How are languages learned? theories on the process of foreign language acquisition

This work discusses theories on teaching, learning and acquiring foreign languages. The input hypothesis has drawn attention to its role and importance in language acquisition. On the other hand, however, empirical research has emphasized the role that output and interaction play in acquiring and improving language skills. In most communicative acts, there are factors that jeopardise the process of communication, such as lack of lexical knowledge and speech too fast for the listener to understand, causing different comprehension problems. These occur between native speakers and non-native speakers, inside and outside the classroom. Negotiation of meaning can be only defined within an interactive process as the mutual collaboration between speakers and listeners in order to clarify a language misunderstanding using different linguistic strategies such as, for example, word repetition, simplified structures and clarification questions. From one point of view, negotiation of meaning is a communicative exchange and a step towards achieving communication goals. Learners and tutors are involved in communication to solve a problem whose clarification allows conversation to be carried on. From the other point of view, negotiation of meaning is an effective way of expanding the knowledge of learners, because some of the explanations can be internalised and added to their target language repertoire. Learning can be effective only if interaction is included in the overall language aquisition process.