How Second-Language Acquisition has Improved Since the 1960s
In the 1960s, language learning was dominated by structural linguistics and behaviourist psychology . The dominant methodology—the Audiolingual Method (ALM) —treated language acquisition as habit formation driven by repetitive mechanical drills, mimicry, and immediate error punishment ( Foti and Keochgerien, 2026) . Since then, field advancements in cognitive psychology, sociolinguistics, neuroscience, and educational technology have shifted Second Language Acquisition (SLA) from passive habit formation to an active, cognitive, and communicative process. The smorgasbord of improvements includes the changes from b ehaviourism to cognitive processing, structural drills to communicative competence, rote repetition to comprehensible & varied Input, personalisation, and physical tapes to immersive and artificial intelligence tools. The Evolution of Second Language Acquisition Since the 1960s The field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has undergone a profound evolut...