The Differential Effects of Input and Output Instructions on Noticing and Learning

The Journal of Modern British & American Literature. The current study aimed to investigate the differential effects of input processing and output-based instruction on noticing and learning of the target forms by reanalyzing the data in Kang's (2011a, b) studies. The findings showed that there was no significant difference between the input processing and output instructions in the noticing of the target forms. Furthermore, both instructions equally helped L2 learners to develop the target forms even though the input group improved slightly after treatment more than the output group. As far as the proficiency levels were concerned, the low levels benefited from both instructions while the high levels, from the output instruction only. The interesting findings were that the low level learners noticed more errors than the high levels, but that they were less successful in correcting the errors than their counterpart. This indicates that low levels could need more supportive feedback on the error corrections. Further pedagogical implications were discussed.