Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Arts - Department of English

Cognitive psychologists yielded debatable findings concerning the suitable age for initial exposure to a foreign language and the convenient amount of this exposure in relation to learners{u2019} cognitive development. Egyptian English foreign language learners, graduating from the Arabic private system, the English language system and the Arabic state system, were found to face difficulties in understanding the university courses received in the language at which they are less proficient. Hence, the study aimed at comparing the effect of such school systems on the cognitive performance of Egyptian foreign language learners. A stratified random sampling was implemented to collect 300 learners of such specifications who were enrolled in the first year of university education. They were divided into three equal groups representing the graduates of these systems. An Arabic-English test for cognitive performance was developed and administered online for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed on the collected data. Results revealed the significant information processing of the Arabic Private Group, followed by the English Language Group and the Arabic State Group

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