What is Output Hypothesis

Current thinking in SLA methodology favours knowledge construction rather than simple instructivist learning as an appropriate paradigm for language learning. Within this context, project-based and taskoriented scenarios have often been regarded as the real forte of digital media and technology-enhanced tools. Such approaches to learning are also rooted in the output hypothesis, which argue that learners should actively engage themselves in the creation of “comprehensible output” in order to develop linguistically and cognitively. Following the apparent upgrade of the Internet to Web 2.0, expectations are running high as to the innovative potential of this (supposedly) new platform for Technology Enhanced Language Learning. This chapter will discuss the principle of output orientation in language learning and consider some of the tools the “new” Internet has to offer in such an approach. It will also present a few ideas for learning projects and samples of best practice in order to show how the use of digital media can contribute both to the quality and quantity of product.