science

Input enhancement

Input enhancement is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Input enhancement rather than just read about it. In short: Input enhancement (IE) is a concept in second language acquisition. Mike Sharwood Smith coined the term to cover techniques used by researchers to make salient selected features of a language for students such as word order, parts of words that express tense, agreement and number for example, accents, idioms and slang.

Key takeaways

Input enhancement belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Input enhancement to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Input enhancement from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Input enhancement (IE) is a concept in second language acquisition. Mike Sharwood Smith coined the term to cover techniques used by researchers to make salient selected features of a language for students such as word order, parts of words that express tense, agreement and number for example, accents, idioms and slang. These techniques aim to draw attention to aspects of a language that have hitherto seemed to have made insufficient impact on the learner. This need not necessarily involve making learners consciously aware of the researcher's or teacher's intentions. Although IE was conceived of as a research tool, the term can also be used to describe techniques deliberately or instinctively used in language teaching and also in the way parents (again instinctively) talk to their children as also the way people alter their speech when talking to non-native speakers who seem to have difficulty in communicating. IE may figure as a deliberate strategy in teaching methods but it has always been present implicitly in standard teaching practice.

Techniques IE techniques include:

Avoiding vowel reduction typical of rapid or casual speech Slowing down the rate of speech Using exaggerated stress and intonation Extensive repetition of words and phrases Less pre-verbal and more post-verbal modification Use of gestures, text enhancement such as boldface Underlining and other attention-catching textural techniques such as boldface, uppercase letters, colour-coding, etc. IE includes use of traditional techniques to teach grammar and usage. Sharwood Smith distinguishes external input enhancement from internal input enhancement with the former referring primarily to techniques used in the deliberate teaching of a language and the latter employing ordinary events or situations.

Etymology The term "input enhancement" was designed to replace the term 'grammatical consciousness-raising' (CR) because the older term did not allow for enhanced learning that occurs in a natural or accidental setting instead of an academic or purposefully educational setting.

Footnotes

References Sharwood Smith, M. (1981). "Consciousness-raising and the second language learner". Applied Linguistics. 2: 159–68. doi:10.1093/applin/2.2.159. Rutherford, W.; Sharwood Smith, M. (1985). "Consciousness-raising and universal grammar". Applied Linguistics. 6 (2): 274–282. doi:10.1093/applin/6.3.274. Sharwood Smith, M. (1991). "Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner". Second Language Research. 7 (2): 118–132. doi:10.1177/026765839100700204. S2CID 145543188. Sharwood Smith, M. (1993). "Input enhancement in instructed SLA: Theoretical bases". Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 15: 165–179. doi:10.1017/s0272263100011943. Sharwood Smith, M. & J. Truscott. (2014) "Explaining input enhancement: a MOGUL perspective". International Review of Applied Linguistics 52, pp. 253–281.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Input enhancement

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Input enhancement claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Input enhancement before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Input enhancement ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Input enhancement

In research: Input enhancement appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Input enhancement in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Input enhancement is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Language-teaching methodology, Second-language acquisition, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Input enhancement outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Input enhancement in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Input enhancement means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Input enhancement out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Input enhancement in simple terms?

Why does Input enhancement matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Input enhancement?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Input enhancement.