A Strong Inference Approach to Causal Factors in Foreign Language Learning: A Response to MacIntyre.

This article responds to MacIntyre's (1995) critique of the Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), which posits that language aptitude is the primary source of individual differences in foreign language (FL) achievement. It defends the LCDH and suggests that difficulties exist with theories that attribute affective and social context variables in FL learning to causal factors. (39 references) (MDM)