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StephenKrashen'sTheoryofSecondLanguageAcquisition

Pginainicial(sk.html)

StephenKrashen'sTheoryofSecond
LanguageAcquisition

Languageacquisitiondoesnotrequireextensiveuseofconscious
grammaticalrules,anddoesnotrequiretediousdrill.

Acquisitionrequiresmeaningfulinteractioninthetargetlanguage
naturalcommunicationinwhichspeakersareconcernednotwiththe
formoftheirutterancesbutwiththemessagestheyareconveyingand
understanding.

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Thebestmethodsarethereforethosethatsupply'comprehensible
input'inlowanxietysituations,containingmessagesthatstudentsreally
wanttohear.Thesemethodsdonotforceearlyproductioninthe
secondlanguage,butallowstudentstoproducewhentheyare'ready',
recognizingthatimprovementcomesfromsupplyingcommunicative
andcomprehensibleinput,andnotfromforcingandcorrecting
production.

Intherealworld,conversationswithsympatheticnativespeakerswho
arewillingtohelptheacquirerunderstandareveryhelpful.

Introduction
StephenKrashen(UniversityofSouthernCalifornia)isanexpertinthefield
oflinguistics,specializingintheoriesoflanguageacquisitionand
development.Muchofhisrecentresearchhasinvolvedthestudyofnon
Englishandbilinguallanguageacquisition.Duringthepast20years,hehas
publishedwellover100booksandarticlesandhasbeeninvitedtodeliver
over300lecturesatuniversitiesthroughouttheUnitedStatesandCanada.
ThisisabriefdescriptionofKrashen'swidelyknownandwellaccepted
theoryofsecondlanguageacquisition,whichhashadalargeimpactinall
areasofsecondlanguageresearchandteachingsincethe1980s.

DescriptionofKrashen'sTheoryofSecond
LanguageAcquisition
Krashen'stheoryofsecondlanguageacquisitionconsistsoffivemain
hypotheses:
theAcquisitionLearninghypothesis
theMonitorhypothesis
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theNaturalOrderhypothesis
theInputhypothesis
andtheAffectiveFilterhypothesis.
TheAcquisitionLearningdistinctionisthemostfundamentalofallthe
hypothesesinKrashen'stheoryandthemostwidelyknownamonglinguists
andlanguagepractitioners.
AccordingtoKrashentherearetwoindependentsystemsofsecond
languageperformance:'theacquiredsystem'and'thelearnedsystem'.The
'acquiredsystem'or'acquisition'istheproductofasubconsciousprocess
verysimilartotheprocesschildrenundergowhentheyacquiretheirfirst
language.Itrequiresmeaningfulinteractioninthetargetlanguagenatural
communicationinwhichspeakersareconcentratednotintheformoftheir
utterances,butinthecommunicativeact.
The"learnedsystem"or"learning"istheproductofformalinstructionandit
comprisesaconsciousprocesswhichresultsinconsciousknowledge
'about'thelanguage,forexampleknowledgeofgrammarrules.According
toKrashen'learning'islessimportantthan'acquisition'.(Vejaotextoao
ladoetambmoutrapginaemportugussobreAcquisition/Learning(sk
laxll.html)).
TheMonitorhypothesisexplainstherelationshipbetweenacquisitionand
learninganddefinestheinfluenceofthelatterontheformer.The
monitoringfunctionisthepracticalresultofthelearnedgrammar.According
toKrashen,theacquisitionsystemistheutteranceinitiator,whilethe
learningsystemperformstheroleofthe'monitor'orthe'editor'.The
'monitor'actsinaplanning,editingandcorrectingfunctionwhenthree
specificconditionsaremet:thatis,thesecondlanguagelearnerhas
sufficienttimeathis/herdisposal,he/shefocusesonformorthinksabout
correctness,andhe/sheknowstherule.

