Krashens Input Hypothesis and College English Teaching.docVIP

Krashens Input Hypothesis and College English Teaching 　　【Abstract】Krashens Input Hypothesis assumes that learners will acquire language best when they are given the appropriate input, which puts emphasis on the two necessary conditions of the language learner, i.e. comprehensible input and a low affective filter. The theory also has significant enlightenment to the improvement of our college English teaching. 　　【Key words】Krashen input hypothesis English teaching comprehensible input 　　Ⅰ. Introduction 　　Krashens input hypothesis is a very important theory in second language acquisition. It assumes that learners will acquire language best when they are given the appropriate input, known as the comprehensible input. The theory is meaningful to formal instruction and can bring some helpful enlightenment to the improvement of the existing formal English teaching. 　　Ⅱ. Krashen’s input hypothesis 　　The input hypothesis is the core of Krashens theory, better known nowadays as the comprehensible input hypothesis. It claims that L2 acquisition takes place when learners are exposed to comprehensible input, i.e., input whose content is comprehensible to them but whose linguistic forms are slightly in advance of their current level of ability, namely, level i+1. Krashen claims that if the input is at the level of i+1, learners can understand most of the language but are still challenged to make progress. To Krashen, L2 development is a matter of quantitative accumulation: the more comprehensible input one receives, the greater progress one makes in acquisition. 　　However, comprehensible input hypothesis is not the sufficient condition for second language acquisition. Krashen also claims that optimal acquisition will take place in contexts where the “affective filter” is low. The affective filter prevents or blocks input necessary to acquisition. Anxious, tense, angry or bored acquirers have a high affective filter which prevents acquisition. A low affective filter is de