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Previously, we were examining and looking at the most important issues in the INPUT HYPOTHESIS; now, we want to link these two hypotheses because it is important to think of the role of production in English. From our point of view, output is closely related to the process of production. For Swain, constant practice facilitates the learner to be conscious of her/his production. Output makes to move the learner from the semantic processing to the complete grammatical processing for accurate production. According to Merrill Swain, “The output hypothesis claims that the act of producing language (speaking or writing) constitutes under certain circumstances, part of the process of second language learning”1. As it can be noticed, there is a need for implementing and improving the use of these two skills which are different from the Input Hypothesis and that could be grouped together, forming a whole construct necessary for students to be able to convey meaning and communicate their ideas. According to this author there are three specific functions of output; they are as follows: 1. The noticing/triggering function: It refers to the awareness or “noticing” students find when they cannot say or write exactly what they need for conveying meaning. With the use of this function, learners realize there are some linguistics problems they need to manage, so that, it pushes the student to look for the adequate knowledge they require for completing the new discovered gap. “Learners may notice that they cannot say what they want to say in the target language” (Swain 1995) Noticing this “hole” (Doughty and Williams 1998) may be an important step to noticing the gap. 2 2. The hypothesis-testing function: This function suggests learners may use the method of “trial and error” for testing her /his production expecting to receive a feedback. This feedback can be applied in two ways: recasts and elicitations or clarifications requests. Example: 3. The metalinguistic (reflective function): Language is seen as a tool conducive to reflection on the language used by the teacher, their partners and the student himself/herself. (Vigotsky´s sociocultural theory) Stetsenko and Arievitch (1997:161) state: “Psychological processes emerge first in collective behavior in co-operation with other people, and only subsequently become internalized as the individual’s own possessions.” When explaining this theory, it is necessary to highlight the importance of the negotiation of meaning, which is not simply related to understand the meaning of the message the transmitter sends to the receiver despite the problems in its structure, but a clear, precisely, coherently and appropriately message=Pushed output. Pushed output example: This theory has a great importance since thanks to it, we can move from the input data provided to the student from the environment to the capacity of the learner to produce a clear and coherent language. We considered it is important to make our students to produce language through writing exercises or activities and speaking interaction among students. If we are able to store information in our student’s brain, they will have the necessary background for conveying meaning and make their communication activities an efficient practice. Comprehensible input + Comprehensible output = Effective Second language Acquisition. Some important advantages applicable to the classrooms when reflecting upon this hypothesis are the collaboration and interaction necessary for students to feel comfortable and work together. Language in this case will serve as a mediating tool, which allows students to lead with the solving-problem process they encounter in the path of acquiring the second language. It is something of great importance to be conscious of our role of individuals who have a more advanced conscious process in contrast to our students and consequently the ones able to provide correction for students applying new accurate and proper constructions when providing feedback. This feedback is important in our context, especially, because it is one of the few settings in which students have a contact to the target language and they need advices and corrections for improving their production. 1,2 Power Point Presentation: The output hypothesis: Its history and its future. Merril Swain. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Posted by: Jessica B. Liberato

L’unità in MAPPA

If you are a teacher who teaches with comprehensible input (TCI) and accepts the research of language acquisition, I find it helpful to explain the reasons for doing what we do in class to students…

Inside: An overview of CLT (communicative language teaching), its history, and examples of techniques and activities. 'Communicative language teaching' has been a buzzword among language teachers and researchers for a while now, and a popular way of describing language approaches since the 1990s. However, if you spend a little time Googling 'what is the definition

Teachers and learners alike have long struggled with the most appropriate procedures to solve the problem of the best way to learn a second or foreign language. Many theories and relevant applied methodologies have appeared during the last century all claiming to be superior to others in tackling the issue of L2 learning. Among the most fashionable and recent applications of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories has been task-based approach to language teaching and learning. The research-based book was set out to investigate whether task-oriented activities bear any superiority to those of more traditional evident in PPP (Presentation-Practice-Production) model in terms of grammar and writing gain of EFL learners. The book is intended to be of benefit to praticing EFL teachers as well as researchers in SLA.

