hecean, H. and Sauguet, J.1971: Cerebral dominance in left-handed subjects. Cortex7: 19-48.
31.
Hiscock, M.1977a: Effects of examiner's location and subject's anxiety on gaze laterality. Neuropsychologia15: 409-416.
32.
Hiscock, M.1977b: Eye-movement asymmetry and hemispheric function: an examination of individual differences. Journal of Psychology97: 49-52.
33.
Hughes, A.1989: Testing for language teachers. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
34.
Kimura, D.1969: Cerebral dominance and the perception of verbal stimuli . Canadian Journal of Psychology15: 166-171.
35.
Kimura, D.1973: The asymmetry of the brain. Scientific American228: 70-76.
36.
Kinsbourne, M.1972: Eye and head turning indicates cerebral lateralization . Science176: 539-541.
37.
Kinsbourne, M.1974: Direction of gaze and distribution of cerebral thought processes. Neuropsychologia12: 279-281.
38.
Krashen, S.D.1986: The input hypothesis: issues and implications (2nd ed.) London: Longman.
39.
Krashen, S.D., Seliger, H. and Hartnett, D.1974: Two studies in adult second language learning. Kritikon Literarum3: 220-228.
40.
McGlone, J.1980: Sex differences in human brain asymmetry: a critical survey . Behavioral and Brain Sciences3: 215-263.
41.
McGlone, J. and Davidson, W.1973: The relation between cerebral speech laterality and spatial ability with special reference to sex and hand preference. Neuropsychologia11: 105-113.
42.
Naiman, N.M., Frochlich, M., Stern, H.H. and Todesco, A.1978: The good language learner. Toronto : Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
43.
Okman-Fişek, G.1979: Sakli sekiller grup testi. Istanbul : Boğaziçi University Press.
44.
Oltman, P.K., Raskin, E. and Witkin, H.A.1971: The group embedded figures test. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press.
45.
Payne, D. and Evans, K.A.1986: Interrelationships among three measures of preference for cognitive style based on hemisphere specialization theory. Perceptual and Motor Skills6: 19-25.
46.
Roberts, C.A.1983: Field independence as a predictor of second language learning for adult ESL learners in the U.S. University of Illinois , Urbana, PhD dissertation.
47.
Sackeim, H.A., Weiman, A.L. and Grega, D.M.1984: Effects of predictors of hemispheric specialization on individual differences in hemispheric activation. Neuropsychologia22: 55-64.
48.
Schneiderman, E.I. and Wesche, M.B.1986: Right-hemisphere processing and foreign language aptitude . ITL71: 43-64.
49.
Silverman, A.J., Adevai, G. and McGough, W.E.1966: Some relationships between handedness and perception. Journal of Psychosomatic Research10: 151-158.
50.
Stansfield, C. and Hansen, J.1983: Field dependence-independence as a variable in second language cloze test performance. TESOL Quarterly17: 29-38.
51.
Stieblich, C.H.1984: Language learning: a study on cognitive style, lateral eye-movement and deductive vs. inductive learning of foreign language structures . McGill University, Montreal, PhD dissertation.
52.
Tucker, G.H. and Suib, M.R.1978: Conjugate lateral eye movement (CLEM) direction and its relationship to performance on verbal and visuospatial tasks. Neuropsychologia16: 251-254.
53.
Weener, P. and Van Blerkom, M.1982: Dichhaptic laterality and field dependence. Brain andCognition1: 323-330.
54.
Weiten, W. and Etaugh, C.F.1973: Lateral eye movement as related to verbal and perceptual motor skills and values. Perceptual and Motor Skills36: 423-428.
55.
Weiten, W. and Etaugh, C.F.1974: Lateral eye movement as a function of cognitive mode, question sequence, and sex of subject. Perceptual and Motor Skills38: 439-444.
56.
Wickramasekera, I.E.1988: Clinical behavioral medicine: some concepts and procedures . New York: Plenum Press.
57.
Witkin, H.A., Moore, C.A., Goodenough, D.R. and Cox, P.W.1977: Field-dependent and field-independent cognitive style and their educational implications. Review of Educational Research47: 1-64.
58.
Zenhausern, R.1978: Imagery, cerebral dominance, and style of thinking: unified field model. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society12: 381-384.
