Psychological factors of successful foreign language acquisition

Abstract

© 2020, Slovenska Vzdelavacia Obstaravacia. All rights reserved. The article is dedicated to the study of the internal determination of the effectiveness of teaching non-native languages and to the identification of psychological factors in a person’s success in the process of foreign language learning. As psychological determinants of foreign language acquisition, the following are pointed out: language ability, cognitive and emotional factors, motivation, and the subject’s personal qualities in a learning activity. The results of an empirical investigation broadening the concept of the structure of language ability are provided. Foreign-language abilities are seen as a complex structure, including the quality of mental processes (auditory comprehension, aural and eye memory, verbal and cognitive activity, imitating abilities) and students’ personal qualities (communicative and emotional). Abilities as specific qualities of cognitive processes that directly contribute to the acquisition of materials considerably determine the activity success. Psychological difficulties in the process of foreign language teaching, which are determined by motivational, emotional, cognitive, and personal factors, are defined in the article.