From Input To Intake In Second Language Acquisition

Second language acquisition (SLA), as a new subject, developed rapidly in the 1970s. The Input Hypothesis proposed by Krashen in the 1980s arose broad attention of scholars in the field of SLA. Input, intake and output are the most fundamental links in second language acquisition. Input is the language data to which the acquirer is exposed. Intake is the portion of input which is assimilated or internalized by the acquirers. Not all the input can be converted into intake. It is only when input becomes intake that SLA takes place. With the development of cognitive science and the profound investigation of psycholinguistics and applied linguistics in the past decade, intake has been the research focus for many linguistic scholars. As where there is no input, there will be no intake. When there is no intake, there is no output. Thus, this thesis investigates different intake models proposed by four famous overseas scholars in different times, and puts forth a brand-new intake model in the light of psycholinguistic research fruits. It is intended to probe into the relationship between input and intake, and to explore the causative variables that influence the conversion from input to intake in SLA in theory.It is noteworthy that reading, an important way of visual input and a main means of receiving information and language knowledge, is the crucial activity in and out of classroom. Therefore, this thesis aims to integrate the input-intake and reading comprehension from a new perspective, discussing the causative elements that affect the transition from input to intake in the reading process in practice. In addition, it is an important subject to improve the quantity of intake and optimize the quality of intake for the great progress of foreign language teaching and learning so as to facilitate comprehensible input and intake to the greater extent.