Noam Chomsky has said:
“…[Language] is acquired by virtually everyone, effortlessly, rapidly, in a uniform manner, merely by living in a community under minimal conditions of interaction, exposure, and care.”
The message here is ever so simple! People acquire languages by being in community with people who speak the language. Put simply, they hang out in the language and they acquire it without even trying.
This certainly corroborates Krashen’s use of the terms “enjoyable” and “effortless. in his work.
Then why do you suppose that teachers seem so bent on mastering only the skills involved in learning how to do CI? Certainly important, the CI skills and various CI activities aren’t everything.
Other factors that are absolutely necessary to make a good CI class happen:
- Community-building
- Inclusion of all, not just the few 5 or 6 dominant students. (This has racial overtones.)
- Instilling good mental in both teachers health via the community-building and the resultant inclusion.
We can’t just focus on learning the CI skills and activities. In a way, they are even less important than the three factors listed above.