Cultural influence in the english language acquisition process.

Abstract

The process of acquiring a second language is the subject of an ever-increasing number of academic studies that delve into its workings. Social Constructivism, an established theory that defines human development as the product of social interaction, also sees learning as an inherently social and cultural process. However, to date, there is still an insufficient number of academic reviews that examine existing theories of language acquisition and cultural influence shaping language learning. This paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing the available scholarly literature and theories on the effects of culture and social context on language acquisition. Accordingly, three theories that address the subject have been chosen to be examined in this article, and the empirical studies that support or undermine their claims are presented as well. Based on the evidence, the analysed theories support the idea that a significant amount of cultural and social information is embedded in language learning, and that the effects of this phenomenon are considerable. This study then complements its scholarly literature review by analysing, using bibliometric tools, the research on language acquisition currently accessible, particularly in the fields of linguistic relativity and intercultural communicative competence. The results of such statistical analysis reveal that, although still decent numerically, the formal study of these theories in relation to language acquisition is growing, both in numbers and in significance. This paper contributes to the field of English Language Teaching by providing a thorough review of theoretical and empirical knowledge relevant to language teachers who aim to improve their expertise and professional practice, while advancing and fostering research on the cultural and social impact on language acquisition by offering a quantitative review of available studies.