Input and Its Positive Role in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract： Input is a major terminal action in second language acquisition. For this action scholars have carried out a great number of researches. Among them the most famous is Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. This paper mainly reviews Input Hypothesis and then examines its positive role in the process of second language acquisition （SLA）.

Key Words： input， positive role， second language acquisition

Ⅰ Introduction

It was not until the late twentieth century that second language acquisition was regarded as an independent discipline， with the development of which arose a lot of theories. In the midst， Krashen’s Input Hypothesis is the most influential one. In the 1980s， the American applied linguist Stephen Krashen put the forward the famous Input Hypothesis and proposed that language was acquired though immersing in the comprehensible input environment. This paper mainly reviews the hypothesis and discusses its positive role in the process of second language acquisition and finally draws the conclusion.

Ⅱ. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis

The American linguist Krashen put forward the Monitor Theory （MT） which includes five hypotheses. In the midst， the most famous one is the Input Hypothesis which is “completely different from the former language teaching methods”. [1]

Krashen insisted that language was acquired through the exposure of a series of comprehensible input， which means the fluency of language can not be taught but “is a kind of ability which can be formed through natural absorption of the comprehensible input”. [2] Thus， according to Krashen， the comprehensible language of reading and listening were of vital importance in the acquisition of language. If the comprehensible input is enough， other language abilities and grammatical rules can be acquired accordingly. Furthermore， Krashen claimed that “simplified input can only help those who are in the beginning stages of language development， while comprehensible input is the most important factor for language development”. [2]

Ⅲ. Enlightenments of Input in Assisting Second Language Acquisition

In the first place， comprehensible input should be given enough emphasis. As language learners in the non-target language country， we should try our best to get comprehensible input. Krashen’s input hypothesis emphasize the importance of input make us aware that we must pay enough attention to the input in our second language learning. Only we get enough input， can we produce output. As English learners in China， we lack of enough input for quite a period of time. Before， most English learners can only read and listen to English in class. With the development of economy， materials for English input have been flourishing. Now we can listen to English radio programs and watch English TV programs and can also get access to various foreign book and magazines. Besides， more and more English teacher are beginning to use English in class. These are all good sources of our English input.

In the second place， we should make the time from input to output as short as possible. Input and output are terminal behaviors which can be observed from the learners. People always put the process of language acquisition into several parts. They are respectively， understanding the comprehensible input， memorizing， storing， and producing. The time of the whole process differs from each individual. However， we can try to make the process as short as possible. We all know that children learn their mother tongue faster than adult learning second language. The reason is that they can use what they have learned in their daily dialogues. Thus shorten the time from input to output. Therefore， enlightened by the children， we should also try to make that time from shorter to shorter. In this direction， reciting can serve as a good tool. From reciting， we can internalize some fixed structures in the target language and then learners can produce language on their own will.

Finally， we should make our input to output into an automatic process. Language input contains two factors， which are stimulus and response. And through imitation， learners can set up connections between these two factors. “When this stimulus and response are connected by some consistent rules， automation is achieved”. [1] As a result， constant exercise can make the automation process become faster； thus learners’ language fluency can be enhanced. For us， second language learners， enough exercise is necessary for our automation of grammar rules. And accordingly， our aim of language fluency and accuracy can be achieved.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

In recent years， more and more people start to join the area of language acquisition research. Among the researchers and researches， one of the most famous is Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. Input hypothesis claimed that comprehensible input is the only way for the learners to acquire a second language. And if the learners acquire enough comprehensible input， they can eventually produce the language naturally. As a result， we should make full use of it and get as much as input to make our language acquisition faster and more accurate.

Works Cited

[1]鄭銀芳. 二語習得中的輸入與輸出[J]. 廣州大學學報（社會科學版）. 2003（2）. 67-69， 85.

[2]譚志敏. 輸入，輸出與情感過濾理論在大學聽力教學中的應(yīng)用研究[D].北京： 北京第二外國語學院， 2008.

作者簡介：

李志遠（1985-），男，吉林省吉林市人，文學碩士，講師，研究方向：應(yīng)用語言學、 翻譯與跨文化研究。 （責編 張景賢）