Input Processing theory

Input Processing (IP) was first proposed by VanPatten in 1993, and there have been several updates to the theory. IP addresses how learners initially perceive and process linguistic data in spoken or written language. The theory addresses the psycholinguistic strategies and mechanisms that learners use to derive intake from input and also asks which psycholinguistic strategies the second language (L2) learner tends to rely upon during input processing. For example, it examines how learners extract form from input and the way they assign grammatical roles to nouns while the primary attention is on meaning.{{Cite journal|last1=Sanz|first1=Cristina|last2=VanPatten|first2=Bill|date=January 1998|title=On Input Processing, Processing Instruction, and the Nature of Replication Tasks: A Response to Salaberry|url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cmlr.54.2.263|journal=Canadian Modern Language Review|language=en|volume=54|issue=2|pages=263–272|doi=10.3138/cmlr.54.2.263|issn=0008-4506|url-access=subscription}}

In 2003, VanPatten proposed that IP consists of two sub-processes: (1) making form-meaning connections; and (2) parsing.{{Cite journal|last=Vanpatten|first=B.|date=2003|title=From input to output : a teacher's guide to second language acquisition|s2cid=60218470|language=en}} Making form-meaning pertains to obtaining the connection between, for example, -s suffix and third person singular from the input. In an earlier version of the theory, making form-meaning was composed of four principles: 1) The primacy of meaning principle; 2) the availability of resources principle; 3) the first noun principle; and 4) the sentence location principle.

By contrast, parsing refers to the mapping of syntactic structures onto the utterance. For example, parsing examines how a subject knows which noun is the subject and which is the object when hearing a sentence. Since the 2003 literature, VanPatten's theory has been updated and modified.

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Processing instruction is a particular type of pedagogical intervention that focuses on form derived from insights on input processing. Unlike other techniques, it is not concerned with the teaching of rules but the processing of morpho‐lexical units in the input. Processing instruction consists of referential and affective activities that manipulate input in particular ways to push learners away from less than optimal processing strategies. To date, there have been dozens of studies examining a variety of factors and issues, all pointing to robust findings of the positive effects of processing instruction.

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VanPatten's modified theory is explained in the form of two principles, each with multiple sub-principles.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The first principle is the Primacy Principle of Meaning.{{cite web |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-52281|title=The first principle is the primacy of learning |date=29 August 2008 }}| This principle maintains that a learner processes input for meaning before they process input for form. This principle has six sub-principles which are summarized as follows:{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

• 1a - The Primacy of Content Words principle explains that learners process content words in the input before they process other linguistic features.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 1b - The Lexical Preference principle describes that learners will depend on lexical items to extract meaning as opposed to grammatical form.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 1c - The Preference for Non-Redundancy principle maintains that learners tend to process non-redundant meaningful grammatical forms before they process redundant meaningful forms.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 1d - The Meaning-Before-Non-Meaning principle describes that learners are more likely to process meaningful grammatical forms before non-meaningful forms regardless of redundancy.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 1e - The Availability of Resources principle explains that for learners to process either redundant meaningful grammatical forms or non-meaningful forms, the processing of the meaning of the sentence must not drain available processing resources.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• Principle 1f - The Sentence Location principle is the idea that learners tend to process items in sentence-initial position before those in medial or final position.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The second principle is the First Noun Principle.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} This principle describes that learners tend to process the first noun or pronoun they encounter in a sentence as the subject or agent.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} This principle has three sub-principles which are summarized as follows:{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

• 2a - The Lexical Semantics principle explains that, in order to interpret sentences, learners may depend on lexical semantics instead of word order.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 2b - The Event Probabilities principle describes that learners may depend on event probabilities to interpret sentences instead of word order.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
• 2c - The Contextual Constraint principle is the idea that learners may depend less on the First Noun Principle if the previous context constrains the possible interpretation of a clause or sentence.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

In earlier versions of the Input Processing theory, several researchers disagreed with VanPatten's claims. These opponents do not accept the ‘acquisition-by-comprehension’ claim as various processes may determine comprehension and production. Salaberry states that within the Input Processing theory there are misunderstandings of how to distinguish input and intake, meaning it is difficult to understand the difference between the knowledge the environment provides and the amount of knowledge it provides.{{Cite web|last=Acquiring Second Language|date=2012|title=Difference between 'Intake' and 'Input' in L2 (Second language) learning|url=https://acquiringl2.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/ difference-between-intake-and-input-in-second-language-learning/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}} Some researchers claim that VanPatten's model ignores output.

VanPatten's model does not exclude the role of output, but communicates a different status by comparing the process of language development.

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Category:Language acquisition