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From the behaviorist perspective, no clear distinction is made, for learning is only
seen as “the building of a system of habits acquired through stimulus-response.”,
which in daily teaching implies endless drills repetition, trial and error-correction,
praising and “controlled processes”(Segalowitz ;2005:292) carried out by students;
learning is mainly “explicit” (DeKeyser, 2005: 241) and no room is left to the learners’
creative use of the language. Contrary to the behaviorist view of language learning,
Chomsky endorses the idea that humans have an innate capacity to acquire a
language due to the LAD “that analyses the input it encounters to construct a
generative grammar” (as cited in Morgavi, 2015).Based on those two
aforementioned approaches, it could be asserted that the difference among
acquisition and learning lies in the processes involved in each of them; the former
occurs in a natural stress-free environment, where the learner is constantly exposed
to external inputs that are gradually modified as the learner incorporates the
language, and produces appropriate output. The latter refers to a less flexible
process in which the learner is immersed in a non-natural context, such as school or
a language institute, and the learner has to activate a series of mental mechanisms
to incorporate the language, for example, conscious memorization and repetition of
vocabulary items, focusing attention, or applying any other cognitive strategy that
serves the purpose of learning.
depending on the context, acquisition can be attained at school or vice versa; the
key and most decisive factor is whether context is “naturalistic or instructed.
Naturalistic learning happens within a non-instructional community, in which the
learner is exposed to the target language at work or in social interaction, or at school
where instruction is directed at native speakers […] On the other hand, instructed
learning normally happens in a language classroom, although with the new
technologies, new ways of learning are becoming more accessible, allowing for
autonomous learning.” (Morgavi, 2015:9)
In addition to the type of context in which second language learners are immersed,
the subjects involved in that process play an essential role; both teachers and
students contribute to the constant exchange of information, each of them using their
own tools to process and produce linguistic content. In the case of students, O’Malley
and Chamot (in Cook 1993: 113) remark that they apply learning strategies, which
can be defined as “the special thoughts or bahaviours (sic) that individuals use to
help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information”. Also, acquisition or
learning can be attained if the students have a positive attitude towards the target
language and feel intrinsic or extrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). As regards
teachers, they act as providers of input and mediators between knowledge and
students; their role is to create a fructiferous environment in which the students can
develop their linguistic abilities, become self-constructors of meaning and
autonomous.
Reference entry
Cook, V. (1993) Linguistics and Second language Acquisition. Hampshire and London: The Macmillan
Press Ltd.
Emanuel Navarro
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self‐
determination of behaviour. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227‐268.
Dekeyser, R. (2005) “Implicit and Explicit Learning” in Doughty, C. and M. Long, eds. (2005) The
Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Blackwell Reference Online: Blackwell Publishing. pp
241-258.
Morgavi, S. (2015) “Second Language Acquisition-Section A”. Retrieved from:
https://ead01.ufasta.edu.ar/pluginfile.php/264631/mod_resource/content/3/Unit%202%202017.
pdf
Segalowitz, N. (2005) “Automaticity and Second Languages” in Doughty, C. and M. Long, eds. The
Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Blackwell Reference Online: Blackwell Publishing. pp
292-311.