Difference between language acquisition and language learning 语言习得与语言学习的差异

山东东明县东方高中 李全忠

Language acquisition is the manner of learning a language by immersion(专心).It provides the student with the practical knowledge of the language.Whereas,language learning focuses on providing theoretical knowledge of a language.

Language is the primary form of communication that humans use.However,language is not something that is taught to children.A child will pick up his/her native language just by being around other people,mainly their families.This is called language acquisition.The child acquires the language without any conscious thought or study.

In fact,by the time a child is five years old,he/she can express ideas clearly and almost perfectly from the point of view of language and grammar.This is true despite any formal studying of the language.

Language learning,actually,is a structured learning of a language.This is the process that most people follow when trying to learn another language.Here the student is made to study lists of vocabulary,as well as sentence structures and grammar.This is the most common method used in schools and language learning centers.

Language learning is generally considered to be a slower process than language acquisition.There are people who study a language for years without mastering it.The main difference between language acquisition and language learning is that language acquisition is the manner of learning a language by immersion.It provides the student with the practical knowledge of the language,for example,the student might not know the grammar rule but is still able to perfectly converse with a native.

Whereas,language learning focuses on providing theoretical knowledge of a language.In this case,the student might know all the proper grammar rules and the correct ways of sentence structuring,but might still lack the confidence to have a conversation with a native.

Hence,as stated by Stephen Krashen,students who are taught in a formal,structured way will“learn” the language but never fully acquire it.

Reading Check

1.What does language acquisition focus on?

A．Conscious thought of the knowledge.

B．Grammatical rules of the knowledge.

C．Theoretical knowledge.

D．Practical knowledge.

2.Which word can best describe the situation of language learning?

A.Tough.

B.Flexible.

C.Informal.

D.Formal.

3.What's Stephen Krashen's attitude toward language learning?

A.He supports it.

B.He is skeptical of it.

C.He considers it imperfect.

D.He is ambiguous.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

In fact,by the time a child is five years old,he/she can express ideas clearly and almost perfectly from the point of view of language and grammar.

【翻译】___________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】本句是一个简单句。by the time a child is five years old是介词短语作状语，主语是he/she。