Krashen's theory on Second Language Acquisition

1. SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
SONIA ALBERTAZZI
MILAGRO AZOFEIFA
GABRIELA SERRANO
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Milagro Azofeifa y Gabriela Serrano for
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2. •About 25 years ago, a psychologist named
Stephen Krashen transformed language
teaching. He had been developing his
ideas over a number of years, but several
books he published in the 1980s received
widespread acceptance.
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3. •Much has been made of Krashen's theory of
second language acquisition, which consists of
five main hypotheses:
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•The acquisition learning hypothesis
• the monitor hypothesis,
• the natural order hypothesis,
• the input hypothesis, and
•the affective filter hypothesis.
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4. •According to Krashen’s acquisition-learning
hypothesis, there are two independent ways
to develop our linguistic skills: acquisition and
learning.
•This theory is at the core of modern language
acquisition theory, and is perhaps the most
fundamental of Krashen's theories on second
acquisition.
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5. •Acquisition
Subconscious process where individual is not aware.
One is unaware of the process as it is happening and
when the new knowledge is acquired, the acquirer
generally does not realize that he or she possesses
any new knowledge.
•According to Krashen, both adults and children can
subconsciously acquire language, and either written
or oral language can be acquired. This process is
similar to the process that children undergo when
learning their native language.
•Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the
target language, during which the acquirer is focused
on meaning rather than form.
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6. •Learning
Learning a language, on the other hand, is a
conscious process, much like what one experiences
in school. New knowledge or language forms are
represented consciously in the learner's mind,
frequently in the form of language "rules" and
"grammar" and the process often involves error
correction. Language learning involves formal
instruction, and according to Krashen, is less
effective than acquisition.
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8. Learning
acquisition
conscious
subconscious
knowing about
pick up
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9. •The Acquisition – Learning Distinction
Acquisition
Sub-conscious
by environment
(Ex: games,
Movies, radio)
Picking up words
Learning
Conscious by
instructors
Correct errors
Knowing about
Grammar rules
SLA
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10. •The Monitor hypothesis explains
the relationship between acquisition
and learning. The monitoring function
is the practical result of the learned
grammar. According to Krashen, for
the Monitor to be successfully used,
three conditions must be met:
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11. •The acquirer/learner must know the rule:
This is a very difficult condition to meet
because it means that the speaker must
have had explicit instruction.
•The acquirer must be focused on
correctness: He or she must be thinking
about form, and it is difficult to focus on
meaning and form at the same time.
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12. •Having time to use the monitor: The
speaker is then focused on form rather
than meaning, resulting in the production
and exchange of less information.
•Due to these difficulties, Krashen
recommends using the monitor at times
when it does not interfere with
communication, such as while writing.
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13. THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS
•The acquisition of grammatical structures
follows a “natural order” which is
predictable.
•English is perhaps the most studied
language as far as natural order
hypothesis is concerned, and of all
structures of English, morphology is the
most studied.
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14. •FIRST MORPHEMES ACQUIRED:
•The progressive marker –ing
•Plural marker /s/
•ACQUIRED LATER
•Third person singular marker
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15. •The order of acquisition for second
language is not the same as the order of
acquisition for first language, but these
are some similarities.
•Krashen believes that the implication of
the natural order hypothesis is not that
our syllabi should be based on the order
found in the studies.
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16. •He rejects grammatical sequencing in all
cases where the goal is language
acquisition.
•The only instance in which the teaching of
grammar can result in language
acquisition (and proficiency) is when the
students are interested in the subject and
the target language is used as a medium
of instruction.
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17. •The Affective Filter hypothesis,
embodies Krashen's view that a number of
'affective variables' play a facilitative, but
non-causal, role in second language
acquisition.
•These variables include: motivation, self-
confidence and anxiety.
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18. •Low motivation, low self-esteem, and
debilitating anxiety can combine to 'raise'
the affective filter and form a 'mental
block' that prevents comprehensible input
from being used for acquisition. In other
words, when the filter is 'up' it impedes
language acquisition.
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19. •Krashen claims that learners with high
motivation, self-confidence, a good self-
image, and a low level of anxiety are
better equipped for success in second
language acquisition.
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20. THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
•We acquire language only when we
understand language that contains
structure that is “a little beyond” where
we are now.
•This is possible because we use more than
our linguistic competence to help us
understand.
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21. •The input hypothesis says that we acquire
by “going for meaning” first, and as a
result, we acquire structure.
•It also states that speaking fluency cannot
be taught directly. It emerges over time,
on its own.
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22. •The best way to teach speaking, according
to this view, is simply to provide
comprehensible input.
•Early speech will come when the acquirer
feels “ready:” It is typically not
grammatically accurate.
•Accuracy develops over time as the
acquirer hears and understands more
input.
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23. BIBLIOGRAPHY
•Krashen, Stephen D. Principles and Practice
in Second Language Acquisition. Prentice-Hall
International, 1987.
•Krashen, Stephen D. Second Language
Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
Prentice-Hall International, 1988.
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Milagro Azofeifa y Gabriela Serrano for
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24. THANKS
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