Dive Deep
Who is Krashen, and what is CI?
Holding a PhD in linguists, professor Stephen Krashen is an esteemed presenter and educational researcher whose work has contributed greatly to the fields of bilingualism, L2 acquisition and literacy.
Within his five main theories of second language acquisition, his Input Hypothesis remains one of the most influential theories of second language acquisition. Krashen argues that language acquisition is born of “meaningful interaction” in the target language.
"Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding." Stephen Krashen"
He identifies Comprehensible Input as the single most important factor in learning another language. In other words, to effectively acquire a language learners should be flooded with comprehensible input.
So… CI means comprehensible input. Right?
Yes, but, Krashen emphasizes that L2 input must not only be comprehensible, but must also be compelling and comfortable. So, lots of exposure to comprehensible input in the target language is critical, but if that input is not interesting, the learner’s attention will not be engaged. And… we all know that a key element in the learning process is the involvement of an attentive brain.
“Compelling means that the input is so interesting you forget that it is in another language.”
"The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear.”
“To make sure that language acquirers pay attention to the input, it should be interesting. But interest may be not enough for optimal language acquisition. It may be the case that input needs to be not just interesting but compelling.”
CI means compelling comprehensible input in the target language.
Virginia Hildebrandt
Virginia Hildebrandt was born in Dallas, Texas but now lives in Minnesota with her husband, two Arabian horses, two Australian Shepherds and a few chickens. An animal lover, she enjoys agility training with her dogs and distance riding on horseback. But her other ambition is exploring archeological and historical sites. Her interest in the indigenous knowledge, practices and beliefs of native cultures has led her to unique people and places.
Virginia comes from a family of teachers and authors. Her grandmother was a columnist for a rural newspaper in the 1940’s and ’50’s, and also worked as a teacher and administrator in local schools. Her mother has written countless pieces of children’s fiction and continues to write personal histories in her retirement from a long teaching career.
Since 1992 Virginia has been writing and sharing her most outrageous tales of adventure and calamity with her students. She has taught all levels of Spanish, post-secondary and Hispanic Heritage Spanish courses and now enjoys creating readers for the classroom. The people and places that she has come to know while traveling, working and living in Latin America are the backdrop for her novels.