The Roles of Output in English Language Learning: A Theoretical Review

Abstract

For many second language (L2) learners and teachers, producing language
is generally considered to constitute an important part of L2 learning.
However, how beneficial it is to produce language is often not so clear.
Proponents of the Noticing Hypothesis of Second Language Acquisition
(SLA) state that intake is the part of the input that the learner notices, and it
requires focal attention and awareness on the part of the learner. It is
hypothesized that output promotes noticing, and stated that the importance
to learning of output could be that output pushes learners to process
language more deeply, with more mental effort, than does input. This
academic paper discusses the roles of output in SLA in noticing. With
output, the learners are in control and can play more active, responsible roles
in their learning. It constitutes a potentially important factor in the
acquisition process. This is important if there is a basis to the claim that
noticing a form in the input must occur in order for it to be acquired. Thus,

it is interesting to obtain a more precise understanding of whether output
promotes noticing of a grammatical form in the second language.