Mechanism In SLA And Economy Of Linguistic Operation

Based on Krashen's Input Hypothesis and Swain's Output Hypothesis as well as on the reality of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in China, the present study aims to discuss the imbalance between language input and output in Chinese context to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of language and language acquisition as well as find ways to increase the efficiency of EFL education in Chinese context.Since 1960s, linguists and psychologists are more and more interested in the fact that normal children can acquire their mother tongue spontaneously and without difficulty. Meanwhile, because of the need of second language acquisition (SLA) and foreign language teaching and learning, linguists try to put the theory of the first language acquisition to use. Therefore, the study of SLA develops very quickly. First, the research is mainly about the relationship between input and SLA. Krashen's SLA theory is the most influential theory on it. His Monitor Model is a comprehensive theory, consisting of five interrelated central hypotheses: The acquisition-learning hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the input hypothesis and the affective-filter hypothesis. Among them, input hypothesis is the core. He thinks that comprehensible input is the only source of language acquisition while output is a possible source of acquisition. However, over the years, more and more studies indicate that comprehensible input is not sufficient for the second language (L2) learner to attain a high level of L2 proficiency. So since 1980s, researchers have begun to investigate into the functions of output in SLA. Swain proposes the Comprehensible Output Hypothesis that language output produced by L2 learners will help enhance the accuracy and fluency of their language use. She claims that comprehensible output can facilitate the SLA from three aspects, that is, its three functions: (1) hypothesis-testing function; (2) the noticing/ triggering function; (3) the meta-linguistic function. She points out that SLA is...