2. It gives the learner the chance ‘…to test out hypotheses about the target
language…’
3. It helps the learner to move from ‘…a purely semantic analysis of the
language to a syntactic analysis of it’.
The affective filter hypothesis
As was stated above, Krashen considers comprehensible input as a necessary
but not sufficient condition for acquisition. This is because, according to Krashen
(1987: 30-33), affective factors such as motivation, self-confidence or anxiety can
function as an adjustable filter which freely allows, impedes, or blocks ‘input’ in
becoming ‘intake’ (Corder 1967 defines intake as that portion of the input which the
learner actually attends to and, therefore, uses for acquisition). Thus, in order for the
learner not to ‘fossilize’, i.e. not to stop developing linguistically, the teacher has to
provide them with comprehensible input in a low filter environment. Especially at the
initial steps of language learning, Krashen (1987: 27) suggests that teachers should
allow children a ‘silent period’ during which they can internalize language without
being forced to speak before they are ready, an approach which is incorporated in the
‘Natural Approach’ (see Krashen and Terrell 1983).
1.2.3 Interactionist theories
Interactionists believe that people learn language when they talk to and with
each other. Both Pica (1994) and Long (1983b) argue that much Second Language
Acquisition (SLA) takes place through conversational interaction, usually referred to
as ‘negotiation of meaning’(Pica et al 1993), which occurs whenever there is a
communication breakdown. As Lightbown and Spada (1999: 122) stress, negotiation
for meaning is accomplished through a variety of modifications which naturally arise
in interaction. For example, learners will ask each other or their teacher for
clarification, confirmation, repetition, and other kinds of information as they attempt
to negotiate meaning.
A stronger perspective on the role of interaction in SLA is the one expressed
by Lantolf and Appel (1996) who, influenced by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of
human mental processing, claim that second language learners advance to higher
levels of linguistic knowledge when they collaborate and interact with more
knowledgeable users of the target language. The enormous role which Vygotsky
assigns to instruction for the children’s learning and development upgrades the role of
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