Though it is Krashen's view that learners are better off remaining  
silent until they have listened to and read a lot of the second  
language, most other SLA researchers disagree with him on this  
point.  There are published studies showing for example how learning  
occurs when learners try to produce the second language and receive  
corrective feedback on their errors. Dr.  Merrill Swain's research  
shows the limitations in Krashen's view that input is all learners  
need; her research suggests quite the opposite: that learners need to  
produce the second language in interaction with others in order to  
acquire the language.

In fact, Joan's position that different learners learn in different  
ways can find lots of support in the SLA research literature.   We  
also need to remember that not all kinds of second language learners  
have been studied by researchers.  Relevant to our discussion today:  
there has been almost no research on the way learners with limited   
literacy acquire oral skills in a second language.   The one study  
that exists suggests that second language learners who are not  
literate in an alphabetic script, process corrective feedback in oral  
interaction differently than learners who are alphabetically  
literate. So we can ignore claims that research exists about how low  
literate learners acquire second languages -- there is to our  
knowledge only one such study, which is really not enough to base  
sweeping claims on.


On Jan 26, 2009, at 1:59 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:


> I attach a recent letter from Stephen Krashen to a newspaper in  

> Korea. My question is why try to teach beginner learners to speak  

> English, when research suggests they are better off to remain  

> silent until they have listened to, and possible read, a lot of the  

> language.

>

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.lingq.com

>

>

>

> Sent to the Korea Times, Jan 23, 2009

>

> A better path to English

>

> Korea is making a very serious mistake in emphasizing speaking in

> English class ("Speaking to get more weight in English class," Jan

> 21). Research done over the last three decades has shown that we

> acquire language by understanding what we hear and read. The ability

> to produce language is the result of language acquisition, not the

> cause.

>

> Forcing students to speak English will not improve their ability to

> speak English. The best way to improve speaking is therefore to

> increase the amount of comprehensible listening and reading that

> students do, and the easiest and most cost-effective way to make this

> happen is to develop libraries of interesting and comprehensible

> English books and recordings to supplement English class. Setting up

> libraries would be far more efficient than bringing in expensive

> foreign teachers and setting up English camps.

>

> I hope policy-makers will consult the extensive research on second

> language acquisition, some done by Korean scholars, and consider

> easier, better and less costly ways of improving English in Korea.

>

> Stephen Krashen

>

>

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