Language aptitude and its links with metalinguistic knowledge, self-efficacy, anxiety, and language maintenance in multilingual language teachers
Creators: name: Calafato, Raees
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy

description: Language teachers cannot help their students develop high levels of metalinguistic knowledge and language aptitude if they themselves are found lacking in these abilities. This article reports on a study that utilised a descriptive correlational mixed-methods research design to gather data from 89 multilingual teachers of English, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish from secondary schools regarding the relationship between their language aptitude, metalinguistic knowledge, language maintenance habits, self-efficacy, and anxiety. The findings revealed that participants’ metalinguistic knowledge, anxiety, and formally acquired multilingualism positively correlated with their language aptitude. Moreover, those possessing advanced language aptitude engaged in language maintenance habits that were both quantitatively and qualitatively different from those who exhibited weaker aptitude. Agar, til o‘qituvchilarida yuqori darajadagi metallingvistik bilim va til qobiliyati yetishmayotgan bo’lsa, ular o‘z talabalariga bu ko’nikmalarni rivojlantirishga yordam bera olishmaydi. Ushbu maqolada o‘rta maktablardan ingliz, Xitoy, frantsuz, nemis va ispan tillarining 89 nafar ko’p tilli o‘qituvchilarining til qobiliyatlari, metalingvistik bilimlari, tilni saqlash odatlari, o‘z-o’zini samaradorligi va xavotirlari o‘rtasidagi bog’liqlik haqidagi ma’lumotlarini tavsiflovchi korrelyatsion aralash usul yordamida to’plagan tadqiqot hisoboti keltirilgan. Topilmalar shuni ko’rsatdiki, ishtirokchilarning metallingvistik bilimlari, tashvishlari va rasmiy ravishda o‘rganilgan ko’p tillilik ularning til qobiliyati bilan ijobiy bog’liqdir. Bundan tashqari, ilg’or til qobiliyatiga ega bo’lgan ishtirokchilar tilni saqlash bo’yicha faoliyat bilan shug’ullanadilar, ular zaifroq qobiliyatga ega bo’lgan ishtirokchilardan miqdoriy va sifat jihatidan farq qiladi. Language teachers should ideally be good at learning and using languages themselves so that they can assist their students in developing effective language learning habits and advancing more rapidly. This ability (i.e., being good at learning and using languages), however, has been little explored among language teachers, though research suggests that it could be predicted by how adeptly teachers can explain language rules, structure, and use to their students, including how confident or anxious they feel when doing so. It may also be related to how many languages teachers have learned and the extent to which they make efforts to maintain their proficiency in the languages they teach since learning multiple languages and actively working to maintain their language skills could lead to a deeper understanding of language learning processes, making them better equipped to support their students in their language learning journey. Eighty-nine teachers of English, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish from secondary schools completed a test evaluating their ability to learn languages effectively. They also participated in interviews aimed at understanding how comprehensively they could identify, explain, and correct language errors made by students, their anxiety and confidence when doing so, the number of languages they had learned, and the measures they took to maintain their proficiency in the languages they taught. The findings revealed that participants who had learned more languages and were more competent in identifying, explaining, and correcting language errors were also better at learning and using languages. They also engaged in activities that were different from those preferred by participants with less skill in learning and using languages.