Comprehensible Input
Comprehensible input is part of the Giving It stage of B-SLIM. Essentially, comprehensible input is what the teacher gives the students; in order for the input to be considered comprehensible, the student needs to understand what is being said and/or given. By making input comprehensible or understandable to students teachers use a maximum amount of the target language without feeling they have to revert to the mother tongue. In this section we will look more closely at comprehensible input, how teachers give comprehensible input, and some examples of clear and precise input.
What is “comprehensible input”?
In the early stages of B-SLIM, “Giving It” was originally referred to as “Input”; the goal was to make it comprehensible. Unfortunately, this term (comprehensible input) is the same one that Stephen Krashen uses in his i + 1 (input + 1) hypothesis and this i + 1 concept has been called comprehensible input. Comprehensible input therefore has multiple meanings and can lead to some confusion.
The goal in the Giving It stage is that the comprehensible input comes to be understood as the teacher’s responsibility to make what is being taught as comprehensible as possible to the students. In the i + 1, the teacher should always be raising the bar. So to make something comprehensible doesn’t mean it has to be said in the mother tongue or that it has to be accompanied by a complex definition. What we know about all learners, those at all levels and in all subject areas, is that they learn more from examples than from definitions. If a teacher gives a definition, for example, the students can write it down and even memorize it, but it will have very little meaning for them. If the students are given examples, on the other hand, they can start to make connections and begin to figure things out, or start asking questions.
How can teachers give appropriate comprehensible input?
In the context of B-SLIM, comprehensible input means that it is the teacher’s responsibility to use as much of the target language as possible, as well as a whole host of other tools to help the students understand. These tools include, but are not limited to: facial expressions, gestures, intonation, visual cues, drawing something, using a graphic organizer that builds on itself so that students can actually see a process over time, using multiple examples that have been thought through and that build on the vocabulary the students already know in the target language, creating a context through which they would be able to grasp whatever that vocabulary might be, using cognates, speaking more slowly, using a repetition of terminology on a regular basis so that there are key times when you are not overloading students with too much new information. Let’s explain this last point a little bit further. If, for example, a teacher is giving students new vocabulary in the target language, the instructions should be as simple and clearly selected as possible. This means, therefore, that there is no need to say, “Class, would you mind, please, putting down your pencils and listening.” The simple and clear equivalent of this is “Listen.” The teacher has to get used to using simple, clear cues until the students can handle more, such as saying, “Listen” and accompanying it with a bell or other sound maker. There is a cue that serves the same purpose as if the teacher was teaching mother tongue and used a longer, more complex phrase.
What are some examples of simple forms of comprehensible input?
Using routine classroom language is an example of how teachers can incorporate comprehensible input into their classroom. Classroom language is the routine language that is used on a regular basis in classroom like giving instructions of praise, for example “Take out your books” or “Please sit down”.
Other examples of classroom language and comprehensible input include:
How do you say…
Can I go to the washroom?
Find a partner.
Raise your hand.
Form a line at the door.
What is comprehensible input?
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/learning-disabilities/bilingual-education/10260.html
Comprehensible Input and Output
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/comprehensible_input_output_70140.php