Masaryk University in Brno 
                              Faculty of Arts 
                     Department of English and American Studies 
                Testing Krashen's Input Hypothesis: 
                A Case Study in a Male Czech Adult 
                         Acquiring English 
                           Kateřina Řepová 
             Supervisor: PhDr. Debora Zemenová, M.A. 2004 
            Author's statement 
              I state that this piece of work is my own and does not contain any 
            unacknowledged work from any other sources. 
                                           Kateřina Řepová 
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              Acknowledgements 
                I would like to thank my supervisor, PhDr. Debora Zemenová, M.A., for her 
             helpful suggestions and feedback provided on draft versions of the dissertation. 
                My special thanks go to R, the subject of the study, for taking part in my 
             research. 
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                                          Contents 
                    INTRODUCTION 4 
                    KRASHEN'S THEORY OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 6 
                        The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis 6 
                        The Natural Order Hypothesis 8 
                        The Monitor Hypothesis 10 
                        The Input Hypothesis 13 
                        The Affective Filter Hypothesis 16 
                       Reading as Comprehensible Input: The Reading Hypothesis 18 
                       Krashen's evidence for the Input Hypothesis 20 
                        Criticism of Krashen's SLA theory 24 
                    METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES 34 
                       Aim of the study 34 
                       Measures for establishing progress 34 
                       Methodology 35 
                       Methods 37 
                    SUBJECT 42 
                       General information 42 
                       Experience with English prior to the study 43 
                    SITUATION UNDER RESEARCH 46 
                       Level of English at the beginning of the study 46 
                       Input and use ofEnglish during the period ofthe study 47 
                    RESULTS 50 
                       Interviews and self-reports 50 
                       Observations 52 
                       Documentation 53 
                           Performance on the PET test 54 
                       Use of the Monitor 58 
                       Level of the Affective Filter 59 
                    CONCLUSION 60 
                    WORKS CITED 62 
                    APPENDIX 66 
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