Cognitive Processes and Knowledge Types in Second Language Acquisition

Posted on Oct 17, 2025 in Early Childhood Education

Cognitive Processes in Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

This section examines how our mind receives and processes information during language acquisition. It explores how processed information becomes knowledge and functions within our cognitive system.

Types of Knowledge in SLA

Knowledge types discussed include:

  • Acquired vs. Learned knowledge
  • Declarative vs. Procedural knowledge
  • Implicit vs. Explicit learning/knowledge

Both declarative and procedural knowledge are stored in our brain.

How Linguistic Knowledge is Acquired and Organized: Stephen Krashen’s Monitor Model

Krashen’s Monitor Model proposes five hypotheses of SLA:

  1. Input Hypothesis
  2. Monitor Hypothesis
  3. Natural Order Hypothesis
  4. Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
  5. Affective Filter Hypothesis

Acquired vs. Learned Knowledge

The Monitor Model, first described by Krashen in the 1970s, has had a lasting effect on the field. Krashen (1982) assumed that second language (L2) learners have two independent means of developing L2 knowledge: acquisition and learning.

Language Acquisition (Acquisition)

Acquisition is a process similar, if not identical, to the way children develop ability in their first language (L1). Language acquisition is a subconscious process. Language acquirers are usually unaware that they are acquiring the language; they are only aware that they are using the language for communication.

Language Learning (Learning)

The second way to develop competence in an L2 is through language learning. It refers to conscious knowledge of an L2, including knowing the rules, being aware of them, and being able to talk about them.

Note: Knowledge learned through one means (learning) cannot be internalized as knowledge of the other kind (acquisition).

Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge (Anderson, 1983, 1985)

When we receive information, it is placed in our memory as either declarative or procedural knowledge. This distinction is also known as:

  • Declarative: Knowing about/that (e.g., “I know that the capital of France is Paris.”)
  • Procedural: Knowing how (e.g., “I know how to swim.”)

Declarative Knowledge

Declarative knowledge is knowledge about facts, concepts, and the relationships between them. Examples include:

  • The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
  • The boiling point of water is 100ºC.

This knowledge is organized around hierarchical structures called schemata (plural form; schema is singular).

Schemata and Information Acquisition

Schemata are mental frameworks we use to represent and organize new and old information. The acquisition of new information follows two processes (Piaget, 1954):

  1. Assimilation: New information is incorporated into existing (old) knowledge, integrating this new information into our existing knowledge structures.
  2. Accommodation: New information cannot be assimilated, and the existing schema must be replaced or reorganized.

The task of teachers is to help learners develop new schemata and new connections between old and new schemata, uniting the student’s existing knowledge with the new knowledge presented.

Procedural Knowledge

Procedural knowledge is the knowledge of how to do things. It involves the procedures and skills necessary for operating in a specific context (e.g., playing tennis, driving, swimming, walking).

We are not born with procedural knowledge; we need practice to acquire it. Knowledge often starts as declarative and, through practice, becomes procedural.

The Proceduralization Process

Procedural knowledge is automated through practice (the transition from declarative to procedural knowledge). For example, learning to drive follows this path:

Declarative Knowledge → Process of Learning (Explicit Learning) → Through Practice (Proceduralization) → Procedural Knowledge (Automatization)

Application in Language Use
  • Spontaneous language use (when we speak) relies on procedural knowledge.
  • Highly planned instances of language use (e.g., preparing a complex question) rely on declarative knowledge.
Characteristics Comparison

Declarative Knowledge:

  • Knowledge we are aware of and can articulate clearly.
  • Accessible to conscious awareness (e.g., when acquiring an L2, we are aware of the rules).
  • Can be consciously retrieved from memory (explicit knowledge).
  • Knowledge that can be put into words.

Procedural Knowledge:

  • Implicit and relatively inaccessible.
  • Difficult to verbalize (e.g., when acquiring an L1, we are often unaware of our underlying beliefs).
  • Difficult, but not impossible, to put this knowledge into words.
Storage in Long-Term Memory

Declarative and procedural knowledge are stored in long-term memory:

  1. Explicit Memory: Declarative memory.
  2. Implicit Memory: Procedural memory.

Implicit vs. Explicit Learning and Knowledge (Dekeyser, 1997, 2005)

This distinction is closely related to the declarative vs. procedural knowledge dichotomy: acquisition often aligns with implicit learning, while learning aligns with explicit knowledge.

Definition of Explicit Learning (Hulstijn)

Hulstijn defines Explicit Learning as:

“Input processing with the conscious intention to find out whether the input information contains regularities and, if so, to work out the concepts and rules with which these regularities can be captured.”

Key characteristics of explicit learning:

  • It is the stage of learning where you receive and process the input.
  • It is a conscious process: you are aware of this process.
  • You have the intention to learn something.
  • It requires a conscious effort to work out the rules behind the input you receive.