Abstract
Krashen’s Monitor Model Theory is grounded on his view of language acquisition. Apart from being a seminal work in the field of Second Language Acquisition, the theory has addressed various issues relating first language acquisition. Krashen expounds his theory with five central hypotheses that respectively deal with what distinguishes language acquisition from language learning, what natural order prevails in the acquisition of certain grammatical structures, how learning monitors and/or edits acquisition, how humans can come to acquire language, and how affective factors obstruct or optimize the acquisition. All these hypothetical assertions hint at Krashen’s penetrating insight into the complex phenomenon of language acquisition. However, despite having been recognized by both linguists and psychologists as the most comprehensive theory of language acquisition till date, Krashen’s theory has continued to draw numerous critical responses from multiple angles (Mitchell, Myles & Marsden, 2012). That conscious learning is not conducive to language competence, that comprehensible input amply accounts for language acquisition, that there is a generally predictable and invariant order of acquisition, and that focus on language forms restricts acquisition are some, among a lot of, loosely held assertions that put Krashen’s theory in question (Tickoo, 2009), pose a potent challenge to the substantiality of the theory, and call for a rigorous scrutiny to redress the deficits thereof. The present study seeks to critically explore the properties of the theory, and thereby shed some comprehensive light on the perks and perils of the theory.
Author Information
Md. Tahamid Ar Rabbi, East West University, Bangladesh
Paper Information
Conference: ECLL2015
Stream: First language acquisition
This paper is part of the ECLL2015 Conference Proceedings (View)
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