Krashen

Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, is a highly acclaimed linguist, educational researcher and activist. Krashen is best known for his contributions to the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), bilingual education, and reading.

Krashen is best known for his work in establishing a general theory of second language acquisition, commonly called the Monitor Theory, as the co-founder (with Tracy D. Terrell) of the comprehension-based natural approach to second language learning, and as the inventor of Sheltered Instruction. A central element of Krashen’s approach to second language acquisition is the view that it occurs naturally, just like first language acquisition, under appropriate conditions.

One of Krashen's most important ideas is that in order for a learner to acquire a language, he must be exposed to 'comprehensible input' which is roughly tuned to a level slightly higher than he can himself produce. He distinguishes this from 'learned' language. 'Acquisition' occurs in communicative situations in the 'real world'. 'Acquired' knowledge is readily available to communicate meaning. 'Learning' occurs through formal training (the classroom); it cannot be used to communicate meaning. Instead, it monitors the grammatical use of 'acquired' language knowledge.

Krashen maintained that bilingual education serves to fill in a contextual space against which input may be effectively and efficiently processed by learners.

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