Stephen Krashen and Language Acquisition

Summary

Steve Kaufmann explains Stephen Krashen’s theory of language acquisition and argues that learners benefit from understanding how acquisition works. He recommends looking up Krashen’s books and free materials on his website.

Main Ideas

Acquisition and Learning Are Different

• Acquisition is a largely subconscious process that develops through exposure to language.
• Learning is the deliberate study of rules, such as in a classroom.
• As Kaufmann presents Krashen’s view, subconscious acquisition is the primary way language ability develops; explicit grammar study contributes less.

Language Develops in a Natural Order

• Learners tend to acquire certain language features in a relatively predictable order.
• This order does not necessarily match how easy a feature seems or how teachers present it.
• For example, English learners may acquire the “-ing” progressive form before the apparently simple third-person singular “-s.”
• Teaching a feature does not necessarily make learners acquire it immediately; acquisition follows its own order.

The Monitor Has Limited Usefulness

• Conscious knowledge of grammar can act as a “monitor,” helping learners check or edit what they say.
• Recalling and applying rules while speaking can be difficult and may interrupt or inhibit fluent communication.
• Grammar knowledge may help in limited circumstances, but it is not a reliable way to develop spontaneous language ability.

Comprehensible Input Drives Acquisition

• According to Krashen’s input hypothesis, learners acquire language by understanding messages.
• The key is meaningful, understandable input that includes some new material just beyond what the learner already knows—often described as “i + 1.”
• Familiar context helps learners infer new words and structures.
• Kaufmann summarizes Krashen’s position as saying that speaking alone does not produce acquisition; sufficient input builds language ability.

Learners Need a Comprehensible Starting Point

• Beginners may initially understand very little, so they need ways to make language accessible.
• Krashen’s discussion of Total Physical Response (TPR) describes a classroom approach in which teachers simplify language and use gestures, pictures, and other aids.
• These supports help learners understand an initial amount of language, which they can build on as they encounter more input.

Kaufmann’s Application to Independent Learning

• Kaufmann suggests that tools such as LingQ mini-stories can provide a similar kind of supported start outside a classroom.
• Repeated vocabulary, lookups, and the ability to reread and relisten can help learners understand enough to begin expanding their knowledge.
• As learners acquire more, they can handle increasingly complex material and new subject areas.
• Kaufmann’s concluding takeaway is that continued exposure to a language can lead to gradual improvement, even when progress is not immediately noticeable.

Speakers and Sources

• Steve Kaufmann — Presenter and narrator; explains Krashen’s ideas and relates them to his own language-learning approach.
• Stephen Krashen — Language-acquisition researcher whose hypotheses and materials are discussed and paraphrased; he is not heard speaking in the subtitles.