Language attitudes show a significant small-to-medium positive correlation with language proficiency (r = .34)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr3·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
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q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
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q3 i2 Across 132 effect sizes nested in 46 samples, more favorable language attitudes are linked to higher proficiency, with a pooled r = .34. → Maria Adelina Ianos 2026
Evidence¶
Maria Adelina Ianos 2026¶
Maria Adelina Ianos, Andrei Rusu, Ramona Paloş, Cristina Petreñas, Clara Sansó. (2026). Linking Language Attitudes to Proficiency Across Learning Contexts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Correlational Evidence. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10193-w
q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r3
Three-level meta-analysis of 132 effect sizes from 46 named samples (N = 20,505), pre-registered protocol, RVE confirmatory analyses converged (r = .32). The pooled estimate "r =.34, 95% CI [.29, .39]" falls in the small-to-medium range by L2 benchmarks, explaining roughly 11% of variance in proficiency.
"A three-level meta-analysis simultaneously modeling 132 raw effect sizes nested within 46 named samples (N = 20,505) yielded a significant, small to medium positive association between language attitudes and proficiency ( r =.34, 95% CI [.29, .39], t(131) = 12.69, p <.001)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- The attitude–proficiency association is strongest for attitudes toward the language itself and weakest for attitudes toward speakers — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Self-assessed proficiency correlates more strongly with language attitudes than externally scored proficiency — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Attitude–proficiency correlations are stronger for foreign languages than for local languages — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Local participants learning a foreign language show the strongest attitude–proficiency association; immigrant participants learning a local language the weakest — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
language-attitudes-proficiency-correlation |
title |
Language attitudes show a significant small-to-medium positive correlation with language proficiency (r = .34) |
description |
Language attitudes show a significant small-to-medium positive correlation with language proficiency (r = .34) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-21 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — maria-adelina-ianos-2026 |
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