Assignment - SLA

ASSIGNMENT:

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Students’ names:

Ferney Alberto Castro Castillo,

Oscar Jose Siri de Unamuno

Date:

February 22nd 2018

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN INPUT AND

OUTPUT IN SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION.

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INDEX

Introduction 3

Reflections on input. 3

Reflections on output 4

Personal view 6

Conclusions 7

Bibliography 8

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Introduction.

Have you ever listened the expression “they are like water and oil”, although it is believed
that this reflection is a simple philosophical or ideological conception, the effect those
kind of elements have is stronger than people ever realize. Even though it is true they
have different ingredients which work independent, mixing them it is possible to create a
new one. What we pretend with this analogy is to present the main argument of this
document that is both Input and output have specific roles in the second language
acquisition. Each one by individual can be seen is very important in the correct
development of a second language, that is why the present paper gives a series of
arguments in a conversation way, individually but not divorced with the aim to reach
another language, all of this in the light of theory and the interpretations of the authors of
this writing.

Reflections on input.
To begin with, it is evident the importance of input in terms of acquisition of a second
language has, but what is input? It is define as the language information or knowledge
the learner is exposed to and has access to. Ellis ( 1985: 127) describes it as `` the
language that is addressed to the L2 learner either by a native speaker or by another L2
learner’’, in other words the input includes a cycle of data represented in different tools
and forms which are available for a learner in order to build an expertise in reference to
skills ( listening, reading, vocabulary) to have an effective performance in the learning
process, those kind of elements are provided either by a teacher, native speakers or by
teaching resources such as ( books, Cd, videos ).

Additionally, it is commonly acknowledged that for second language acquisition to take

place there must be two prerequisites: L2 input available to the learners and a set of
internal mechanism to account for how L2 data are processed (Ellis, 1985). All of it in the
light of the three different perspectives: Behaviorist, mentalist and interactionist. while
the behaviorists point to the stimuli learners are exposed to and the reinforcement can
get, the mentalist reiterate those factors internal to the trainers and the interactionist
acknowledge the importance the two, input and the internal language processing, since
the theory people incline to see it, it is crucial to say without input it is not possible to
produce ( output) as a matter of fact the previous views highlight the importance of input,

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however this information should be modified or adapted in order to get an effective

learning.

Furthermore it is assertive to remind the Corder’s distinction between input and intake
He defines input as what is available to the learner, whereas intake refers to what is
actually internalized by the learner (Corder, 1967). It means that the effective learning
depends on the real intake that was produced by different ways of input during the
second language acquisition, in this point from the experience as teachers it is possible
to say learners internalized information when they are really interested in, as a way of
illustration here is presented the following case: There are two different groups, on one
hand the first is a called level one, they have classes Tuesdays and Thursdays, six hours
per week, on the other hand, the second one is called module one, they have classes
once a week, with the same six hours per week, both have the same input ( Teacher,
topics, book, exams, platform, listening resources etc).

However at the end the result is different… Learners from level one acquired a higher
level of proficiency than the module one. What could have happened? The answer is
simple: even the two got the same input, they acquired different intake, because the latter
wanted to learn, while the other group needed to pass with the minimal grade.

In this connection it is not possible to ignore the Krashen’s contribution in reference to

the second language acquisition. He suggests that the right level of input is attained
automatically when interlocutors succeed in making themselves understood in
communication (Krashen, 1985:2). Bearing in mind the whole previous arguments there
are not doubts learners require input in the process of a second language acquisition,
since it is considered a fundamental step, nevertheless input cannot be considered the
only stride. Without doubts there is another instance that is called output, is here when
learners put in evidence that they acquired an effective intake.
Reflections on output.
When learners come across difficult situations to get their messages across, they tend
to make a more considerable effort to achieve this goal appropriately. Students,
therefore, need to be pushed or stretched in their output. In other words, students have
to make themselves understood by either modifying their utterances or using forms that
they had not used previously (Swain, 1993). This output theory states that students can

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express ideas, opinions and general conversation in L2 when urged by the situation and
by educators in terms of evaluation.

It is a fact that if a learner wants to communicate something in a meaningful and

unequivocal way, this would force him/her to develop a higher syntactic processing which
can only be done by language production (Birkner, 2016), consisting in writing and
speaking L2 in increasingly detailed level.

