Basing his arguments on the developments in theoretical linguistics as well as his own experience in teaching and research, the author proposes a model of learning which could resolve differences which have for centuries divided thinkers in philosophy and linguistics, between extreme and modified views of the way that language and thought interact, one determining the other; and in language teaching between proponents of contending methodologies. He shows that such distinctions as those between language learners and language users, first language learners and foreign language learners are misleading.