Input processing and processing instruction: Definitions and issues

Abstract

Input Processing (IP) proposed by Van Patten (1993), was innovated based on Krashen’s (1982) input hypothesis. In IP model, principles are stated that describe how learners either miss grammatical markers in the input or how they get them wrong (Van Patten, 2002b). Based on this model, learners process input for meaning before form. Processing Instruction (PI), an explicit focus on form that is informed by the model of IP, is a practical solution to IP model. The goal of PI is to help L2 learners derive richer intake from input by having them engage in structured input activities that push them away from the strategies they normally use to make form-meaning connections (Wong, 2004). This article intends to study the definitions of IP and PI as well the issues of IP and PI, including the principles of IP, features and goal of PI, and input used in PI (Structured input activities), and then to introduce difference between the terms IP and PI.