Longman Dictionary of

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approach to the teaching of reading and writing is known as writing
across the curriculum and reading across the curriculum.
language and the law n
another term for FORENSIC LINGUISTICS
language aptitude test
language anxiety n
subjective feelings of apprehension and fear associated with language
learning and use. Foreign language anxiety may be a situation-specific
anxiety, similar in that respect to public speaking anxiety. Issues in the
study of language anxiety include whether anxiety is a cause or an effect
of poor achievement, anxiety under specific instructional conditions, and
the relationship of general language anxiety to more specific kinds of
anxiety associated with speaking, reading, or examinations.
language aptitude n
the natural ability to learn a language, not including intelligence, MOTIV-
ATION, interest, etc. Language aptitude is thought to be a combination of
various abilities, such as oral mimicry ability (the ability to imitate sounds
not heard before), phonemic coding ability (the ability to identify sound
patterns in a new language), grammatical sensitivity (the ability to recognize
the different grammatical functions of words in sentences, ROTE-
LEARNING ability, and the ability to infer language rules (see INFERENCING,
DEDUCTIVE LEARNING). A person with high language aptitude can learn
more quickly and easily than a person with low language aptitude, all
other factors being equal.
see also LANGUAGE APTITUDE TEST
language aptitude test n
a test that measures a person’s aptitude for SECOND LANGUAGE or
FOREIGN LANGUAGE learning and that can be used to identify those learners
who are most likely to succeed (see LANGUAGE APTITUDE). Language
aptitude tests usually consist of several different tests that measure such
abilities as:
a sound coding ability – the ability to identify and remember new sounds
in a foreign or second language
b grammatical coding ability – the ability to identify the grammatical
functions of different parts of sentences
c inductive learning ability – the ability to work out meanings without
explanation in a new language (see INDUCTIVE LEARNING)
d memorization – the ability to remember words, rules, etc., in a new
language
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