What is the relationship between language acquisition and language learning?

Although the notions of language learning and language acquisition appear the same they are different and are treated as different in SLL research. Krashen (1985) distinguishes between learning and acquisition. He defines learning as the conscious process of studying a language usually in a classroom setting while acquisition is the subconscious process of picking up a language through exposure, in natural settings. For example a kikuyu woman newly married to a Luo and living with her husband among the Luo community does not go to the classroom to learn Dholuo she picks the language naturally in communicative situations with the Luos who speak the language. But a German tourist who attends a class in a formal setting to learn Kiswahili is learning the language and not acquiring it. However owing to the difficulty of demonstrating whether the knowledge learners posses is of “acquired” or “learnt,” kind, many studies in SLL do not maintain distinctions between these two terms.

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francis1897 answered the question on March 8, 2023 at 08:47