El papel del input en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: fundamentos teóricos.

Resumen

Input and interaction are considered as two of the main elements that play an important role in learning a foreign language. It is assumed that the more input the learner receives (and the more interactions s/he is involved in) the better options s/he has to acquire and learn the language.

However, the positive effect of input and interaction need to be carefully analyzed as they both require the presence of certain characteristics to guarantee that learning takes place. These characteristics are naturally present in situations where the L2 is used in everyday communication but this is not quite so in foreign contexts where most contacts with the L2 occur in the classroom. Accordingly, the airn of this paper is to study the theoretical fundations of the relationship between input, interaction and learning and to try to suggest a first approach to the situation in academic contexts.