Frontiers in Educational Research, 2025, 8(9); doi: 10.25236/FER.2025.080923.
Juan Xu
Institute for International Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
The paper made a comparison in language processing characteristics between children and adults. Two viewpoints were examined. One is whether children learn first language by imitation. Another is whether children are taught to acquire their first language. The motivation of adults’ second language learning differs. It leads the adults to be anxious for quick success and instant benefits from the study. Acquisition vs. learning shows a distinctive picture about language study process, and it helps to understand the nature of knowledge in the process of language development. Regarding affective filter and anxiety, they are common for adults while children rarely meet these two, which also differ the two language processes.
Language, L1 Acquisition, L2 Learning, Children, Adults
Juan Xu. Comparison in the Processes between Children’s L1 Acquisition and Adults’ L2 Learning. Frontiers in Educational Research (2025), Vol. 8, Issue 9: 149-156. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2025.080923.
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