ACquisition VS Learning The American sla scholar Stephen Krashen makes the distinction between acquisition and learning. Krashen holds that language acquisition is a subconscious process to acquire a language in natural settings while language learning is a conscious process to obtain a language in school settings1)Acquisition vs. Learning The American SLA scholar Stephen Krashen makes the distinction between acquisition and learning. Krashen holds that language acquisition is a subconscious process to acquire a language in natural settings, while language learning is a conscious process to obtain a language in school settings