The Noticing Hypothesis

1. Richard Shmidt

2. Main ideas

2.1. Noticing is essential for LA because learners notice the linguistic features of a foreign language and do not learn them;

2.2. Noticing the gap: Learners must make conscious comparisons between their own output and target language input;

2.3. Incidental VS Intentional Learning: According to Schmidt incidental learning (reading for pleasure in a foreign language is certanly possible)

3. Empirical studies

3.1. Think-Aloud research

3.1.1. It provided with a *window* into mental processes, but it can also interfere with the main task -> unclear results

3.2. Eye-tracking Godfroid, Housen & Boers, 2010

3.2.1. What: explore learners’ noticing of new words in the absence of any external intervention

3.2.2. Implications: As the learners become more proficient, they attend less attention to the mismatches between their interlanguage and the target language.

3.2.3. Results: When learners spontaneously shift their attention to linguistic form, they extract potentially useful information from the L2 input

4. Arguments "Against"

4.1. 1) Attention/awareness may be necessary only for some kids + some learning does not even depend on input (Gass, 1997)

4.2. 2) Not possible to prove whether people actually pay attention to smth or not

4.3. 3) Such research method as diary studies comprises days, weeks and months, while attention spans are measured in sec or microsec.

5. Arguments "For"

5.1. If there was no "input", attention to it wouldn't be a necessary condition in language-learning (which is definitely not the case)

5.2. Some people are not aware of the fact whether they actually pay attention to sth or no

5.3. The cases when no input is needed do not prove the theory as wrong but make it irrelevant in those particular situations