Second Language Acquisition vs. Second Language Learning

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,3, University of Stuttgart (Institut fur Linguistik: Anglistik), course: Hauptseminar: Language Contact, language: English, abstract: This paper wants to examine the two processes of acquisition and learning, compare them to find differences and possible similarities and try to find ways to make use of the processes by taking influence on them through intelligent teaching. The field contains multiple approaches and positions among the different researchers. Within this paper, I want to accentuate the two main notions of the research. One of them considers acquisition to be the only effective way to gain language knowledge, the other argues for learning. As representatives of the respective stream, I want to highlight Stephen Krashen’s research for the acquisition position and Robert DeKeyser and Catherine J. Doughty on the learning side. Finally, I want to try to derive a couple of possible implications from the research which could enhance second language teaching for the future.