Uptake¹

The term ‘uptake’ refers to what language is learned as a result of exposure to second language input. However, in this paper the term is used to refer more narrowly to the language that learners are able to report learning from exposure to input.

as language awareness

Abstract

Allwright (1984b) has suggested that asking learners to report the items they have learnt from a lesson (uptake) provides a means of investigating the relationship between classroom interaction and language learning. The study reported in this paper constitutes an investigation of uptake. It examines the sincerity and validity of uptake as a measure of language learning by comparing the words learners report learning after completing a listening task with the words they score correctly on a translation test. The results suggest that whereas uptake may constitute a fairly sincere measure of learning and may have construct validity, its concurrent validity is uncertain. It is suggested, however, that uptake constitutes a useful measure of explicit vocabulary learning (i.e. of items learners are aware of having learned). Such a measure is of interest to both researchers and teachers. However, further research is required to establish what kind of lexical knowledge it measures.

Notes

The term ‘uptake’ refers to what language is learned as a result of exposure to second language input. However, in this paper the term is used to refer more narrowly to the language that learners are able to report learning from exposure to input.