The Intake HypothesisJennifer Silva

Background

According to Richard Schmidt the

concept intake is crucial to second

language learning theory.

There is no consensus on the

definition of intake.

The linguist Stephen Krashen

apparently considers intake as a

synonymous with comprehensible

input.

Input

Input is operationally defined as

oral/written data of the target language

to which L2 learners are exposed

through various sources.

Background

Rod Ellis says that not all available

input is processed by the learner,

either because some of it is not

understood or because some of it is

not attended to.

What is intake?

That part of the input that is processed

and used in grammar building will be

referred to as intake

Intake factors

Individual factors

Age will have variable

influence on L2

development

Anxiety refers to an emotional state of apprehension, tension,

nervousness, and worry.

Affective factors

Learner’s disposition

One of the reasons for success

among L2 learners is their attitude

towards learning the language in a

particular situation

Tactical factors

Learning strategies are operation and

routines used by the learner to

facilitate the obtaining, storage,

retrieval, and use of information.

Knowledge factors

It encompasses learners

knowledge/ability not only to analyze

their own language but also to make

comparisons between their LI and L2.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors refers to social,

cultural, political, economic, education,

and technological milieus in which L2

learning and teaching take place.

Negotiation factors

L2 learners need to be provided with

opportunities for negotiated interaction in

order to help them develop language

knowledge and ability.

clarification, confirmation, comprehension

checks, requests, etc

Intake processes

Linguistics and cognitive processes

◦ Grammaticalization and language transfer

Cognitive process

Inferencing

Implicit knowledge: refers to information the

learners intuit about the TL

Structuring

◦ making explicit the implicit knowledge

◦ helps learners make from unanalyzed knowledge

(memorized routines) to analyzed knowledge

(propositions)

Restructuring

Examples

Utterances may convey more than

their literal meaning. It's cold in here.

when spoken in certain contexts may

convey the meaning of, Would you

mind closing the window?

Examples

If a native speaker says it will take six weeksA L2 learner might fail to notice the occurrence of the plural morpheme Another L2 might be aware that what was said was six weeks without having any idea why the –s is used.Other L2 learner has noticed the –s attached numerous nouns and he realizes that the –s frequently occurs with other textual indicators of plurality and its probably itself a marker of plurality.

Comprehended input needs further

processing before it moves to intake.

Teachers can use

this information to

know how the

intake factors

influence in the

student.

Learners can use

this information to

improve their way

to learn a

language.

Intake process is important

for:

Sources

Ellis, R. Understanding Second

Language Acquisition. Oxford University

Press. 1986

http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/PDFs/SCHMIDT%

20The%20role%20of%20consciousness

%20in%20second%20language%20lear

ning.pdf

http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent

.cgi?article=1051&context=b_kumaravad

ivelu

http://teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl

/article/viewFile/446/277