Educators know there are student factors outside of school, such as home life and childhood experiences, that have a big influence on student success in school. New research has shown that one factor in particular—academic vocabulary—is one of the strongest indicators of how well students will learn subject area content when they come to school. http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/media/siteASCD/common/six_step_flash.html Robert J. Marzano is an American speaker, trainer, and educational researcher. He is noted for transforming educational research and theory on the topics of standards-based assessment, cognition, high-yield teaching strategies, and school leadership--into practical programs and tools for teachers and administrators in K-12 schools. Marzano has identified three areas central to school improvement reforms: fostering and sustaining system-wide teaching strategies; providing effective feedback to students; and building a strong student academic vocabulary. His six steps as outlined in 'Building Academic Vocabulary,' published by ASCD, are the basis for these six posters that support the process. http://shop.ascd.org

Research Design and Methodology in Studies on Second Language Tense and Aspect provides an up-to-date review of past and current methodologies for the study of the L2 acquisition of tense and aspect. More specifically, the book addresses the following issues related to the design of studies for research in tense and aspect: Theoretical frameworks (e.g., Are research questions investigated within one theoretical approach incompatible with other approaches?) Elicitation procedures (Do different types of tasks elicit different types of tense-aspect data?) Coding of data (e.g. How are lexical categories defined and coded?) Data analysis (e.g., What statistical tests are more appropriate to analyze language data?) The volume provides new insights into the study of L2 tense-aspect by bringing together well renowned scholars with experience in the research design of research this area of the field.

Researchers and educators routinely call for longitudinal research on language learning and teaching. The present volume explores the connection between longitudinal study and advanced language capacities, two under-researched areas, and proposes an agenda for future research. Five chapters probe theoretical and methodological reflections about the longitudinal study of advanced L2 capacities, followed by eight chapters that report on empirical longitudinal investigations spanning descriptive, quasi-experimental, qualitative, and quantitative longitudinal methodologies. In addition, the co-editors offer a detailed introduction to the volume and a coda chapter in which they explore what it would take to design systematic research programs for the longitudinal investigation of advanced L2 capacities. The scholars in this volume collectively make the argument that second language acquisition research will be the richer, theoretically and empirically, if a trajectory toward advancedness is part of its conceptualization right from the beginning and, in reverse, that advancedness is a particularly interesting acquisitional level at which to probe contemporary theories associated with the longitudinal study of language development. Acknowledging that advancedness is increasingly important in our multicultural societies and globalized world, the central question explored in the present collection is: How does learning over time evolve toward advanced capacities in a second language?

Researchers and educators routinely call for longitudinal research on language learning and teaching. The present volume explores the connection between longitudinal study and advanced language capacities, two under-researched areas, and proposes an agenda for future research. Five chapters probe theoretical and methodological reflections about the longitudinal study of advanced L2 capacities, followed by eight chapters that report on empirical longitudinal investigations spanning descriptive, quasi-experimental, qualitative, and quantitative longitudinal methodologies. In addition, the co-editors offer a detailed introduction to the volume and a coda chapter in which they explore what it would take to design systematic research programs for the longitudinal investigation of advanced L2 capacities. The scholars in this volume collectively make the argument that second language acquisition research will be the richer, theoretically and empirically, if a trajectory toward advancedness is part of its conceptualization right from the beginning and, in reverse, that advancedness is a particularly interesting acquisitional level at which to probe contemporary theories associated with the longitudinal study of language development. Acknowledging that advancedness is increasingly important in our multicultural societies and globalized world, the central question explored in the present collection is: How does learning over time evolve toward advanced capacities in a second language?

The use of technology for second language learning is ever more present. This book offers a unique four-prong approach (theoretical, methodological, empirical, and pedagogical) to current and prospective uses of technology in L2 learning from a psycholinguistic perspective. It is accessible to teachers, graduate students, and professors of all disciplines interested in technology and L2 learning.

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Pragmatics is a comprehensive critical survey of the field of L2 pragmatics, collecting a number of chapters that highlight the key theories, methods, pedagogies, and research findings throughout its development over the last four decades. Demonstrating the ways in which pragmatics has long served as a lens through which to examine patterns　of　L2 development, the volume is divided into six parts which reflect the field's structure and evolution: - Constructs and units of analysis - Theoretical approaches - Methodological approaches - Pedagogical approaches - Contexts and individual considerations - L2 pragmatics in the global era The handbook has a particular focus on covering not only traditional topics in the field, such as constructs of pragmatic competence (e.g., speech acts, implicature), teaching and assessment, and pragmatics learning in a study abroad program, but also emerging areas of study, including interactional pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, usage-based approaches, corpus linguistics, and psycholinguistic experimentation. Each chapter introduces the topic and follows with a description of its theoretical underpinnings, an overview of existing literature, appraisal of current practice, concluding with a discussion of future directions for research and key readings. The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Pragmatics is an essential resource for those with an interest in second language acquisition, pragmatics, and language teaching.

This is the first book to investigate the field of phraseology from a learner corpus perspective. It includes cutting-edge studies which analyse a wide range of multiword units and extensive learner corpus data to provide the reader with a comprehensive theoretical, methodological and applied perspective onto L2 use in a wide range of situations.

This book honours the contribution of Marjolijn Verspoor to the development and implementation of dynamic usage-based approaches in second language research and pedagogy. With chapters written by renowned experts in the field, the book addresses the dynamics of language, language learning and language teaching from a usage-based perspective.