Stephen Krashen

2018 KOTESOL International Conference

Archive copy.

International Conference 2018
Plenary Session

The Secrets of Hyper-polyglots

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I present the insights of two amazing polyglots, second language acquirers who have had a tremendous amount of experience acquiring different languages in different situations. My sources of information are their writings and my conversations with them. Their books were written before they were aware of current research and theory in second language acquisition: They came to their understandings from their own experiences. Here are my conclusions: (a) The polyglots understand that the driving force behind language acquisition is comprehensible input, and they recognize the limited role of conscious knowledge of grammar and error correction. (b) They reject the popular idea that all you need is to “go to the country” (i.e., “immersion”). (c) They seek high-interest “compelling” input. (d) They warn us about striving for perfectionism, both in terms of producing and understanding language. (e) They urge us to “trust the process.”
[ Session handout available at bottom of this page.]

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Invited Second Session

The Conduit Hypothesis

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The field of language education today is dominated by concerns about the development of Academic Language Proficiency, the mastery of the vocabulary, grammar, and discourse style of language needed for complex and specialized functions.
The usual approach is to teach these components directly. I argue here that this approach is not only incorrect, but presents students with an impossible task, and that there is a far better path: reading.
[ Session handout available at bottom of this page.]

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Biographical Sketch

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Stephen Krashen is Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California. His research interest is language and literacy development. He is the author of The Power of Reading (Libraries Unlimited) and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame. He also holds a black belt in Taekwondo and was the 1977 incline bench press champion of Venice Beach, California.

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