Input, Interaction and Second Language Acquisition

Input, Interaction and Second Language Acquisition

In its most developed form the input hypothesis claims that exposure to comprehensible input is both necessary and sufficient for SLL to take the place. The hypothesis states that:

Humans acquire language in only one way – by understanding messages, or by receiving “comprehensible input”… We move from i, our current level, to i+1, the next level along the natural order, by understanding input containing i+1 (krashen, 1985, p.2)

According to this Hypothesis then, how exactly does acquisition take place?

At one point Krashen proposed three stages in turning into intake:

A) Understanding a second language  i+1 for (i.e. Linking it to a meaning).

B) Noticing a gap between the second language i+1 form and the interlanguage rule wich the learner currently controls.

C) The reappearance of the i+1 form with minimal frequency.

Long’s interaction hypothesis

Long conducted a study of 16 Native speaker – Native speaker and 16 Native speaker – Non Native speaker pairs, carrying out the same set of face to face oral tasks.

He showed that there was a little linguistic difference between both talks as shown on measure of grammatical complexity.

The Native speaker – Non Native speaker were much more likely to make use of conversational tactics such as repetitions, confirmation checks, comprehension checks or clarification request.

As in child directed speech, native speakers apparently resort to these tactics in order to solve communications problems when talking with less fluent non native speaker, and not with any conscious motive to teach grammar.

However, such collaborative efforts should be very useful for language learning.

Tracking pairs of native and non-native speakers in various combinations , undertaking a variety of semi-controlled conversational tasks. They have also demonstrated that negotiation of meaning occurs between non native speaker.

Output in second language acquisition.

Swain proposes three further functions for learner output:

1. The ‘noticing/triggering’ function, or what might be referred to as the consciousness-raising role.
2. The hypothesis-testing function.
3. The metalinguistic function, or what might be referred to as its ‘reflective role.’

Swain’s Output Hypothesis, in 1985, argued ‘learners need the opportunity for meaningful use of their linguistic resources to achieve full grammatical competence, and that production may encourage learners to move from semantic (top-down) to syntactic (bottom-up) processing, forcing learners to pay attention to the means of expression’

- Reflective role of output

- Metalinguistic talk

R. Ellis (1999) and de la Fuente (2002)‘the contribution of learner output to second language vocabulary acquisition’

The aim of the studies is to ‘push’ students to produce second language output.

Nobuyoshi and Ellis (1993) output in the development of English past tense.

Learner: last week a man painting, painting ‘beware of the dog’ 

Teacher: sorry?

Learner: last week a man painted, painted, painted on the wall ‘beware of the dog’

Izumi and Bigelow (2000)… Explored the potential of pushed output to promote English second language students’ learning of the counterfactual conditional in English...(e.g. If Ann had travelled to Spain in 1992, she would have seen the Olympics).   

Experimental group: in an easy writing task and a text reconstruction task.

Control groups: the same textual inputs, but did other activities based on them (answered comprehension questions).

Corrective Feedback

Error correction has always been a very controversial topic, and perhaps a thorny issue as there is very little agreement as to how to correct somebody who has made an error and whether this correction will be effective or not.

Error correction can easily be described on a continuum ranging from the idea that it can be harmful and ineffective to being very essential and beneficial for some grammatical structures.

According to recent studies, it has been proved that error correction is effective, necessary and essential but the obstacle which prevents error correction from being totally effective lies in teachers' inconsistency and unsystematic ways of dealing with errors.

Corrective feedback has been widely defined as:

".. .The teacher's response to a student error"

Positive feedback 

Positive feedback plays a role in language learning and it refers to those elements and type of evidence given to learners which tell them what is possible in the TL, as opposed to negative feedback which is related to the type of information given to learners that tell them what is not possible in the TL, being the former more descriptive; whereas the latter is more prescriptive as it tells the learner what s/he is not allowed to say because the target language structure does not allow it.

Within the positive feedback we can find several types of correction when it comes to oral mistakes, as follow:

1. Drawing a time line on the board. This shows students the relationship between the use of time and tense.

2. Finger correction. This shows students where they have made a mistake.

3. Gestures and/or facial expressions are useful when we do not want to interrupt students too much, but still want to show them that they have made a slip.

4. Ignoring mistakes. In fluency activities we often ignore all the mistakes while the activity is in progress, as the important thing is communication and not accuracy. This is vitally important, especially with weak or shy students, otherwise they will not want to participate in class anymore, because they will be afraid of making mistakes.

Negative feedback

Tells students what they are not allowed to say in the TL.

This reaction to error making can be implicit or explicit on the part of the language instructor:

The way the language teacher corrects the mistake can be very explicit by telling the student that the sentence s/he has produced is wrong because of this and that reason.

But it can also be an implicit way of correcting the mistake by repeating the ill-formed utterance, by using clarification requests, such as Pardon? Sorry? Or recasts (reproductions).

Examples of Negative Feedback

Explicit correction:

Student: She go to the supermarket yesterday.

Teacher: Explains the rules.

Implicit corection (using clarification requests):

Student: She go to the supermarket yesterday.

Teacher: Pardon? Sorry? 

Implicit corection (using recast):

Student: Why does the aliens attacked earth?

Teacher: Right. Why did the aliens attack earth?

WORKSHOP:

1. How exactly does acquisition take place?

Acquisition takes place through exposure. Krashen also proposes that comprehensible input helps acquisition to take place.

2.  Which conversational tactics are used in a Native Speaker – Non Native speaker talks?

The Native Speaker-Non Native Speaker was much more likely to make use conversational tactics such as repetitions, confirmation checks, comprehension checks or clarification request.

3. Why is output important  in  second language acquisition?

Swain proposes three further functions for learner output: 

1.  The ‘noticing/triggering’ function, or what might be referred to as the consciousness-raising role. 

 2. The hypothesis-testing function. 

 3. The metalinguistic function, or what might be referred to as its ‘reflective role.’

4. Why is the reflective role of output important? 

The reflective role of output is important because the speaker realizes about the mistakes and corrects himself. 

Match the teacher’s behavior with the proper correction technique:

A: Ignore the mistake.

B: Use finger correction.

C: Draw a time line on the board.

1.       ___A___         You are working with a class of ten-year-old who are doing a fluency activity. One of the learners is talking to the class about her pet. She says: ‘My rabbit eat lettuce.’ You let her continue talking.

2.       ___C___          You are doing a controlled practice activity. One of the learners says: ‘I have been working last week.’ You show her a diagram.

3.       ___B___          You are focusing on spoken language and the use of contractions. A learner says: ‘I’m going swimming tomorrow.’ You want to show him where the mistake is. You use your hand.