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As we move further into the 21st century, we are using more and more technology everyday in the field of education. However, as we study how technology affects education it is difficult to gage how it is being used in the field as a whole, unless we study individual subjects and observe what is happening. In this paper we are going to look at the education of foreign languages, and see how information systems, such as computers and the internet, are being used in secondary language acquisition and education. In order to effectively show how technology is being used in foreign languages we are going to analyze how technology use correlates with the five main hypotheses the within Stephen Krashen’s Secondary Acquisition Theory. These five hypotheses are: the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the input hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis.
In order to effectively discuss how technology is being used in application to secondary language acquisition, we must first discuss what kinds of information systems are being used to learn. A major technology that is being used is the internet. According to Roman Espejo (2009) “Just six years ago, surveys showed that merely 60 percent of American school-aged children used the Internet. Yet as of November 2006, a PEW Internet & American Life survey showed a dramatic increase with 93 percent of teenagers online regularly and more than nine in 10 Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 using the Internet.” Here we see the clear impact that technology has on American teenagers, and explains a natural transition of technology into school. Continuing on he states, “A 2002-03 National for Education Statistics report on distance learning found that an estimate 8,200 public schools had students enrolled in technology-based distance education courses.” This same study shows that over 40% of public high schools are using these distance education courses. As almost a decade has passed, we use the internet more than we ever have before, and it is a major part of most adolescent’s childhood and education. Another major technology that we have available and use are our phone’s and computers. These information systems affect education and secondary language acquisition as major communication systems and word processing devices.
The first hypothesis of secondary language acquisition is called “the acquisition-learning distinction”. In this hypothesis we see that adults learn through both an “acquisition system”, subconscious learning of a language, and “learning system”, the formal and conscious knowledge of a language (Krashen, 2009). In order to thoroughly explore this hypothesis, I am going to take each distinction one at a time.
The acquisition system focuses on how people need actually communicate. Considering that the purpose of language is for people to communicate, this is a very important concept that other main hypotheses rely on. Technology interacts with the acquisition system by providing the learner with the ability to interact with and learn from native speakers that fluently speak the target language. They also allow different students to talk with one another and learn their target languages as they do other work together. Carol Chapelle (2007) wrote the following on the acquisition of language in students when completing a logic task together in their target language, “In a number of studies such as Blake’s, researchers have found negotiation of meaning in the tasks that learners complete using Internet communication tools (ICTs). The results suggest that similar positive findings can be found in such tasks as those found in communication tasks that take place through face-to-face conversation.” Here we see that technology is being effectively used to learn languages, like we have in traditional classrooms, by allowing students to use context to fill in the gaps of their knowledge.
The Learning System is focused on the conscious approach to rules and vocabulary for the target foreign language. For example, grammar and syntax. This happens especially near the beginning of language learning, because you are getting the initial linguistical knowledge that you need to start naturally learning and using the language through acquisition.
The second main hypothesis is the Natural Order Hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a natural order. This order is, progressive verb tenses, plural, copula (variations of the word verb “to be”), irregular past tenses, regular past, III Singular, then possessive tenses. It also suggests that there are four stages that learners experience when they are learning a language. The first is the Preproduction Stage, where they don’t know any words. The second is the Early Production Stage, where they can give one-word answers. The third stage is the Speech Emergence Stage. In this stage learners can start to use the language at an intermediate level where learner can start to use sentences to communicate; however, these sentences may have many errors. The fourth and final stage is the Intermediate Stage where learners are still intermediate in linguistical language use, but they can use more complex and compounded sentences and make less grammatical mistakes.
The third main hypothesis is the Monitor Hypothesis. The Monitor Hypothesis explains the relationship between the acquisition and learning system. This hypothesis is learning about the learner being about to consider what they know and correct their mistakes, which leads to more fluent and accurate communication. This process requires both time to consider what they have heard, spoken, or written, as well as the necessary grammatical knowledge they need in order to edit or monitor themselves. The role of the monitor should be a minor role, because it focuses on being technically correct over actually communication.
The fourth hypothesis is the Input Hypothesis. This explains how the learner acquires a second language. This hypothesis is only concerned with the acquisition learning system mentioned in the first paragraph. According to this hypothesis learners improves when they receive second language input that is one stage above what they already know. This is similar to the zone of proximity. Often this hypothesis is represented with the equation I+1. Technology affects this hypothesis by allowing a classroom of students, who are all at different levels, to have the chance to be given the input that they need in accordance to what they know at a given movement.
The fifth and final hypothesis is the Affective Filter hypothesis. This hypothesis applies not only applies to secondary language acquisition but all education. The hypothesis states that affective variables, such as motivation or anxiety, affect a students’ ability to learn. “The traditional approach to e-learning has been to employ the use of Virtual Learning Environment… tends to be structured around courses, timetables, and testing. That is an approach that is too often driven by the needs of the institution rather than the individual learner. In contrast, e-learning 2.0 takes a ‘small pieces, loosely joined’ approach that combines the use of discreate but complimentary tools and web services— such as blogs, wikis, and other social software—to support the creation of ad-hoc learning communities” (Espejo, 2009). Here we see technology being available to students in way that tutors to the needs of individual students. This affects the Affective Filter hypothesis because it removes the technical barriers to writing and publishing, and encourages students to write on their own thoughts.
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