Write 2 page essay on the topic Reading response: Input, Interaction, and Second Language Development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition.Download file to see previous pages... The interactionist

Write 2 page essay on the topic Reading response: Input, Interaction, and Second Language Development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

The interactionist concept threads together different strands of hypotheses generated around this central idea, such as Krashen’s Input hypothesis and the notion of comprehensibility. This theory however pointedly falls short in analyzing the effect of interaction between the native and the non-speaker on SLA. Others, like Hatch and Long, too, have come forward with their own brands of theory, each claiming in its own way, the central importance of the process of interaction as the primary site of learning. The main point of interest for me in this chapter is thus, as particularly highlighted by Gass and Mackey under the subheading ‘Core issues”, the conjunction and interrelation between the processes of interaction and learning. I found a reference to Alison Mackey’s essay “Input, Interaction and Second Language Development” particularly relevant in this context, where she puts forward an analysis of the possible effects of ‘implicit negative feedback’ on SLA and the Interaction theory. (Mackey, 1999)

A series of theoretical data on the varied dimensions of interactionist approach, input and feedback and SLA is connected to the entire hypothesis vis-à-vis the current technological era. However, while the chapter as whole was crammed with information and theories, I found the representational structure rather opaque.