Input Processing and Processing Instruction


Book Description

Input Processing is a theoretical framework on which the pedagogical paradigm called Processing Instruction is predicated. In this book, new data on the acquisition of Italian and Modern Standard Arabic are presented and analyzed within this framework. Each study in the book explores how input processing strategies affect the acquisition of a particular linguistic feature and/or structure in the two languages. The studies use both offline (e.g., sentence and discourse-level tasks) and online tests (e.g., eye-tracking) to measure the effects of this instructional training.




Processing Instruction


Book Description

This new book, Processing Instruction: Theory, Research, and Commentary, edited by Bill VanPatten--a pioneer in processing instruction (PI)--is a refreshing presentation of 10 related and not widely available articles that illustrate the role of processing instruction in second language acquisition. The articles provide both historical and current context, as well as describe the influence of the input processing model on PI. The contents include empirical papers presenting new data that demonstrate both the theoretical and pedagogical threads of research. Aside from simply establishing where PI stands in the field of instructed SLA, the book addresses issues, such as processing instruction versus other types of instruction; the impact of processing instruction on various linguistic structures; the role of explicit information in instructional intervention; and the long-term effects of processing instruction. Each section of the book is highlighted by commentaries from noted researchers in instructed SLA. An attempt was made to include voices that offer critical perspectives on various issues of PI research. The book achieves an unusually balanced approach to a subject that has stirred debate in the field. Processing Instruction: Theory, Research, and Commentary will serve as an important source of information regarding research methodology and replication in second language acquisition. It will also be useful in graduate courses where students need exposure to research design and is especially useful for illustrating the usefulness of replication in SLA research.




Input Processing and Grammar Instruction in Second Language Acquisition


Book Description

This book provides an alternative to the grammar debate in second language acquisition theory and teaching. Accepting that language acquisition is at least partially input dependent, the author asks how grammatical form is processed in the input by second language learners and is it possible to assist this in ways that help the learner to create richer grammatical intake. He answers these questions and explains why traditional paradigms are not psycholinguistically motivated. Drawing on research from both first and second language acquisition, he outlines a model for input processing in second language acquisition that helps to account for how learners construct grammatical systems. He then uses this model to motivate processing instruction, a type of grammar instruction in which learners are engaged in making form-meaning connections during particular input activities.




Research on Second Language Processing and Processing Instruction


Book Description

Preface and acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Input processing in second language acquisition : The pioneering work of Bill VanPatten / Michael J. Leeser, Gregory D. Keating and Wynne WongPart -- Research on sentence processing -- The processing of case in intermediate L2 Spanish / Jill Jegerski -- The processing of subject shifts in L2 Spanish : an examination of L2 learners' use of inflectional morphology and reliance on overt subject pronouns / Suzanne Johnston -- When more is better : higher L1/L2 similarity, L2 proficiency, and working memory facilitate L2 morphosyntactic processing / Nuria Sagarra -- Research and perspectives on VanPatten's model of input processing -- VanPatten (1990)'s long and winding story and the nature of replication studies / Cristina Sanz and Timothy J. McCormick -- Research on second language processing and processing instruction -- Contextual effects in processing OVS constructions in Spanish : a partial replication of VanPatten and Houston (1998) and Malovrh (2006) / Casilde A. Isabelli -- Multilevel input processing : emerging developments and future challenges / Joe Barcroft -- Research and perspectives on processing instruction -- Trials-to-criterion as a methodological option to measure language processing in processing instruction / Claudia Fernández -- PI and the French causative and passive constructions : examining transfer-of-training effects using eye tracking / Wynne Wong, Kiwako Ito and Laurene Glimois -- Why does processing instruction work? The role of PI within a framework of language and second language development / Michael J. Leeser -- Conclusion -- Online methods in research on input processing and processing instruction / Gregory D. Keating.




