List of common misconceptions about language learning

Language learning is subject to several misconceptions. It is common for people to rely on their own intuitions about language learning, though they would not do so with other technical subjects such as physics (a phenomenon known as folk linguistics). However, these intuitions are often contradicted by scientific research.

Learning a first language is not rapid for children. Children spend years learning their mother tongue, and the process continues well into their school years. At seven years old, for example, many children have difficulties creating passive-voice sentences.

A study on child L1 learners and adult L2 learners of Spanish showed that children do not acquire their first language any quicker than adults do their second language; conversely, the study suggests that the experience of older learners helps them acquire a better handle on the language in question.

It is often assumed that young children learn languages more easily than adolescents and adults. However, the reverse is true; older learners are faster. For example, a study of 17,000 British students showed that those who started learning French aged 11 performed better than those who started learning it aged 8. The only exception to this rule is in pronunciation. Young children invariably learn to speak their second language with native-like pronunciation, whereas learners who start learning a language at an older age only rarely reach a native-like level. The pronunciation seems to be anchored in the speaker from an early age and therefore difficult to change.

General intelligence is actually often a poor indicator of language-learning ability. Motivation, tolerance for ambiguity, and self-esteem are all better indicators of language-learning success.

The ability for learners to develop their language skills depends to a large extent on the type of language input that they receive. For input to be effective for second-language acquisition, it must be comprehensible. Merely being immersed in a second-language environment is no guarantee of receiving comprehensible input. For example, learners living in a country where their second language is spoken may be lucky enough to interact with native speakers who can alter their speech to make it comprehensible; but equally, many learners will not have that same luck, and may not understand the vast majority of the input that they receive.

In addition, adult learners living in a foreign country may not have very high linguistic demands placed on them, for example if they are a low-level employee at a company. Without the incentive to develop high-level skills in their second language, learners may undergo language fossilisation, or a plateau in their language level.

Classroom instruction can be useful in both providing appropriate input for second-language learners, and for helping them overcome problems of fossilisation.