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Itappearsthattheroleofconsciouslearningissomewhatlimitedinsecond
languageperformance.AccordingtoKrashen,theroleofthemonitorisor
shouldbeminor,beingusedonlytocorrectdeviationsfrom"normal"
speechandtogivespeechamore'polished'appearance.
Krashenalsosuggeststhatthereisindividualvariationamonglanguage
learnerswithregardto'monitor'use.Hedistinguishesthoselearnersthat
usethe'monitor'allthetime(overusers)thoselearnerswhohavenot
learnedorwhoprefernottousetheirconsciousknowledge(underusers)
andthoselearnersthatusethe'monitor'appropriately(optimalusers).An
evaluationoftheperson'spsychologicalprofilecanhelptodetermineto
whatgrouptheybelong.Usuallyextrovertsareunderusers,whileintroverts
andperfectionistsareoverusers.Lackofselfconfidenceisfrequently
relatedtotheoveruseofthe"monitor".
TheNaturalOrderhypothesisisbasedonresearchfindings(Dulay&Burt,
1974Fathman,1975Makino,1980citedinKrashen,1987)which
suggestedthattheacquisitionofgrammaticalstructuresfollowsa'natural
order'whichispredictable.Foragivenlanguage,somegrammatical
structurestendtobeacquiredearlywhileotherslate.Thisorderseemedto
beindependentofthelearners'age,L1background,conditionsof
exposure,andalthoughtheagreementbetweenindividualacquirerswas
notalways100%inthestudies,therewerestatisticallysignificant
similaritiesthatreinforcedtheexistenceofaNaturalOrderoflanguage
acquisition.Krashenhoweverpointsoutthattheimplicationofthenatural
orderhypothesisisnotthatalanguageprogramsyllabusshouldbebased
ontheorderfoundinthestudies.Infact,herejectsgrammaticalsequencing
whenthegoalislanguageacquisition.
TheInputhypothesisisKrashen'sattempttoexplainhowthelearner
acquiresasecondlanguage.Inotherwords,thishypothesisisKrashen's
explanationofhowsecondlanguageacquisitiontakesplace.So,theInput
hypothesisisonlyconcernedwith'acquisition',not'learning'.Accordingto
thishypothesis,thelearnerimprovesandprogressesalongthe'natural
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order'whenhe/shereceivessecondlanguage'input'thatisonestep
beyondhis/hercurrentstageoflinguisticcompetence.Forexample,ifa
learnerisatastage'i',thenacquisitiontakesplacewhenhe/sheisexposed
to'ComprehensibleInput'thatbelongstolevel'i+1'.Sincenotallofthe
learnerscanbeatthesameleveloflinguisticcompetenceatthesametime,
Krashensuggeststhatnaturalcommunicativeinputisthekeytodesigning
asyllabus,ensuringinthiswaythateachlearnerwillreceivesome'i+1'
inputthatisappropriateforhis/hercurrentstageoflinguisticcompetence.
Finally,thefifthhypothesis,theAffectiveFilterhypothesis,embodies
Krashen'sviewthatanumberof'affectivevariables'playafacilitative,but
noncausal,roleinsecondlanguageacquisition.Thesevariablesinclude:
motivation,selfconfidenceandanxiety.Krashenclaimsthatlearnerswith
highmotivation,selfconfidence,agoodselfimage,andalowlevelof
anxietyarebetterequippedforsuccessinsecondlanguageacquisition.
Lowmotivation,lowselfesteem,anddebilitatinganxietycancombineto
'raise'theaffectivefilterandforma'mentalblock'thatprevents
comprehensibleinputfrombeingusedforacquisition.Inotherwords,when
thefilteris'up'itimpedeslanguageacquisition.Ontheotherhand,positive
affectisnecessary,butnotsufficientonitsown,foracquisitiontotake
place.

TheRoleofGrammarinKrashen'sView
AccordingtoKrashen,thestudyofthestructureofthelanguagecanhave
generaleducationaladvantagesandvaluesthathighschoolsandcolleges
maywanttoincludeintheirlanguageprograms.Itshouldbeclear,
however,thatexaminingirregularity,formulatingrulesandteaching
complexfactsaboutthetargetlanguageisnotlanguageteaching,but
ratheris"languageappreciation"orlinguistics.
Theonlyinstanceinwhichtheteachingofgrammarcanresultinlanguage
acquisition(andproficiency)iswhenthestudentsareinterestedinthe
subjectandthetargetlanguageisusedasamediumofinstruction.Very
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often,whenthisoccurs,bothteachersandstudentsareconvincedthatthe
studyofformalgrammarisessentialforsecondlanguageacquisition,and
theteacherisskillfulenoughtopresentexplanationsinthetargetlanguage
sothatthestudentsunderstand.Inotherwords,theteachertalkmeetsthe
requirementsforcomprehensibleinputandperhapswiththestudents"
participationtheclassroombecomesanenvironmentsuitablefor
acquisition.Also,thefilterislowinregardtothelanguageofexplanation,as
thestudents"consciouseffortsareusuallyonthesubjectmatter,onwhatis
beingtalkedabout,andnotthemedium.
Thisisasubtlepoint.Ineffect,bothteachersandstudentsaredeceiving
themselves.Theybelievethatitisthesubjectmatteritself,thestudyof
grammar,thatisresponsibleforthestudents"progress,butinrealitytheir
progressiscomingfromthemediumandnotthemessage.Anysubject
matterthatheldtheirinterestwoulddojustaswell.
References
Crystal,DavidTheCambridgeEncyclopediaofLanguage.Cambridge
UniversityPress,1997.
Krashen,StephenD.PrinciplesandPracticeinSecondLanguage
Acquisition.PrenticeHallInternational,1987.
Krashen,StephenD.SecondLanguageAcquisitionandSecond
LanguageLearning.PrenticeHallInternational,1988.

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