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The main purpose of theories of second-language acquisition (SLA) is to shed light on how people who already know one language learn a second language. The field of second-language acquisition involves various contributions, such as linguistics , sociolinguistics , psychology , cognitive science , neuroscience , and education .
As such, cognitive theories view second-language acquisition as a special case of more general learning mechanisms in the brain. This puts them in direct contrast with linguistic theories, which posit that language acquisition uses a unique process different from other types of learning.
These theories conceive of second-language acquisition as being learned in the same way as any other skill, such as learning to drive a car or play the piano. That is, they see practice as the key ingredient of language acquisition. The most well-known of these theories is based on John Anderson's adaptive control of thought model. [1]
Language learning involves formal instruction and, according to Krashen, is less effective than acquisition. [6] Learning in this sense is conception or conceptualisation: instead of learning a language itself, students learn an abstract, conceptual model of a language, a "theory" about a language (a grammar).
The theory has often been extended to a critical period for second-language acquisition (SLA). David Singleton states that in learning a second language, "younger = better in the long run", but points out that there are many exceptions, noting that five percent of adult bilinguals master a second language even though they begin learning it when they are well into adulthood—long after any ...
In second-language acquisition, the acculturation model is a theory proposed by John Schumann to describe the acquisition process of a second language (L2) by members of ethnic minorities [1] that typically include immigrants, migrant workers, or the children of such groups. [2]