Open AccessInfluence of Behaviourist and Cognitivist Theories in Adult Language Acquisition
Author(s) -
V Devaki
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
elsya
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2684-9224
pISSN - 2684-7620
DOI - 10.31849/elsya.v3i1.5620
Subject(s) - second language acquisition , developmental linguistics , psychology , novelty , language acquisition , cognition , comprehension approach , second language attrition , cognitive psychology , first language , linguistics , cognitive science , language education , social psychology , mathematics education , philosophy , neuroscience
Linguistics and psychological schools of thought had a great influence on language acquisition theories It is still under discussion whether second language acquisition is easy or effortless for adults to learn or not. In non-teaching environments, children can learn their native language quickly, whereas adults cannot. Many researchers believe that adults can quickly acquire a second language due to their high level of cognition clear, logical thinking and strong self-observation skills, while some linguistics researchers consider that it is difficult for adults to develop a second-language acquisition. Therefore, this paper explores to what extent the theories of behavioral and cognitive influence adult acquisition in the second language process. This study considered that these theories have highlighted the difference between the way that children and adults learn to the point that adults appear to “lift the bar” unrealistically when they try to learn an additional language. The novelty of this study is in how the analysis gave a new direction for adult language acquisition theorists to guide adults to mimic children’s way of acquisitioning their first language.