Language aptitude for pronunciation in advanced second language (L2) Learners: Behavioural predictors and neural substratesOur behavioural results showed that phonetic coding ability and empathy, but not phonological working memory, predict L2 pronunciation aptitude in advanced learners...
We suggest that the acquisition of L2 pronunciation aptitude is a dynamic process, requiring a variety of neural resources at different processing stages over time.Language aptitude is traditionally defined as a largely innate, relatively fixed talent for learning language (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008) and is considered independent of other cognitive abilities, including intelligence... Among the four subcomponents of language aptitude proposed by Carroll (1981), phonetic coding ability (PCA) mainly relates to pronunciation skills. Any subject of low PCA abilities will have troubles not only in remembering phonetic material or word form, but also in mimicking speech sounds...
An association between empathy and the capacity for mastery of L2 pronunciation was reported in several studies. It was suggested that both empathy and L2 pronunciation capacity were influenced by the same underlying process – permeability of ‘‘ego boundary’’. More recently the discovery of mirror neurons has provided another possible explanation to the process of language acquisition."
"...The current results suggest that L2 pronunciation aptitude in advanced learners relies on the development of the whole speech-motor control network, including areas related to overt articulation or speech motor executive loop... Therefore, the exclusion of the overt articulation from the PWM model as a language learning device is rather arbitrary."
http://blog.susannereiterer.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/01Hu_Reiterer_BrainLang2012online.pdfOn the Relationship between Aptitude and Intelligence in Second Language AcquisitionIf aptitude is truly something independent of and distinct from intelligence, one may reasonably ask what precisely aptitude is. For their part, Miyake and Friedman acknowledge that “WM plays a central role in all forms of higher-level cognition”. If all forms of higher cognition are included, then WM sounds suspiciously like intelligence.
The IQ test itself clearly probes memory and elements of analytic capacity. It is now appropriate to ask: Does aptitude get at something that intelligence does not? Do intelligence tests miss something crucial that aptitude better explains?
...A normal full scale IQ score reflects, among other things, individual performance on tests of spatial understanding, memory, pattern recognition, and linguistic knowledge of various sorts. The final numerical score results from a mathematical operation that incorporates the various scores on the subsections in one overall score. The result is that a person with an IQ score of 100 could have a very different individual intellectual profile than five other people with the same IQ score. Each person could perform better or worse on the various parts of the test, yet each could still have a composite score of 100. In theory, this means that one person with an IQ score of 100 could be much better in math than another person with the same score....The case of CJ, chronicled by Obler (1989), is most interesting in this regard. CJ has an exceptional ability to learn languages. He achieved native-like proficiency in several languages after the onset of puberty...
If the researchers are unified on the relationship between higher intelligence and greater success with academic L2 language, they are equally convinced that higher intelligence plays little or no role in many communicative tasks... Genesee points out that IQ scores played no role in the ability of individuals to acquire certain communicative aspects of a second language.
On such skills as interpersonal communication, pronunciation, and listening comprehension, higher IQ scores were shown to be insignificant."
Conclusion
"Those who regard innate capacity as aptitude fail to show how aptitude is fundamentally different from intelligence and what is indicated on an intelligence test. The concept of aptitude was thus shown to be empty. The evidence that higher IQ scores correlated with better performance on academic aspects of second language acquisition proved strong. It was also argued that the claims that IQ is irrelevant to communicative second language tasks are somewhat dubious."
http://tesolal.columbia.edu/article/aptitude-and-intelligence/Auditory intelligence: Theoretical considerations and empirical findingsHighlights
• Auditory nonverbal intelligence was clearly distinct from academic intelligence.
• Auditory speech intelligence could be subsumed under a verbal reasoning factor.
• Musical training was associated with better performance on the auditory nonverbal tasks but not on the auditory speech tasks.
http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/364714.pdfSocial intelligence and auditory intelligence : useful constructs?This dissertation aims to clarifiy (1) the internal structure of social intelligence (SI) and auditory intelligence (AuI), (2) their relationship to academic intelligence (AcI), and (3) their relationship to one another.
https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/binary/UK2PND5QSPF4YRDVDRTMCMYK44KX73FE/full/1.pdf