input in second language teaching2

8/9/2019 Input in Second Language Teaching2

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The Role of Input in Second Language Learning: Important Types and Amount of

Input According to Behaviourist and Mentalist Theories and the Implications of Those

Theories in the Classroom

1 Introduction

For years, the input in second language learning has been an interesting topic for

numerous linguists such as Krashen (1983), VanPatten (199), !ong (199), "ass (199#), and

!arsen$Freeman (%&&&)' "ass (199#, 1) een states, the concept of input is the single most

important concept of second language ac*uisition'+ herefore, this essay -ill aim at

discussing the role of input in second language learning' .esides that, this essay -ill also

discuss -hat types and amount of input regarded as important according to particular theories

of second language learning as -ell as the implications of those theories in the classroom'

/o-eer, this essay -ill limit the discussion of theories to behaiourist and mentalist theories

as, in my opinion0 they are t-o of the mostly discussed theories in the field of second

language learning'

Follo-ing is the organiation of this essay' First, 2 -ill describe the definition of input

and its role in second language learning' hen, 2 -ill discuss the types and amount of input

regarded as important according to behaiourist and mentalist theories as -ell as the

implications of those theories in the classroom'

! The "efinition and Role of Input in Second Language Learning and Teaching

he definition and role of input in second language learning -ill be described in this

unit' 2nput is -ritten or spoen language that the learners ac*uire from the enironment'

Furthermore Vanpatten (%&&3, %4) points out that input has communicative intentor a

message that the learners should comprehend' 5nce the learners understand the meaning

behind the input, they -ill store the information in their mind and use it for output (language

that learners produce)'

/ence, the learners should comprehend the input in order to produce the output in the

target language' he latter point is elaborated by Krashen (1983, 3%$34) in his 2nput

/ypothesis' 2n order to ac*uire language, learners should be e6posed to input that slightly

aboe their comprehension, formulated by Krashen as i 7 1' he learners comprehend the

message in slightly more complicated input through conte6t and e6tra$linguistic information'ccording to Krashen, the ac*uisition of second language is *uite similar to the childrens


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first language ac*uisition' :hildren ac*uire their first language from caretaers (mother,

father, and others)' s being understood is the goal of caretaer speech, caretaers -ill not

mention something incomprehensible to children' 2f they do, caretaers -ill proide children

-ith e6tra$linguistic support or conte6t that is familiar to children' s the linguistic

competence of children deelops, input gien by caretaers -ill be more comple6' 2n second

language learning and teaching, the roles of caretaers are taen by teachers, natie speaers,

or non$natie speaers -ith better linguistic competence than learners' he foreigner tal

(modifications made by natie speaers -hen taling to non$natie speaers) and teacher tal

tae place of the caretaer speech' he foreigner and teacher tal supply input for the

language ac*uisition of learners -hich claimed by Krashen as the best language lesson'+

he learners should not necessarily turn the language input they heard or read into

output at the same moment they get it' he input may be stored in the learners minds and can

be used -hen they are ready' 2t is a phase -hich described as ;ilent Period to Krashen (1983,

34$3)' 2n the ;ilent Period phase, the learners deelop their linguistic competence by either

actiely listening or reading input in the target language' espite its ey role, input, relating to my e6perience as a language teacher, needs to

be supplemented -ith interaction and motiation' he learners should interact more in the

target language to ac*uire more input from their surrounding enironment' 2n order to

perform those actiities, the learners should motiate themseles' 2n the second language

classroom, teachers should proide input as -ell as motiation and suitable condition for the

learners to interact in the target language' hus, input -ill hae more impact on the learners

language ac*uisition' herefore, the role of input in second language learning is important but

it cant function -ell -ithout the presence of interaction and the learners motiation'

# The types and Amount of Input According to Behaviourist and Mentalist Theories

lthough most linguists agree -ith the importance of input in second language

learning and teaching, they hae relatiely different ie-s to-ard types and amount of input


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regarded as suitable for language learners' he aim of this unit is to describe types and

amount of input according to behaiourist and mentalist theories'

#1 The types and Amount of Input According to Behaviourist Theory

.ehaiourist theory is a psychological theory founded by ?'. =atson that focuses on

the obsered aspects of human' his particular theory assumes that

#11 The Implications of Behaviourist Theory in the Classroom

#! The types and Amount of Input According to Mentalist Theory

#!1 The Implications of Mentalist Theory in the Classroom

(@elasin behaiourist theory)

.ecome the basis of their language ac*uisition (@elasin pentingnya input, atau biin sub unit

baru atau tulis ttg Vanpatten hal %8) lthough most linguists agree that input is important for

learners, their ie-s related to the role and types as -ell as ho- to e6pose input to language

learners in the classroom are moderately contrastie' (piirin sambungannya)his unit -ill

discuss the role of input in second language learning and teaching according to behaiourist

and mentalist theories as -ell as the implications of those theories in the classroom'

Vanpatten tida melihat negatie eidence and correctie feedbac as input' (input

processing) "ass et al' setu@u dengan neg'feedbac or incomprehensible input

$hat is the neg and pos of each theory% Analyse

Type

Amount of input according to different theories

2n his 2nteraction /ypothesis, !ong (199) proposed that conersational interaction promotes

!% deelopment because interaction connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly

selectie attention, and output in pro$ ductie -ays+ (pp' A41BA4%)'

However, the existence of developmental sequences does not necessarily rule

out a role for frequency. A number of researchers have argued that, when

learners are not at the correct developmental level to make immediate use of

input, it may be stored and made available at a later time for processing and use(Gass, !!"# $ackey % &hilp, !!'. )f frequency is argued to play a role in such


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a process, further speci*cation of a frequency+based account would be helpful.

or example, can patterns be derived from the input, stored in long+ term

memory, and activated when learners are ready to make (and strengthen the

connections- )f so, what governs the activation of these patterns-

input in second language teaching2

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