The Noticing Hypothesis

ATTENTION, AWARENESS, AND INDIVIDUAL

DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Richard Schmidt

• BA (Social Relations), Harvard,

1963

• MA (Linguistics), Brown

University, 1971

• Ph.D. (Linguistics), Brown

University, 1974

Background: Origins of the Noticing Hypothesis and Evidence for It

• “In the 1980s, the dominant theories oflanguage and of SLA… emphasized theunconscious processes of learning.”

• Two case studies that Professor Schmidtcarried out in those years led him to questionthat assumption.

First Case: “Wes”

• Japanese artist learning English.• “Wes was a remarkably good learner

of English in many ways. Hispronunciation was good from thebeginning, and he developed quicklyalong the dimensions of fluency,lexical development, listeningcomprehension, conversational ability,pragmatic appropriateness, andespecially strategic competence... Hisdevelopment in the area of grammar—morphology and syntax— was verylimited, however.”

Reason: “One possible explanation may be that hedidn’t care much for the small grammatical details oflanguage.”Conclusion: “At least in the case of adult learning ofgrammar, wholly unconscious learning of a languageis probably not possible. Because adults do seem tohave lost the still mysterious ability of children toacquire the grammatical forms of language whileapparently not paying attention to them, some levelofconscious attention to form is required.

Second Case: Professor Himself

• Professor’s learningexperience in Brazil.

• He went to learnPortuguese for 5months. He took a classfor five weeks, and therest of the languagelearning was throughinteraction with nativespeakers.

• “The results of this study indicated that classroom instruction was very useful, but presence and frequency in communicative input were more important.”

Professor and partner

Frota found that some

forms that were frequent

were still not acquired

until they were

consciously noticed. This

was the origin of the

Noticing Hypothesis.

Conclusion

What is the hypothesis about?• “The claim that learner must attend to and notice

linguistic features of the input that they areexposed to if those forms are to become intakefor learning.”

• The claim that “noticing” but not“understanding” is required for learning.

• “Learners cannot learn the grammatical featuresof a language unless they notice them.”

• “Noticing is the essential starting point foracquisition.”

Conclusions:

• “What happens within attentional space largely determines the course of language development, including the growth of knowledge and the development of fluency.”

• “Individual differences are an important part of the story, and both inclinations and abilities affect who notices what.”

How can this hypothesis help students to learn?

The Noticing Hypothesis can help students to learn alanguage with strategies that include their interests so theycan notice and pay attention to all the details of thelanguage.

1. Learning through music

2. Learning through movies

3. Learning through Literature

How can these hypothesis help teachers?

The Noticing Hypothesis help teachers to motivate languagelearning outside the classroom because students continuelistening to music, watching TV or reading after class. In this waythe learning process does not end.

Bibliography:

• Schmidt, R. (2010). Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. In W. M. Chan, S. Chi, K. N. Cin, J. Istanto, M. Nagami, J. W. Sew, T. Suthiwan, & I. Walker, Proceedings of CLaSIC 2010, Singapore, December 2-4 (pp. 721-737). Singapore: National University of Singapore, Centre for Language Studies.

• Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (4th ed.). London: Longman (Pearson Education).