Input, Output and Second Language Acquistion

Input based instruction is a teaching strategy which exposes learners to language or specific language structures in a contextualized manner, in order to stimulate L2 acquisition. According to Ellis (1999), input based instruction is supported by three major theoretical rationales which drive much of SLA research: Universal Grammar, information processing theories, and skill learning theories. There has been much research examining the overall effectiveness of input based instruction. This includes research on input based instruction versus explicit instruction, unenhanced input versus input enhancement, input enhancement as support for the noticing hypothesis, contrasting input based instruction with input/output based instruction, and in many other specific areas.

Williams (1995) found that the use of enriched texts, a form of input based instruction, was more effective than explicit instruction for acquiring passive tense structures, while explicit instruction was more effective for acquiring participial adjectives. Ellis attributes this to the simplicity of participial adjectives versus the complexity of passive tense forms. He believes that complex structures require cognitive processing skills which one accesses through the implicit learning available through activities like enriched texts.

There have been several studies which research input based instruction versus output based instruction; especially in light of Krashen’s theory which states that rushed output actually damages the mind’s ability to acquire a language at a deeper level. Tuz (1992) and Van Patten (1996) both found that input based instruction was more effective than output based instruction for L2 acquisition.

However, more recent studies reveal contradictory findings. Izuma (2002) found that input and enhanced input were not sufficient for students to acquire grammatical structures. It was necessary for students to engage in output, in a “negotiation of meaning” occurred. This means that learners were forced to work with, or even struggle, with the structure in discourse, in order to acquire the L2 structure. These findings are in complete support of Mackey’s (1999) study which found that the struggle which occurs during the negotiation of meaning is vital to the brain’s ability to acquire L2 structures.

This is a cursory version of the literature review. A more fleshed out version will be on my final proposal. Instead I chose to focus more on the research proposal itself on the rough draft.

Procedures and Hypothesis

The study explores the differences in levels of acquisition between subjects who are exposed to implicit instruction and those exposed to explicit instruction. It is a comparison of two groups of intermediate level students of German, learning the present tense conditional form of the subjunctive mood. The implicit group will receive