Observation Of Second Language Acquisition

Simplification

Researchers in the field of Second Language Learning agree (SLA) on the idea that L2 learners need to be exposed to input of the target language. In addition, for the language acquisition to occur successfully, the comprehension of the input needs take place(Chaudron, 1985). Therefore, for the researchers it is both empirically and theoretically interesting to find out that how input makes comprehensible to learners with limited proficiency.

The accepted fact among researchers is that receiving data is necessary to learn a language. And the data is any kind of language through any medium like reading and listening that the learning person is exposed to(Gass & Mackey, 2006). In the acquisition process of the first language, children

According to Krashen (1982), acquisition of language takes place when a person understands input which holds structures that are a little beyond her or his present competence level. That is, if a person's competence is at level i, the input which this person requires to receive and understand ought to contain i+1. This implies that if a person's competence, for example, is at stage 3, she or he should not receive an input that contains i+5, that is, structures that belonging to stage 5 or beyond it. Krashen (1982), maintains that optimal input for acquisition of language holds the following

It must be in sufficient quantity.

Of the four above-mentioned characteristics, the first one is the most relevant to the central concern of the present work, so it will be addressed below.

Comprehensibility is the most important characteristic of input. As Krashen (1982: 63) put it, “It amounts to the claim that when the acquirer does not understand the message, there will be no acquisition.” This statement implies that incomprehensible input may not be helpful. Krashen believes that the failure of educational radio and TV programs in teaching foreign languages is due to the fact that the input provided by these programs is nothing to learners but noise.

My own children watched programs such as Ville Allegre faithfully for years, and acquired about as much as I did: They could count from one to ten in Spanish and recognize a few words such as casa and mesa! The comprehensibility requirement predicts that TV would, in general, be somewhat more successful than radio as a language teacher, but that even TV would be inadequate in beginning stages. (p. 63) Krashen offers two solutions to how input can be comprehensible to language learners: first the learner use context and second input is simplified by the