Designing the Activity―based Online English Course―A Perspective from Input and Output Hypothesis.doc

Designing the Activity―based Online English Course―A Perspective from Input and Output Hypothesis 　　【Abstract】This paper analyzes the common problem existing in English online course： The text message， rather than the learning activity， is the focus of the course design； the language input is emphasized， yet the learning activity is ignored. Based on the activity-based theory， Krashens input hypothesis and Swain’s output hypothesis， with the case study， the author elaborates how to make the input-based online activity comprehensible with PI model， and with PPP model， how to make the output-based online activities effective for English acquisition while designing the English online course. 【Key words】online English course design； activity-based； input hypothesis； output-hypothesis； PI model； PPP model Introduction Nowadays， the online English courses are growing in both popularity and offerings. The online English course offers convenience for the learners because it can facilitates long distance exchanges， both synchronous and asynchronous task， and students publishing， etc. However， recent surveys demonstrate that some online English courses are ineffective due to the ignorance of the learning activity and interaction. Another problem occurring in some online English course is that the language input is emphasized， yet the output is neglected. Since the fundamental nature of learning is engagement in activity （Prince， 2004）， the learning activity should be given the priority in designing an online English course. Based on the activity-based theory as well as the input and output theory of second language， this paper aims to explain how to make input-based and output-based activities effective for second language acquisition in designing the online English course. Literature review Activity-based learning Activity-based learning as defined by Prince （2004） is a learning method in which students are engaged in the “learning processes. According t