INPUT, INTERACTION, AND SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Mackey
1. The article tests Long’s Interaction Hypothesis and is based on assumptions associated with Input and Interaction approaches (e.g., input should be both comprehensible and challenging, both input and output are essential for SLA).
2. The article addresses property theory. It tests if Long’s Interaction Hypothesis is true by conducting a controlled experiment to determine if conversations can facilitate SLA. Unsurprisingly, yes, they can.
3. It was very interesting that Mackey tested both task-based conversational partners and learners with scripted conversations. I remember reading those in high school Spanish. The idea is that students cannot yet from their own sentences; it’s like one step above Grammar-Translation, which is of course terrible. I wish this study had had more participants, but it I certainly important and interesting empirical evidence that meaningful interaction is important. Actually, I’ve already read this article at some point in my past; at Murray State my professors were all about the Communicative Approach, so of course they loved “negotiating meaning.”