Cognitive Perspectives on Language Acquisition: Evaluating Skills, Adaptation, and Challenges in Adult Learning
Keywords:
Adult learners, cognitive strategies, language acquisition, adaptation, learning challenges.Abstract
This study aims to develop effective learning strategies by understanding what cognitive skills are most critical for successful language acquisition in adult learners, and overcome difficulties and challenges faced by adult learners to enhance their language learning outcomes. Aging can affect various aspects of language ability, older individuals may experience difficulty in processing complex grammatical structures, or retrieving specific vocabulary. Unlike children, who typically acquire languages implicitly, adults have to employ explicit strategies that require conscious effort and deliberate practice.This study will investigate how cognitive abilities faculties either facilitate or impede language acquisition in adults.Two groups of students were selected to carry out a quantitative descriptive-comparative study on understanding adult language acquisition from a cognitive perspective. The activities and results obtained in both groups were contrasted in order to determine if second language acquisition in adulthood is complex and influenced significantly by cognitive strategies or not. It can be stated that the result emphasize the importance of creating a supportive learning environment that gradually introduces innovative activities while addressing learners’ emotional needs, and that adult learners differ in their ability to adapt to non-traditional or developed instructional activities, It also confirms that emotional and psychological factors, particularly anxiety and self-perception, are as important as cognitive factors in adult foreign language learning. Overall, this research bridges theoretical perspectives and practical applications, contributing to a deeper understanding of how adults acquire, adapt to, and retain language skills in diverse learning contexts.
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