Two concepts—acquisition and learning—play key roles in the study of language. Although there are people who use the two terms interchangeably, in reality they embody two different processes in the development of communicative competence.
Two concepts—acquisition and learning—play key roles in the study of language. Although there are people who use the two terms interchangeably, in reality they embody two different processes in the development of communicative competence.
Language acquisition is an intuitive and subconscious process, similar to that of children when they develop their mother tongue. Acquiring a language happens naturally, it does not require conscious effort or formal instruction; it is something incidental and often unconscious. A child will begin to speak by being exposed to the language and by interacting with its environment, without the need for grammar lessons.
Language learning, by contrast, is a conscious process that involves studying rules and structures. When grammatical rules are explained to us in a language class, this is a formal context. In the classroom, the acquisition of communication skills occurs through explicit instruction and methodical study, and that conscious effort is what we call learning.
Talking about the rules and structures of a language not only implies knowing the grammatical and spelling rules, but also understanding how that language is used in social contexts.
For example, to show affection in a personal letter, we can say goodbye with “sending you hugs and kisses,” but not with “I would like to provide you with a hug.” If we want to make sure that we receive a package at our correct address, in that case, in the email we write to the courier service, we can say “I would like to provide you with my address.”
Understanding which words tend to appear together and the level of formality they carry (known as “register”) is part of knowing a language.