Grammar Acquisition and Processing Instruction


Book Description

"Research on Processing Instruction has so far investigated its primary effects. This book presents the results of a series of experimental studies investigating possible secondary and cumulative effects of Processing Instruction on the acquisition of French, Italian and English as a second language. The results of the three experiments have demonstrated that Processing Instruction not only provides learners with the primary benefit of learning to process and produce the morphological form on which they received instruction, but also a secondary benefit in that they transferred that training to processing and producing another morphological form on which they had received no instruction."--BOOK JACKET.




Lexical Input Processing and Vocabulary Learning


Book Description

This book focuses on theory, research, and practice related to lexical input processing (lex-IP), an exciting field exploring how learners allocate their limited processing resources when exposed to words and lexical phrases in the input. Unit 1 specifies parameters of lex-IP research among other levels of input processing as well as key components (form, meaning, mapping) and contexts (incidental/intentional) of vocabulary learning. Unit 2 highlights theoretical advances, such as the type of processing – resource allocation (TOPRA) model, consistent with research on tasks (sentence writing, word copying, word retrieval) that learners may perform during vocabulary learning. Unit 3 highlights patterns in partial word form learning and input-based effects, including the value of increased exposure, drawbacks of presenting vocabulary in semantic sets, and advantages of input enhancement, particularly with regard to increasing talker, speaking-style, and speaking-rate variability in spoken input. The book unifies a range of research pertinent to lex-IP, summarizes theoretical and instructional implications, and proposes intriguing new directions for future research.




Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classrooms


Book Description

Recent SLA research recognizes the necessity of attention to grammar and demonstrates that form-focused instruction is especially effective when it is incorporated into a meaningful communicative context. Designed specifically for second-language teachers, this text identifies and explores the various options for integrating a focus on grammar and a focus on communication in classroom contexts and offers concrete examples of teaching activities for each option. Each chapter includes a description of the option, its theoretical and empirical background, examples of activities illustrating in a non-technical manner how it can be implemented in the classroom, questions for reflection, and a list of useful resources that teachers can consult for further information.




Delivering Processing Instruction in Classrooms and in Virtual Contexts


Book Description

Processing Instruction (PI) is an approach to grammar instruction for second language learning. It derives its name from the fact that the instruction (both the explicit explanation as well as the practices) attempt to influence, alter, and/or improve the way learners process input. PI contrasts with traditional grammar instruction in many ways, principally in its focus on the learner's input rather than their output. This book focuses on a new issue for PI, the role of technology in language learning. The authors compare empirically the differential effects of delivering PI in classrooms with an instructor and students interacting (with each other and with the instructor) with students working individually on computers. This book makes a valuable contribution to the growing body of research on the effects of PI on different languages, as well as different linguistic items: preterite/imperfect aspectual contrast and negative informal commands in Spanish, the subjunctive of doubt and opinion in Italian, and the subjunctive of doubt in French.




Input-based Tasks in Foreign Language Instruction for Young Learners


Book Description

The book examines how task-based language teaching (TBLT) can be carried out with young beginner learners in a foreign language context. It addresses how TBLT can be introduced and implemented in a difficult instructional context where traditional teaching approaches are entrenched. The book reports a study that examined how TBLT can be made to work in such a context. The study compares the effectiveness of TBLT and the traditional “present-practice-produce” (PPP) approach for teaching English to young beginner learners in Japan. The TBLT researched in this study is unique as it employed input-based tasks rather than oral production tasks. The study shows that such tasks constitute an ideal means of inducting beginner learners into listening and processing English. It also shows that such tasks lead naturally to the learners trying to use the L2 in communication. It provides evidence to support the claim that TBLT promotes the kind of naturalistic interaction which is beneficial for the development of both interactional and linguistic competence. The book concludes with suggestions for how to implement TBLT in Japanese school contexts.




Structured Input


Book Description

This new text in the McGraw-Hill Second Language Professional series brings together theory, research, and practice on structured input, an instructional technique that first emerged in the early 1990s in association with processing instruction. The author skillfully makes theoretical concepts and research accessible to the uninitiated reader while offering an abundance of examples of structured input activities in various languages. Researchers and instructors looking for more examples and clarification on structured input activities will welcome this new title.