The Impact of Psycholinguistic Factors on Second Language Acquisition

Language learning is part of mental, emotional and physical development of learners and it takes place in a multidimensional context of the society. Psychological factors play a significant role in learners' success in acquiring and using a second Every individual has unique character traits that enable him to function in different ways. Psycholinguists believe that the individual differences that are inherent in language learner can predict success or failure in language learning. The paper aims to explain the psycholinguistic factors that impact the individual's second language acquisition process. The paper also elucidates the importance of some factors for successful language acquisition and further examines the potential role of aptitude and motivation and their relation to proficiency in second language.IntroductionPsycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field of study which deals with how people acquire language, how people use language to speak and understand one another and how language is represented and processed in the brain. Learners of second language (L2) vary in both the ways of learning an L2 and also in what they actually succeed in learning. Second language learners differ in their level of attainment. This paper tries to explain the psychological factors such as age, gender, motivation, language aptitude, anxiety, attitude, self-esteem, language shock, culture shock, and language learning experiences that impact the second language acquisition process. These factors affect learners as individuals and they are psychological in nature (Ellis, 1999).Theoretical FrameworkSecond language acquisition is a process which is affected by many factors. While responding to learning situations, learners find themselves in a variety of affective ways. According to Gardner (1985), Integratively-oriented learners are more highly motivated, have a stronger desire to learn the language, have more positive attitude towards the learning situation, and be more likely to expend more effort in learning the language. According to Collier (1988), the factors that affect second language acquisition and advancement in language learning depend on the learner's cognitive style, socioeconomic background and formal schooling in first language and so on. Second language acquisition researcher Schumann (1975) explores the concept of 'language shock', which affects the process of second language acquisition. He states that language shock is a fear of appearing comical or making fool of oneself when attempting to communicate in second The individual personality differences produce variation in the rate of learning and the level of L2 attainment. Guiora (1981), whose research focuses on personality factors in second language acquisition, claims that ... second language learning in all of its aspects demands that the individual, to current extent, take on a new identity.AgeAge is one of the most important affective factors in second language acquisition. It determines the way in which an individual approaches second language learning. Psycholinguists believe that children are better language learners than adults in the sense that young children typically gain mastery over second language whereas adults cannot (Grass and Selinker, 2001). This is reflected in what is known as the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH). The original formulation of the CPH came from Lennenberg (1967) who noted that automatic acquisition from mere exposure to a given language seems to disappear after puberty and foreign language has to be taught and learned through a conscious effort. Early observations of this phenomenon came from Penfield and Roberts (1959), who had been concerned with the biological and neurological advantages that humans have for learning language as children rather than adults. According to this hypothesis, there is an age-related point (generally puberty) beyond which it becomes difficult to learn a second …