Lateral Preference and L2 Proficiency

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between the L2 proficiency of advanced EFL learners and biological lateral preference. The former is thought of as the person's advanced ability in English, developed within a school setting and involving both reading comprehension and grammatical and lexical knowledge - as represented by the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency. The latter is conceptualized as a continuous and multifactorial construct that predicts the degree of the hemispheric specialization of cognitive functions in the human brain as well as the degree of hemisphericity as a personal trait. It is measured by the Lateral Preference Schedule, developed as an instrument to meet the research and clinical needs for a standardized measure of lateral preference. Sixty university students majoring in TEFL participated in the study. Overall, the findings suggest that, from the various lateral preference patterns, only those which involve footed-ness and handedness are related to L2 proficiency. The findings further suggest that the relationship between lateral preference and L2 proficiency is independent of differences in gender.