Language learning aptitude has attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of SLA. One of the most employed language aptitude tests is the LLAMA test. However, there have not been many...Show moreLanguage learning aptitude has attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of SLA. One of the most employed language aptitude tests is the LLAMA test. However, there have not been many validation studies of the test itself. In particular, no study as yet has compared the performance of L1 speakers of agglutinative languages to those of non-agglutinative languages. Moreover, the performance of L1 speakers of a language which uses a logogram and phonogram has not been researched yet. The main question of this study is, therefore ‘to what extent would the LLAMA test be language neutral?’. To answer this question, I have examined the performance of L1 speakers of different language families (Indo-European vs. Agglutinative) as well as different writing systems (phonogram vs. logogram). The study included 25 Hungarian university students who study Japanese, 30 Japanese university students who study Hungarian and 24 Dutch university students who have never studied any agglutinative langugaes and study a romance language. My research showed that the Japanese L1 group outperformed Hungarian and Dutch L1 groups significantly in the LLAMA_D test (sound recognition). Furthermore, the Japanese L1 group showed significant higher scores in the LLAMA_F test (grammar inference) than the rest of groups. In contrast, there were no significant differences amongst these groups in the results of the LLAMA_B (vocablurary learning). The results of the experiment concluded that the LLAMA test is not an entirely language neutral test. This study conduces further exploration and redesign of the LLAMA test.Show less
