SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

not quite happen. Many language teachers are now very aware of the difference between
input and intake. Not all the language that a learner studies (or experiences or is instructed
in, to use the terms mentioned in the definition above) results in intake. Language intake is
language input that becomes part of the learning process and is an essential element to
acquire declarative knowledge (and procedural knowledge, as well). According to Schmidt,
the key for input to become intake is noticing, which (Schmidt 1990,131-139), is a private
experience that entails a degree of consciousness. He places noticing between perceiving (a
lower degree) and understanding (a higher degree). However, according to Tomlin and Villa
(1994) the issue of consciousness is not so straightforward since the term itself has very
varied meanings⁶. Hence, Tomlin and Villa do not talk about consciousness but instead,
focus on attention and claim that "a finer grained look" is necessary in order to give a
comprehensive account of attention in SLA that differentiates it from its attentional
functions. According to them, attention is a generic term that includes elements or functions
such as alertness, orientation, detection and awareness (see fig. 4.1). Attention is a cognitive
system of limited capacity that carries out the process of selecting critical information for
further processing (Tomlin and Villa; 1994, 187). This process is related to control of
information and action, which means that the processing is effortful and not automatic. The
main element of attention is detection, which is "the process that selects, or engages, a
particular and specific bit of information...Once information is detected, then further
information is possible" (ibid.). According to them, detection is the element of attention that
corresponds to noticing.

Tomlin and Villa also mention other elements, which, according to their explanation,
are not essential for acquisition but they are associated to it. First, there is alertness which is
defined as "an overall readiness to deal with incoming stimuli or data" (190). Mainly,
alertness refers to the readiness of the learner. There are hundreds of aspects that may
influence this readiness, for instance, the existence of previous schemata that help the learner
to make sense of the new information. In other words, ready or alert, means to be able to
make connections with previous knowledge. Another two good examples of aspects that
make learners be ready are motivation and attitudes. Due to the importance of these in self-
direction, I will deal with them in separate sections (4.2.6 and 4.2.7).

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