Reconceptualizing Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis for lifelong and skills-oriented language learning

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 4, 211 - 219, 26.12.2025

Mohammed Bouknify , Meryem Mrani

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18052906

Abstract

This conceptual paper revisits Krashen’s acquisition–learning distinction and comprehensible input hypothesis within a lifelong, skills-oriented framework of language education. While Krashen’s model has strongly influenced classroom-based second language acquisition (SLA), its relevance to continuous language development beyond formal instruction remains underexamined. Drawing on research in SLA, lifelong learning, and digital education, the paper reconceptualizes acquisition as an enduring, implicit capacity enabling flexible language use across contexts, and learning as explicit scaffolding that supports accuracy and metacognitive awareness. Comprehensible input is reframed as a key driver of sustained language growth in multimodal, professional, and digitally mediated environments, facilitating the transfer of linguistic and cognitive skills across domains. The paper proposes a recursive model of lifelong language development—exposure, acquisition, transfer, and ongoing development—and discusses its implications for SLA theory, pedagogy, and language education policy. This reconceptualization extends Krashen’s framework to align with contemporary priorities in skills-based and lifelong learning.

Keywords

Acquisition–learning , Distinction digital literacy , Krashen comprehensible input , Lifelong learning , Second language acquisition , Skills-based education , Transferable skills

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