Stephen Krashen
This theory is new to me, as a teacher, so I enjoyed learning about Stephen Krashen.
The main idea of Krashen is that we acquire language only one way, when we understand it.
“We do not acquire language when we speak, when we study it, memorise the list of verbs or when we get corrected. These are all the results of comprehensive input or acquiring language” (Krashen, 2020).
Language acquisition happens unconsciously, in other words, it happens without us knowing.
The brain is awesome at acquiring language, but not very good at learning language. Krashen provides an example of how he learned French in the classroom and it was a torture. While when he wanted to learn French, he learned it through acquisition without any pain.
Second language acquisition does not require extensive use of drills or grammatical teaching. Instead, in the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help you to understand their language are very helpful.
Krashen’s research studied non-English and bilingual language learners and he proposed acquisition hypothesis.
The acquisition learning distinction is fundamental in his theory and widely known.
According to this Hypothesis, there are two independent systems of foreign language performance-
- The acquired system
Is the product of a subconscious process children undergo when they acquire their mother tongue. Meaningful interactions in the language you learn or natural communication are most helpful.
- The learned system
Learning is the product of formal instruction and it is a conscious process with results in conscious knowledge about grammar rules. It is usually teacher and grammar cantered.
As an educator and language learner, I agree with Krashen ideas of the order of acquisition. I used to travel to Italy and learned Italian, which I can speak quite fluently at intermediate level. My vocabulary was growing really fast, especially when I started to watch movies, read light fiction and listen to the songs. I wanted to understand what I read and I translated the words that I struggled with. Like Krashen, I believe in the power of storytelling. I acquired language in context of everyday conversations, by asking questions, participating in excursions, walking, reading etc.
