Stephen Krashen's Theory of

Second Language Acquisition

Stephen Krashen is an expert in the field of linguistics and in the article
he describes five main hypotheses of this theory for a second language
acquisition which are the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis, the Monitor
hypothesis, the Natural Order hypothesis, the Input hypothesis and the
Affective Filter hypothesis.
The acquisition-learning is the better hypotheses in Krashen's theory; it
has two systems of a second language which are 'the acquired system'
and 'the learned system'. The acquired system is just like when children
acquire their first language that they are not thinking about the form
they are going to talk, the just have a natural communication. The
learned system is the other one, this is more like a formal learning where
you learn all the grammar rules and you have a better knowledge about
the language.
The monitor hypothesis talks about the relation between acquisition and
learning, it explains that the acquisition system is like first the
pronunciation and the learning is like more monitor because monitor
acts in a planning, when a person wants to learn a second language
he/she concentrate on the form or the correct way because he/she
already learned the grammar and he/she know the rules.
The natural order hypothesis is based on the results of investigations
which suggested that there is a natural order for the acquisition of
grammatical structures. What Krashen pointed out is that this hypothesis
is not a program to follow and he rejects the grammatical sequencing
when a person is going to learn a new language.
The input hypothesis is the one that Krashen tries to explain how a
learner could acquire a second language. This hypothesis is concerned
with acquisition and not learning and it improves the learner along the
natural order when a person receives a second language.

Iliana Lizeth Garcia Quintero

August 24th, 2015

And the last one is the affective filter hypothesis, this is Krashens view
and it mentions that for an acquisition of a second language you need
different variables such as high motivation, self-confidence, a good selfimage, and a low level of anxiety. In fact, a learner has to have positive
affect in order to acquire a second language.
All the hypotheses are similar but in the way they have differences, in
my point of view the main difference is that they are focused in different
parts of an acquisition of a second language for example acquisitionlearning talks about what is acquisition and what is learning, the monitor
shows the relation about acquisition and learning, the natural order
defined that a learner does not have to follow sequences, the input says
that learners could improve with acquisition and not learning and the
final one talks about the learners positive attitude.
This article can be used for learners who really want to acquire a second
language because it could be easier for them to know about different
strategies to acquire the language.

Iliana Lizeth Garcia Quintero

August 24th, 2015