Foreign Language Acquisition: Cognitive and Pedagogical Perspectives

Foreign language learning has become a core component of education and professional life in an increasingly interconnected world. This article reviews the principal theoretical frameworks that explain how adults and children acquire a foreign language, examines the cognitive and affective factors that influence learning outcomes, and discusses pedagogical approaches that have shown effectiveness in classroom settings. The review draws on research from applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, and education. It argues that successful language acquisition results from the interaction of meaningful input, opportunities for interaction and output, learner motivation, and well-designed instruction. Implications for teaching practice and directions for future research are outlined.