Which instructional approach, associated with Bill VanPatten, gives learners explicit information about the language features to be learned and focuses practice on the comprehension of sentences or texts?

Which instructional approach, associated with Bill VanPatten, gives learners explicit information about the language features to be learned and focuses practice on the comprehension of sentences or texts?

• A. Processing instruction
• B. Noticing hypothesis
• C. Recast
• D. Obligatory contexts

Answer: (A)

Processing instruction teaches learners what to look for in the language and then has them work with meaningful input to focus on understanding sentences or texts. It combines explicit information about the targeted language features with tasks that require comprehension of input, so attention is guided toward those forms while learners are meaningfully engaged with the content. This alignment—clear guidance on the features to learn plus processing activities that aim for understanding real input—is what Bill VanPatten proposed as the approach.

Processing instruction teaches learners what to look for in the language and then has them work with meaningful input to focus on understanding sentences or texts. It combines explicit information about the targeted language features with tasks that require comprehension of input, so attention is guided toward those forms while learners are meaningfully engaged with the content. This alignment—clear guidance on the features to learn plus processing activities that aim for understanding real input—is what Bill VanPatten proposed as the approach.