Input to Output Rakesh M. Bhatt University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Five givens in SLA: #1 SLA involves the creation of an implicit (unconscious) linguistic system Compare: Mujhko ghar jaanaa hai ?maine ghar jaanaa hai *mai ghar jaanaa hai

#2 SLA is Complex Linguistic competence Lexicon/Morphology/Syntax Communicative competence Pragmatics/Discourse Different processes Input processing Change —accommodation, restructuring Output processing

#3 SLA is dynamic but slow Developmental stages Acquisition orders sequential acquisition

#4 Most L2 learners fall short of native like competence Critical Period Hypothesis Ultimate attainment: rare, exception =>Nonnativeness is natural and typical

#5 Skill acquisition is different from the creation of the implicit system Knowledge, yes Articulation, no

Input Language that a learner hears (reads) that has some kind of communicative intent This input must be processed (made comprehensible) for acquisition to take place =>Input => processing=>intake

Input processing: Principles Learners process input for meaning before anything else Process content words Process meaningful grammatical forms Learners process content/propositional message with minimal cost to attentional sources

Principles contd. Utterance initial position is the most salient, followed by final position Learners interpret first noun/noun phrase as the subject of the sentence

Output Language that has communicative purpose Language that learners produce to express some kind of meaning 2 important (related) elements of output Fluency: speed and accuracy Automatization: speaking w/out much conscious effort