This document discusses Stephen Krashen's Comprehensible Input Theory. Krashen believes that language is acquired through understanding messages that are a bit beyond one's current level. The input should be comprehensible, using context clues and visual aids. Teachers can provide materials at students' current level plus new vocabulary and structures. Examples given are intermediate students reading informal articles or watching videos using new words in natural conversations. The theory helps students learn through challenging but understandable input and helps teachers measure student progress.

1. Topics in
Linguistics
COMPREHENSIBLE
INPUT THEORY

2. BACKGROUND
Stephen Krashen
 Stephen Krashen has a
Ph.D. in Linguistics.
 He is the author of more
than 250 articles about:
second language
acquisition, bilingual
education and
neurolinguistics.
 Krashen has six hypothesis
on the field of language
acquisition :

3. KRASHEN´S HYPOTHESIS
1. The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis
2. The Monitor hypothesis
3. The Natural Order hypothesis
4. The Input hypothesis
5. The Affective Filter hypothesis
6. The Reading Hypothesis

4. WHAT IS THIS HYPOTHESIS ABOUT?
According to the British Council website the
Comprehensible input is language input that can be
understood by learners despite them not
understanding all the words and structures in it.

5. Krashen´s theory states that the
comprehensible input should be one step
beyond the learner’s level (more complicated).
It is represented as i + 1
Ii = the current state of the knowledge of the
student
Plus extra elements which makes it a little more
difficult for the learner.

6. Moreover, the learner wouldn´t be
able to produce but will be able
understand.
It involves more than just words,
this includes taking in
consideration the of context,
explanation, the use of visual cues
and meaning negotiation.
The message effectively
understood creates the learning
experience.

7. TARGET LANGUAGE
The theory remarks the
use of target language.
 According to the British
Council website, the
target language is the
language learners are
studying, and also the
individual items of
language that they want
to learn, or the teacher
wants them to learn.

8. PURPOSE
The main objective of a language program is to
allow learners to communicate effectively.
Comprehensible input is important when
learners are not exposed to communicational
interactions outside of the class.
In this way language acquisition process may be
easier.

9. HOW CAN THIS HYPOTHESIS HELP
STUDENTS TO LEARN?
Students will be able to
improve their skills and their
performance in the language
that they are learning, since the
input they receive is
challenging but still easy to
understand without requiring a
lot of conscious effort from the
learner. With this method
students can learn easily new
words or structures, to
communicate naturally.

10. HOW CAN THIS HYPOTHESIS HELP
TEACHERS?
Trough this hypothesis the
teacher will be able to measure
the knowledge their students
have.
Also, the teacher will be able to
provide different kinds of
materials to see the progress in
language acquisition among
the learners.

11. PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
The comprehensible input could be used
in a language class among two language
skills, that are:
 Reading
 Listening

12. The teacher gives the learners ,that are in
an intermediate level, an article with new
vocabulary and written in a informal style;
however, it is still easy to understand.
In this way students will be able to learn
new syntactic structures and new words
with this comprehensible input.

13. The teacher could show the students, that are in
an intermediate level, a video of an interview to a
famous celebrity. In this way students will
understand al least the main idea of a natural
conversation between two people.
With this comprehensible input the learners will
acquire new vocabulary and useful expressions.

14. In a class where the students are a
beginners level, the teacher could
make the learners watch a TV program
for children.
The comprehensible input will be
higher than the learner´s level but it
will still be easy to understand.
The learners will acquire new
vocabulary.

15. SOURCES
Onl ine Sources:
 http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
 http://www.educ.ualber ta.ca/staf f/olenka.bi lash/best%20of%
20bi lash/krashen.html
 http://www. languagebooks.com/authors/krashen.htm
 http://bogglesworldesl.com/glossary/comprehensibleinput.ht
ml
Book:
 Tex t u s e d i n c l a s s ( c h a p te r 5 “ S e c o n d-Language Acquisition
a n d mo d e l s o f i n s t r u ct io n ”)
Beatty, K. (2010). Teaching and Researching computing-assisted
Language Learning.