Level of intake, depth of processing, and type of linguistic item in L2 development

L2 learners must employ selective attention minimally to isolate linguistic features in input to be able to take them in. Based on previous theoretical postulations and empirical research, Leow (forthcoming) postulates in his Model of the L2 learning process three levels of intake, namely, noticed intake, detected intake, and attended intake while underscoring the important role for depth of processing. This study sought to test the tenets of his Model's early stages of the L2 learning process by addressing the potential existence of different levels of intake and the role of depth of processing during these early stages. The study also addressed whether type of linguistic item (grammatical versus lexical) plays a role. To explicate the roles of level of intake, depth of processing, type of linguistic item, and reactivity in adult L2 learner's subsequent intake, the present study employed eye-tracking and concurrent verbal reports: 96 beginning learners of Spanish read a text and then completed production, recognition, and comprehension assessments in a pretest/posttest design. Results revealed no reactivity and that different levels of intake do appear to exist, that depth of processing not only may play a role in subsequent processing of intake but also appears to facilitate the deeper processing needed for incorporation of intake into the developing system, as postulated by Leow's Model of the L2 learning process (forthcoming). Finally, the results also revealed differences in processing type of linguistic item.