Interaction

hypothesis
What is Interaction Hypothesis (Michael
Long, 1980)
The interaction hypothesis (IH) is a theory of SLA which states that the development of
language proficiency is promoted by face-to-face interaction and communication.

The idea existed in the 1980s, but is usually credited to Michael Long for his 1996 paper
The Role of the Linguistic Environment in Second Language Acquisition.

There are two forms of the IH, the “strong” form and the “weak” form. The “strong”
form is the position that the interaction itself contributes to language development.

The “weak” form is the position that interaction is simply the way that learners find
learning opportunities, whether or not they make productive use of them.
Importance of Negotiated Interaction
1. Long,(1966) “..it is proposed that environmental contributions to acquisition are mediated by
selective attention and the learners’ developing L2 processing capacity, and that these
resources are brought together most usefully, although not exclusively, during negotiation for
meaning, Negative feedback obtained during negotiation work or elsewhere may be facilitative
of L2 development, at least for vocabulary, morphology, and language specific syntax, and
essential for learning certain specifiable L1-L2 contrasts (p. 414)
2. Long (1996) also indicated that negotiation for meaning, especially negotiation work that
triggers interactional adjustment by the native speakers or more competent interlocutors,
facilitates acquisition as it connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective
attention, and output in productive ways.
3. Interpreting what Long (1996) wrote, Gass and Mackey (2007) stated that through interaction
learners’ selective attention is directed to problematic features of knowledge of production. They
further explained that learners may first recognize what they say differs from what a native speaker
does and learners may notice that they cannot express what they wish to express. In addition,
interaction, as Gass and Mackey put it, may lead learners to pay attention to something new such as
a new word or grammar structure, so the development of the second language is promoted.
Importance of interaction as a source of
learning
1) Determine crucial information about speakers’ utterances

Eg, how standard their phrasing of a sentence was, or whether their

understanding of vocabulary matches up with actual use, in context.

John plays football every evening.

John football plays every evening.

2) Facilitate communication

Teachers can gather individual students, both second language

learners of a language and native speakers of the same language to
facilitate communication between them and this would give the
learner a greater incentive to learn the language too in order to be
able to communicate well enough with the native speaker. This also
allows the teacher to give feedback to the student.

At the same time, while learning a new language, it also promotes a

stronger cultural understanding for the learner.
Communication strategies
● A communication strategy is defined as an individual's attempt to find a way
to fill the gap between their communication effort and immediate available
linguistic resources (Maleki, 2007).
● Although there are other definitions of communication strategies as well, the
basic idea remains the same. For example, Faerch and Kasper (1983a) define
CS as "potentially conscious plans" which are used by an individual to solve a
problem in order to reach a specific communication goal.
● It is believed that communication strategies play an important role in the
development of strategic competence (e. g. Faucette, 2001); therefore, one
can define communication strategies within strategic competence framework.
Component of Communication Strategies

● Audience - targeted audience

● Messages - content delivered
● Channels - the way or method used to convey messages
● Speakers - the person who delivers the messages
● Time - put out messages at the right moment / the right timing
Limitation of the 3 components of communication strategies

Audiences
Implications of Social Status on Communication
The status and
background of the People often have difficulty navigating status differences when
audiences must be taken trying to inform or persuade others. To many, social status is an
into account. Position in indicator of credibility and legitimacy, and this affects how
the organization’s seriously others take what one communicates. Key elements that
hierarchy, background, are involved in an audience’s evaluation include title, reputation,
education, reputation, and and the extent to which people can identify with the
power all contribute to communicator’s motives and objectives. Status differences can
those perceptions of create a bias against those with the perceived lower status.
prestige.
Limitation of the 3 components of communication strategies
Messages

Language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to a communication.

Even when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a
message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s).
For example, a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon and
abbreviations will not be understood by a receiver who is not familiar with the
terminology used.
Regional colloquialisms and expressions may be misinterpreted or even
considered offensive.
Limitation of the 3 components of communication strategies

Channel
Noise as a Barrier to
In communications, a channel is the
means of passing information from Communication
a sender to a recipient. Determining
the most appropriate channel, or The efficacy of
medium, is critical to the communication is
effectiveness of communication.
Channels include oral means such impacted by how much
as telephone calls and noise there is in the
presentations, and written modes
communication channel.
such as reports, memos, and email.
Implications of Interaction Hypothesis in Teaching
“If teachers try to provide opportunities for oral discussion in their classes,
encourage learners to initiate topics and put some responsibility on the part of
their learners, the class would be enjoyable, creative and initiative. For those
students who are either reserved or reluctant to participate in the classroom,
the teacher can directly ask them to speak rather than wait for their
responses.”

(Muho and Kurani, n.d)

Implications of Interaction Hypothesis in Teaching
“Ellis (1994) argued that “the interaction provides learners with opportunities
to encounter input or to practice the target language. It also creates within the
learners a ‘state of receptivity’, defined as “an active openness, a willingness
to encounter the language and the culture” (Ellis, 1994, pp. 573-574). When
the students asked the teacher questions, interaction between the teacher
and learners transpired and the resulting teacher talk can attract the learner’s
attention and may be more facilitative of acquisition of the target form.”

(Wang, 2010)
Implications of Interaction Hypothesis in Teaching
“Through interaction, students can increase their language store as they listen
to or read authentic linguistic material, or even the output of their fellow
students in discussions, skits, joint problem-solving tasks, or dialogue journals
(4-5). ”

(Zhao, 2013)
Implications of Interaction Hypothesis in Teaching
Interaction Hypothesis in Teaching via Social Media
Social media such as Facebook, in this case, are used by teachers to encourage interaction and
discussion between students in the classroom, as well as with other native and non-native
speakers of the language they are learning.

Social media as a medium for second language acquisition, where the individual may not be
learning the language formally in a classroom setting, but through these interactions with
native speakers, they pick up incidental vocabularies and eventually, the language.

While the language used may not always be structurally correct and more conversational
(informal), it is through more and more interactions, where the individual observes how the
language is used by native speakers and through corrections, they acquire more of the
language.