Teacher-talk, Input and Interaction 湛江师范学院附属中学 詹 凡 524048Abstract: In the light of language acquisition research on interaction, this paper discusses the role of input and interaction in language acquisition. It argues for the effect of teacher-talk in an interactive model incorporating language acquisition. It presents the relationship between teacher-talk and input, transforming input- through intermediate stages of comprehended input, intake, and interaction-into L2 output.Key words: teacher-talk, input, interaction, outputIntroduction In current viewpoint, a good lesson is a lesson in which the class do as much of the talking as possible. It may be considered that teacher-talk is bad because it gets in the way of students oral production. The less the teacher talks, and the more the students talk, the better. Some scholars prompt a “student-centered” mode which usually means some kind of group-work or pair-work in practice, or perhaps some kind of technique through which the teacher elicits comment from the class. I, personally, have grown more and more suspicious of the assumption. I accept that some, perhaps many teachers talk too much, but I also believe that many teachers do not talk enough. I believe it is wrong to judge or assess teacher-talk only by reference to its quantity instead of its quality. Stages of language developmentApperceived input characterizes the awareness of new target language information that is not yet part of the learners language repertoire. Comprehended input goes one step beyond recognition. It may be analyzed and has the potential of being assimilated through the process of intake. Psycholinguistic processing occurs at this stage where new information may be matched against existing stored knowledge. The next stage, integration, involves storage of new information for later use, hypothesis formulation, and confirmation or reformulation of existing hypotheses. The final stage, output, is an “overt manifestation” of the acquisition process. The different stages may be influenced by a number of factors, such as saliency and frequency, prior knowledge, and attention, as well as by affective factors. Comprehended input is different from intake. Input may be comprehended for the purpose of a conversational interaction. Output is the learners overt manifestation of target language knowledge, and may be influenced by factors such as confidence and strength of knowledge representation. According to the innateness hypothesis, children are innately equipped with abstract principles of Universal Grammar (UG) that enable them to internalize a complex grammar within a relatively short period, in spite of a degenerate, disorganized, and insufficient input. Some language acquisition theories argue that children initially hypothesize the narrowest grammar compatible with the input and later expand the grammar to include additional information received. This ensures acquisition primarily through positive evidence since children are argued to be generally insensitive to negative evidence. The learner may benefit from: positive evidence, direct negative evidence, and indirect negative evidence. 1. Input and Language Acquisition The nature of input, and the function of input, may be influenced by the environment in which the language is used. Speech directed at learners is characterized by simplification in all aspects of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, and discourse), and such input, though simplified, is generally grammatical. Ungrammatical input is, however, particularly produced by other low proficient learners, emphasizing on meaning. As the basis of language development, comprehended input acts more effectively than comprehensible input. Input is also presented within the framework of UG. Input could further be influenced by prior language acquisition and by affective factors, among other things. The relationship between the learner and interlocutors (the teacher or other learners) may affect the attention of the learner. Specific aspects of the target language grammar may be comprehended easily or may be difficult to absorb in spite of repeated occurrence in the input. This may be the result of similarities and differences between the target language and the language previously acquired. 2. The Role of Interaction Conversational interaction in language learning/acquisition is considered the basis for the development of target language grammar. Miscommunication does occur sometimes, and negotiation (of form or meaning) is proposed as a key to avoiding miscommunication. In negotiated communication, interlocutors are aware of difficulty in communication and work toward avoiding a breakdown in communication. Successful negotiated communication may be affected by factors including the nature of the task the learner is required to do; differences in status, age, and gender; and the personality trait