Stephen Krashen Input Hypothesis

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QUESTION 1 Most of the research on input has developed from Stephen Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. According to the Hypothesis, for L2 acquisition to take place, the learner must be exposed to comprehensible input. In other words, Krashen answers the question about what mechanisms exist to allow learners to acquire a second language. He reaches a conclusion, stating that learners can achieve acquisition “by understanding messages, or by receiving comprehensible input.” Furthermore, the input must contain language structures which are at a higher level than the learner’s language is. Krashen calls this “i+1”, where ‘i’ refers to the current level of knowledge and ‘1’ to the next level. Thus, the input must be at the +1 level. “We move from i,…show more content…
Long’s Interaction Hypothesis (1996) presupposes that interaction focuses on the negotiation of meaning. It could be argued that the more interactive output activities learners are exposed to, the more feedback and input modifications will they receive, which will result in an increase of comprehensibility. Ellis also notes that interactive input is more important than non-interactive input. The input received by second language learners is often modified in order to make it more comprehensible. In other words, through interaction learners have an opportunity to use and understand previously incomprehensible language. Moreover, interaction provides more different opportunities for output and input. An example of an input activity is modified input, which refers to modifications Native Speakers (NS) use when they communicate with Non-Native Speakers (NNS). The input is often modified in order to make it more comprehensible and to improve L2 language learners’ learning process. This variety is used by participants who do not possess equal knowledge of the language in use. The modified input can be expressed by modification of different forms, like paraphrasing a sentence, shorter utterances, reducing the complexity of a sentence, repetition, and simplifications in vocabulary, syntax and discourse. It could be argued that comprehensibility is the biggest advantage of modified input because if the NNS does not understand the message, he or she will not learn. In other words, input which is not comprehensible is not useful in L2 learning. It should be noted that input activities provided by the classroom are extremely important because they build a grammatical and lexical base. However, they are useful up to a certain point; a point when a student does not need to learn the rules anymore, but needs to produce and also needs informal input by NSs in order to
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