1.2.1 Definition of Output
Swain put forward the theory of “Output Hypothesis” in relation to second language acquisition. In her work, there appeared some terms synonymous with output such as “Producing language” (Swain,1995:125), “producing the target language”, “language performance”, “using the language” and “speaking or writing” (Swain, 1995:127), and "production or use” (Swain&Lapkin,1995:371). It seems that output in Swain’s term is dynamic; it not only refers to the language produced by learners but also the process of producing the target language. We will adopt Swain’s view of output here.
The definition of output can be found in Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics as part of that of “input”: (in language learning) language which a learner hears or receives and from which he or she can learn. The language a learner produces is by analogy sometimes called “output” (Richards, J.C., Platt, J. &Platt, H., 2000:227). In this case, output simply means the language a learner produces compared with what the learner receives.
1.2.2 An Overview of Comprehensible Output Hypothesis
Based on findings from studies that Swain conducted on immersion students in Canada, she found that although immersion students were provided with a rich source of comprehensible input, their inter-language performance was still off-target, that is, they were clearly identifiable as non-native speakers or writers (Swain, 1984, 1985). She therefore doubted whether comprehensible input on its own is sufficient for second language acquisition.
Output helps us make our knowledge more “automatic” through practice and by providing a domain for error correction, which helps us arrive at a better本文来自辣*文~论^文'网 version of our rule. This approach is also known as “direct teaching” or formal instruction.
The comprehensible output hypothesis maintains that language acquisition occurs when we say something and our conversational partner do not understand, forcing us to notice a gap in our competence. We then try again until we arrive at the correct version of the rule.
Swain’s hypothesis about the role of output in foreign language learning and her notion, output in dialogue, has beneficially enlarged our scope and deepened our understanding about how the process of output production can facilitate learning process. All her ideas about output can be concisely generalized in one sentence: learners’ production of the target language in a specific context can facilitate their learning process, leading to their improvements of the target language.
1.2.3 Functions of Output毕业论文http://www.751com.cn
In applied linguistics (in its narrow sense), much work has been focused on the role of input and comprehension. Although the importance of output had drawn attention from some western researchers, no systematic study of it had been conducted until Swain’s (1985, 1995) research of Canadian immersion program. The situation at home is even more unsatisfactory. So far as this writer knows, there is little study that is concerned with the function of output in China’s foreign language teaching.
Since the function of output to enhance the fluency has now been widely known and accepted, Swain does not include this in her hypothesis. Instead, she proposes the other three functions that output serves in promoting accuracy.
1.2.3.1 The “Noticing/Triggering” Function
The “noticing/triggering” function is also referred to as consciousness-raising function. Swain(1995) argues that language production may trigger learners’ noticing of problems existing in their inter-language, that is, in producing the target language, learners may notice a gap between what they want to say and what they can say, leading them to recognize what they don’t know, or know only partially of producing the target language may prompt second language learners to consciously recognize some of their linguistic problems; it may bring to their attention something they need to discover about their L2 (Swain, 1995:125-126). This may trigger cognitive process which might generate linguistic knowledge that is new for learners, or which consolidate their existing knowledge （Swain & Lapkin,1994）.