Unit 11 Input and interaction

Unit 11 Input

-- from perspective of interaction (1)

Pre-questions

1. What does input mean?

2. What are the major views of input?

3. What is the use of input in SLA?

4. How does input interact with output?

5. What effects does Motherese have on L2 acquisition?

6. What effects does foreigner talk have on L2 acquisition?

15.1 Definition

In previous units, L2 learner differences in learning a L2 were presented.

All of the differences has to do with input of the L2.

Definition: The target language data in spoken or written form

produced by native speakers of that language or by users of that language

as non-native speakers or by fellow learners of that language, which is

exposed to the learner.

This definition manifests 3 points: (1) ―input‖ is the target language that

is the language learner hears or reads, (2) the target language arrives at

the learner either in spoken form or written form, or both in spoken and

written form, (3) that target language is from native speakers of that

language, or users of that language as non-native speakers such as

teachers of the target language or other fluent users of the target language,

or even peer learners of that target language, and (4) inferrably, the target language exposed to the learner is by means of face-to-face personal

contact, by speakers present as real form of communication such as

lecture, or by media such as TV program, Video viewing, broadcasting.

Input involves two ends of the language data flow, the quality and

quantity of input. The two ends are the learner and the source where the

language data is sent—a person, a medium of any kinds. The quality

concerns correctness and completeness, and quantity concerns how much

and how often the data is sent. The input is seen at first as outside the

learner and may occur in different situations. So far, there are different

views about the iuput: the behaviorist, the nativist, and the interactionist

views.

15.2 Three views on input in language acquisition

It goes without saying that in order for SLA to take place, there must

be (1) some L2 data made available to the learner as input and (2) a set of

internal learner mechanisms to account for how the L2 data are

processed.

On the one hand it is possible to conceive of the learner as 'a

language-producing machine' who automatically and effortlessly learns a

L2, as long as he gets the right input data. On the other hand, the learner

can be seen as 'a grand initiator'; In other words, he has the innate

abilities needed to discover the L2 exposed to him, no matter how little the

L2 data he has. 15.2.1 Behaviorist view

Behaviorist accounts of SLA view the learner as ‗a

language-producing machine'. The linguistic environment is seen as the

crucial determining factor. In this model of learning, input comprises the

language made available to the learner in the form of stimuli and also that

which occurs as feedback. In the case of the former, the learner's

interlocutor models specific forms and patterns which are internalized by

the learner imitating them.

Thus the availability of suitable stimuli is an important determining factor

in SLA. Behaviorist theories emphasize the need to regulate the stimuli

by grading the input into a series of steps, so that each step constitutes the

right level of difficulty for the level that the learner has reached.

Feedback serves two purposes. It indicates when the L2 utterances

produced by the learner are correct and so reinforces them, and it also

indicates when the utterances are ill formed by correcting them. The

regulation of the stimuli and the provision of feedback shape the learning

that takes place and lead to the formation of habits.

15.2.2 Nativist view

Nativist accounts of SLA view the learner as 'a grand initiator'.

Exposure to language cannot account satisfactorily for acquisition.

Input is seen merely as a trigger which activates the internal

mechanisms. Chomsky (1965) argued that the imperfect nature of the mother's speech input in first language acquisition made it unlikely that

any child could successfully internalize the rule system of a language if

he worked on this alone. 'Degenerate' (蜕化) input was inadequate for

acquisition.

As a result of the pre-eminence of nativist views in the 1960s and early

1970s, research focused on the output of L2 learners, in particular the

errors they manifested in speech and writing. This was because it was

believed that the output would reveal the nature of the learning strategies

involved. As Larsen-Freeman (1983a: 88) observes:

... researchers all too often have confined the scope of their studies to