Applying the Monitor Model Theory on online language teaching and learning

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many education institutions, from primary to tertiary education shifting from physical classroom to online teaching and learning. Higher learning institutions around the world have been exploring the best practices of conducting online teaching and learning to ensure the lesson contents are delivered as effectively as physical classrooms. This chapter explores how second language acquisition (SLA) can best be taught and learned online, by considering Krashen’s (1988) Monitor Model Theory. The Monitor Model Theory is famous as one of the underlying theories in second language learning, however, due to the shift towards online learning, its application in teaching and learning is best reassessed. This chapter will explore the historical overview of the Monitor Model Theory, the critical aspects of the theory, review the current findings on the theory and discuss its application in online language teaching and learning, based on the authors’ personal observation as language instructors at University Malaysia Kelantan, a public university in Malaysia. It is found that the Monitor Model Theory contributes to effective teaching of second language through its hypotheses such as the Learning and Acquisition Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, the Monitor Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis and the Affective Filter Hypothesis. This chapter will be implicated in motivating language teachers to always tune their online language class to adhere to the principles of the Monitor Model Theory, to ensure effective language teaching and learning.