The Relationship Between Cognitive Development and Language Learning in a Cross-Cultural Context: A Review of the Literature and its Implication

This article examines the relation of cognitive and language development in early childhood and their subsequent effects on individual cultural development. Then the influences of cultural difference on adult language learners (including ESL learners) are discussed in the hope that language instructors will gain a deeper appreciation of the difficulties that ESL learners encounter in the language learning process. While all language learners learn differently from each other, those from a given culture have certain characteristics in common that set them apart from learners with a different cultural background. This insight can assist language instructors in creating a teaching and learning environment that meets the learning needs of all their learners.