MAIN ASPECTS AFFECTING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION UzSWLU

Аннотация

The article discusses the importance of recognizing and considering the impact of learner characteristics such as age, learning style and learning strategies on successful language acquisition. It develops the viewpoint that learners’ specific learning needs such as style preferences, age factors and learning strategy specifications should be taken into account while teaching English to students in the EFL classrooms. Key words: foreign language acquisition, age factors, learning styles, learning strategies, motivation, aptitude, accomplish, reflective, impulsive. There are some key factors influencing successful language acquisition in the procedure of language learning and teaching. These factors are mostly composed of some basic learner characteristics including personality, aptitude, motivation, learning styles and strategies and the factor of age. From the perspective of age, it should be specifically noted that the relationship between age and success in second language acquisition is a complex and controversial subject matter dealt with in the research of language acquisition study. [1:p.9] In our opinion, it is important to clarify the concept of language acquisition at this point. The terms “language acquisition” and “language learning” are widely used in methodology, however, they carry different meanings and mostly understood in different senses. For example, Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics defines these terms in the following way: language acquisition (n)-the learning and development of a person’s language. The learning of a native first language is called first language acquisition, and of a second or foreign language, second language acquisition. Some theorists use “learning” and “acquisition” synonymously. Others maintain a contrast between the two terms, using “learning” to mean a conscious process involving the study of explicit rules of language and monitoring one’s performance, as is often typical of classroom learning in a foreign language context, and using “acquisition” to refer to a non-conscious process of rule internalization resulting from exposure to comprehensible input when the learner’s attention is on meaning rather than form, as is more common in a second language context. Still others use “acquisition” only with reference to the learning of one’s first language. Moreover, Stephen Krashen also claims that there is a clear distinction 5 MODELS AND METHODS IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference between acquisition and learning. To be more concise, the former is subconscious and anxiety free, whereas learning is a conscious process where separate items from the language are studied and practiced in sequence. Krashen also suggests that teachers should concentrate on acquisition rather than learning and that the role of the language teacher should be to provide the right kind of language exposure, namely comprehensible input (that is, language that the students understand more or less, even if it is a bit above their own level of production). From these arguments it is clear that the relationship between age and language acquisition is so interrelated that it is important for teachers to be aware of this so that they can choose the right choice of language teaching methods, approaches and techniques. In addition to the age factor influencing the language acquisition process, there are other key issues of teaching individuals a foreign language that should be taken into consideration during the teaching procedure. In this connection, it should be highlighted that learning styles and strategies are considered to be the most essential points to which English language teachers should pay much attention when they teach students a language. It is an irrefutable fact that the way students learn is different, therefore English language teachers should have the necessary skills for dealing with different learning styles and strategies in the classroom so as to enable their students to learn most efficiently according to their learning style and strategy preferences. The terms learning styles and learning strategies can be confusing. According to the standard definition, learning styles refer to “an individual’s natural, habitual, and preferred ways of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills”. From this definition it is clear that every learner has their own way of learning something new and they apply them in the process of learning.[ 2:p.8] These learning styles seem to be the root of the effectiveness and success of their learning. Therefore, the English language teachers’ interest in learning styles has dramatically increased in recent years. Furthermore, in the last decade the number of the works specifically devoted to learning styles and English language teaching such as Reid, Kinsella, Oxford, and Oxford and Anderson has increased significantly. The perceptual learning styles such as visual, auditory, kines