Input, interaction and output

 Interaction has played an important role in explaining language learning processes

as it underlined the insufficiency of mere exposure to input in developing
communicative competence. Swain (1985), for example, argued that learners need
opportunities to create output as active use of language requires different
psycholinguistic processes than comprehension.

 Interaction hypothesis by Long (1981, 1983, 1996) focused on learners’ exposure as

well as their production of language. Input, output and learners’ cognitive resources
and individual characteristics are taken into consideration in explaining the effects
of interaction on language development. Swain (1985) underlines that while trying
to communicate, learners can encounter the limits of their language; they can
‘notice the gap’ in their language leading them to recognize ‘what they need to
know’.

 Overall, research reveals that interaction facilitates language acquisition

significantly (Gass&Mackey, 2015). Interaction hypothesis forms the basis of
modern language teaching methodologies such as Communicative Language
Teaching and Task-based Language Teaching.
Components of interaction
 Input
 It is the language that learners process. In learning environments, input can be
naturalistic, simplified, elaborated or modified within interaction. Input that is modified
within interaction involves negotiation of meaning. This type of input has been proven
to be more beneficial for learners.
Components of interaction
 Negotiation for meaning
 Negotiation for meaning is a term used to refer to instances where
speakers use certain strategies to resolve their communication
problems such as misunderstanding, inaccurate language use, and
need for more information.

 Negotiation of meaning is seen crucial in language development as it

is thought as a process that pushes language comprehension and
production upward. When speakers do not understand each other,
they can signal this communication breakdown using certain
strategies to remedy the problem. This helps them concentrate on
finding a more efficient way of expressing themselves, and therefore
use more accurate language. This process is thought to facilitate not
only an encounter with more accurate language but the long-term
retention of it as well.
Components of interaction
 Negotiation for meaning strategies
 Confirmation checks are done to check whether the understanding of one
speaker is correct or not. They may take the form of repetition of the
problematic part of the conversation with rising intonation.
▪ I have lost my laptop?
▪ Lost it? You don’t have a laptop now?

 Clarification requests are usually done to elicit more information to

understand the message better, especially when there is something not
understood/known clearly.
▪ I have eaten a pancake.
▪ Pancake? What kind of a cake is it?

 Comprehension checks, on the other hand, are used by the speaker to

check whether the listener has understood the message as intended. It
can take the form of a question or a phrase such as ‘okay?’
▪ I see two skyscrapers and a big shopping mall in the picture. Do you know what is a skyscraper?
Components of interaction
 Output
 Output can be defined as a learner’s production of spoken or written language. In output
production learners are not engaged in comprehension but are processing language in their minds
to put it in actual words. Output can be produced during ’practice’; in responding to an exercise, in
repeating a sentence or describing a picture. This is referred to as ‘output as practice’ and it is not
this type of output that is considered necessary for language learning. When a learner needs to
communicate meaning to someone else in a given context for a given purpose, then we talk about
‘communicatively embedded output’. It is this type of output that is considered to be an integral
part of language learning.

Swain’s (2005) Comprehensible Output Hypothesis:

 Swain claims that output is not merely a reflection of L2 development but is a causal factor for L2
development.
 Production may force the learner to move from semantic processing (processing based on
whatever is understood from the message) to syntactic processing (paying attention to how to say
things). Learners need to be ‘pushed’ to produce syntactically more complex and accurate
language.
 Output creates opportunities for getting feedback, which is crucial for testing whether the
language of the learner is working well (hypothesis testing) and understanding the gaps in one’s
knowledge of L2.
 Producing output aids development of automaticity.