Foreign Language Learning in Light of Cognitive Learning Theory

Abstract

Language, with a capital initial, indicates the human system of verbal communication, which has a lot of variations represented by various languages spoken in the world. All languages involve the same mechanisms that govern their patterning because all humans have the same architecture of the cognitive system and follow the same cognitive learning principles in acquiring knowledge. While the cognitive processing mechanisms are unconscious and automatic in first language acquisition, they are effortful and can impose load on the cognitive system of the EFL learners due to factors internal to the texture of languages and some other external factors related to the cultures of individuals; which commits the learner to process multiple resources of information simultaneously before being able to schematize the new knowledge related to the target language. Accordingly, this paper discusses foreign language learning in light of cognitive learning theory with the aim of explaining why it can be hard on the EFL learners’ part to acquire the target language perfectly.