Stephen Krashen's

Theory of Second
Language Acquisition

Presentation by: Furagganan, Garcia, Lorenzo

"Language acquisition does not require extensive use

of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require
tedious drill."Stephen Krashen
"Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the
target language - natural communication - in which
speakers are concerned not with the form of their
utterances but with the messages they are conveying
and understanding."Stephen Krashen
"In the real world, conversations with sympathetic
native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer
understand are very helpful. Stephen Krashen

Stephen Krashen (University of

Southern California) is an expert in
the field of linguistics, specializing
in theories of language acquisition
and development. Much of his
recent research has involved the
study of non-English and bilingual
language acquisition. During the
past 20 years, he has publishedwell
over 100 books and articles and has
been invited to deliver over 300
lectures at universities throughout
the United States and Canada.
Krashen's widely known and well
accepted theory of second language
acquisition has had a large impact in all
areas of second language research and
teaching since the 1980s.

Krashen's theory of second language

acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:

the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis,

the Monitor hypothesis,
the Input hypothesis,
the Natural Order hypothesis,
and the Affective Filter hypothesis.

Acquisition
o 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.
o 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.
o Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the
target language, during which the acquirer is
focused on meaning rather than form.

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.

Over-users:
fluency sufferers
Under-users:
accuracy sufferers
Optimal users:
balanced

Monitor
Hypothesis

Acquisition: utterance
Learning: monitor/editor

AcquisitionLearning
Hypothesis

Acquisition of
grammatical structures
follows a natural
order which is
predictable

Acquisition
Subconscious
process
Learning
Formal instruction

Natural Order
Hypothesis

Input Hypothesis
Only acquisition
Comprehensible input:
i+1

Affective Filter
Hypothesis

Facilitative but non-causal role:

Motivation, self-confidence and anxiety

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:

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.

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.

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.

FIRST MORPHEMES ACQUIRED:

The progressive marker ing

Plural marker /s/

ACQUIRED LATER

Third person singular marker

The possessive /s/

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.

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.

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, selfconfidence and anxiety.

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.

Krashen claims that learners with high

motivation, self-confidence, a good selfimage, and a low level of anxiety are better
equipped for success in second language
acquisition.

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.

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.

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.

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.