A Pilot Investigation of Measuring Language Learning Aptitude in Adults Neurophysiologically

The ability to learn a new language is a must for adults to adapt to jobs that require rapid mastering of an unfamiliar language under a globalization context of business and management. The talent in learning a new language has been conceptualized as language learning aptitude, which has been quantified by scores in paper-based tests. In this paper, we present our pilot study on a hypothesized association between foreign language learning and auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to spoken words, with the aim of looking for a neurophysiological measurement of language learning aptitude. The AEPs to repeated Mandarin words, passively presented in multiple stimulus trains, were recorded from 18 native adult Mandarin speakers, by using a 32-channel EEG recording system. Their language learning performance was measured by their scores in a task of learning words in an African language, and by their achievements in standardized English tests. The results show that the short-term habituation induced by repeated Mandarin words could predict the participants’ phonological learning performance, and is correlated with their scores in English tests. These findings suggest that AEPs to speak words can be a promising neural indicator to measure an individual’s language learning aptitude, which may become an objective tool for human resource assessment. Keywords—Human resource; assessment; language learning; auditory evoked potential; globalization