Many second language academies have appeared in recent years that promote output
as the best form of L2 acquisition, they rely in the human capacity of adaptation to new
circumstances and common sense. Advancement in this fashion is measured through
mostly oral transmission of concepts and intention of meaning. While their rate of
success to multi-intelligence students is debatable, the development of solely output
instruction seems to have evolved to a full program of L2 studies with input schooling
represented in exercises done outside the class environment.
The real height of SLA accomplishment is to express what is in the learner’s mind, to this
extent, output instruction is paramount.

Reflections on using both in class.

In modern times (more than ever before) we multicultural and multi intelligence classes
where what some acquire and use in L2 is totally different from one student to another
(Ogbu and Herbert 1998). Output or input cannot be considered as the only way to
measure levels of acquisition in L2 since students will express themselves according to
their particular situation. The same goes to input on the point that achieve competence
in L2 varies among learners according to interests.
An eclectic point of view on the matter would say that one could not have one without
the other. Developing this instance would have educators trying to motivate pupils to use
L2 for any situation while registering how the learners collect information of L2.

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Personal view.
The best way to apply input/output theory to L2 instruction is creating an environment
where students feel it is acceptable to learn by listening and reading comprehension in
addition to receive information in by speaking or written assignments.

A course has a life span, like a living being. First the introduction of the course where the
rules and the first integration exercises appear. Students differ their responses to the
course management by the teacher influenced by the majority of the class, their situation
or any other social peculiarity. It is here when they decide if they are going to be
integrated or not in the course (most pupils are not aware they act this way), therefore
their output is limited for some and input is tedious for others. During the next days
educators should integrate different intelligences in common exercises, maybe read
some interesting article and start a debate, a popular movie review, fashion or music
critic commentaries, etc. The topics should include opportunities for new language in
order to use it. For the middle days, all students ought to feel they are part of the class,
follow the guidelines and receive instruction normally, here input learners are forced (by
themselves) to participate and gain knowledge by talking as well as output students are
motivated (again, by their own initiative) to grasp L2 by listening or reading.

There are student who hate expositions, there are students that hate reading
assignments and some unavoidable feeling of some learner’s that hate both exercises
and all similar activities. Scholarly apathy to produce results in unaccustomed
input/output tasks is the real problem educators face daily. A teacher is like an artist, who
pursues harmony in his work so the final work looks aesthetic. An artist wouldn’t use a
chainsaw as an element to describe life under the sea, but he can make an analogy of
the two elements with an image of a sawfish. At the same time, a teacher can transform
expositions to debates in order for everyone to use L2, maybe using the board as a chat
screen so all could write their opinion and draw funny faces or emojis to make thing
amenable (checking writing in the process) or reconstruct reading assignments into
reading clubs where students could motivate reading among themselves.

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Conclusions.

Teachers must be aware about the importance of both, input and output in second
language acquisition since the two are fundamental steps in the learning process, taking
into account it is fundamental to build a structure of knowledge with the well called input,
but it is necessary to reflect the data acquired in the role of output.

Once the mentioned themes are acknowledged, teachers can include a dialogue
between input and output in their classes, by choosing excellent tools in order to provide
a better input in class, ( list of vocabulary, readings according to the levels, listening
comprehension exercises) with specific purposes, because doing it, learners can reach
a significant learning ( intake), besides when students have good basis of information it
is possible to get effective performances, in other words learners are able to
communicate and produce better information (output). In this point teachers should
provide them effective tools too, for instance (role plays, debates, presentations, essays,
reports, journals etc).

There is no final word in the discussion of input/output being the best for SLA, however
educators must know the approach necessary for any given class, subject and even
individual disciple. In the future there is going to be new debates, techniques, theories,
and thesis about input/output use in teaching, which would benefit all teachers with new
ways to implement effective classes to multicultural and multi intelligence groups.

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Bibliography

Corder, S. P. (1967). The Significance of Learners’ Errors. International Review of

Applied Linguistics.
Birkner, Victor A. (2016). “Revisiting Input and Output Hypotheses in Second Language
Learning”, Asian Education Studies; 1 (1)
Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. OUP Oxford.
Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press.
Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. New York: Longman.
Ogbu, JU AND Simons, Herbert D. (1998). “Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A
Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for
Education”, Anthropology & Education quartely, 29 (2), pp.155-158
Swain, M. (1993, October). “The Output Hypothesis: Just Speaking and Writing Aren't
Enough.” The Canadian Modern Language Review, 50(1), 158-164.