Literature Review on the Output Hypothesis for SLA.doc

Literature Review on the Output Hypothesis for SLA Abstract: There is no doubt that English is quite important in our country. People need to learn English, but their speaking and communication performance is not so satisfactory. Swain’s output hypothesis is a new and a relevant theory based on second language acquisition, mainly focusing on the discussion of the functions of output: noticing, hypothesis-testing, metalinguistic function. It could enhance learners’ speaking ability for real English communication. Key words: output hypothesis, functions of output, second language acquisition 1 Introduction Based on Krashen’s input hypothesis claimed that there was only one necessary and sufficient condition for second language acquisition, and that was the presence of comprehensible input. This theory has a remote influence on the foreign language teaching. Many foreign language educators and researchers began to put the input hypothesis into foreign language teaching. However, many researchers found that when acquiring language only pay attention to the input but ignoring the output, and then the acquisition effect would not well. Therefore, the simple language input is not enough for language acquisition and the language output is also very important. The learners should have the opportunity to use the input language. The senior professor Merril Swain (1985) investigated the French immersion teaching in Canada, and found that the comprehensible input hypothesis played a big part in the process of second language acquisition but was not enough to develop in an all-around way for second language acquisition learners. He thought only language input could not make fluency and accuracy in second language acquisition. If language learners want to have a fluency and accuracy in using second language, they not only should have a lot of input but also should have much more comprehensible output. The comprehensible output hypothesis has an important role in second language a