instructional techniques. Issues of debate While language learning aptitude is relatively stable among adults, among adolescents it continues to grow as the child reaches adulthood. Thus, scores should be compared to age/grade norms in the test manual or to locally developed norms. It has been said that language aptitude tests like the PLAB are not directly helpful to individuals who are required to learn a language regardless of their language learning abilities. However, language aptitude tests can be helpful as an indicator of the amount of time that will be needed to learn the language relative to others with higher or lower scores. The PLAB can also assist teachers by identifying the learning modalities through which the student may best be able to learn a foreign language. Another point to take into account is the fact that the PLAB results could depend on the degree of English proficiency required by test tasks and items. Thus, language teachers who might want to use the PLAB should be aware that the students PLAB score could be influenced by their degree of English proficiency. Although only part 3 is a measure of native English skills, the other parts do assume some English skills on the part of the examinee. Consequently, teachers of foreign languages who want to use the PLAB to get a better understanding of the language aptitude profile of their students should also consider the English proficiency of each student when interpreting test scores. Teachers may also need to translate the directions and some items, so that the test remains essentially a measure of language aptitude, not English language proficiency. For students with advanced English proficiency, no translation would be necessary and the level of English required by each part could be considered simultaneously along with the student's proficiency in interpreting the scores. Resources Carroll, John B. and Stanley Sapon. Modern Language Aptitude Test: Manual 2010 Edition. Rockville, MD: Language Learning and Testing Foundation, 2010. Pimsleur, Paul, Daniel J. Reed and Charles W. Stansfield. Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery: Manual 2004 Edition. Rockville, MD: Language Learning and Testing Foundation, 2004. References External links Center for Applied Linguistics – Foreign Language Test Database Language Learning and Testing Foundation Cognitive tests Language aptitude tests