作者：柯一婷
　　【Abstract】The cognitive and the social schools show fundamental differences in their understanding of language and learning， the object of SLA， research method and philosophical stance. This thesis wants to analyze how social school differs from cognitive school from the postmodernism philosophy and the reason why the social school is more suitable for China‘s second language teaching and learning. All in all， the social school has a wider range of object of observation and emphasizes on the relationship between the researchers and the objects of study. Besides the social school are more open to all the study methods and techniques.
　　【Key words】social linguistics; cognitive linguistics; postmodernism; modernism
　　Second Language Acquisition （SLA） refers both to the study of individuals and groups who are learning a language subsequent to learning their first one as young children， and to the process of learning that language. During the past 20 years， there are two contrasting schools in the field of second language acquisition. The cognitive and the social schools show fundamental differences in their understanding of language and learning， the object of SLA， research method and philosophical stance. The cognitive-versus-sociocultural debate that took place in various journals and at several conferences in the 1990s， and many researchers in L2 learning and teaching are probably convinced that a wide gap between the two camps is unavoidable.
　　For the understanding of language and learning， the cognitive school considers language as an intricate rule-based system. Language is rule-governed， which has a finite number of grammatical rules in the system and with knowledge of these rules an infinite number of sentences can be produced. Cognitive style is an individual’s characteristic and relatively consistent way of processing incoming information of all types from the environment. Learning style is simply the application of an individual’s cognitive style to a learning situation （Schmeck， 1988）. The social school emphasizes interaction and engagement with the target language in a socio context based on the concept of ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ （ZPD） and scaffolding. In other words， learning is best achieved through the dynamic interaction between the teacher and the learner and between learners. With the teacher’s scaffolding through questions and explanations， or with a more capable peer s support， the learner can move to a higher level of understanding and extend his/her skills and knowledge to the fullest potential. The thesis of Wen Qiufang（2008） defines the differences of the cognitive school and the social school from five perspectives. The first one is language view. The cognitive school sees language as a mental phenomenon that language is a complex system constructed by intricate language rules. The social school sees language as a social phenomenon. Students need to take apart in the social activities to obtain culture and language knowledge. The second one is the study view. The cognitive believes learners selectively integrates the input into the existing knowledge system， and gradually converts the declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge through continuous output. However， the social school thinks that learners use language to participate in social communication activities，， thus they gain language and culture knowledge which become a material for personal brain activities. The third one is the research object. The cognitive school believes that language study is the research which studies language acquisition but not language application. The focus of research is on the characteristics of abstract language systems in learners’ brains and their changes. But the social school believes that language study is the study if language use. It advocates that language acquisition and application are continuum and cannot be divided. The focus of research is on the success of language-based social communication activities. The fourth one is the research techniques and research methods. From an objective point of view， the cognitive school uses quantitative methods to emphasizing objectivity and impartiality， and is strongly opposes the personal views of researchers. From the subjective point of view， the social school uses the qualitative methods to emphasize the interaction between the researcher and the research objects， requiring researchers to understand and explain social communication events from the perspective of the research objects. The fifth one is the philosophical bent. The cognitive advocates the modernist view， believing that people and society can be divided into two entities， thus language and culture can be divided into two independent abstract systems. But the social school adheres to the postmodernist view， believing that people and society， language and culture are integrated and inseparable.