What is the difference between input and intake in language 2 learning?

Answer 1

In my opinion, input and intake can be the same thing and yet it cannot. ( i+1) is the input that has the capacity of becoming intake because it is just slightly above the learner's level. I being the learners input level and the extra 1 being the step up. Since input is the amount of language/the language environment that the learner is bombarded with and the intake is that which is able to be comprehended, it shows that intake is a part of input. But inevitably the intake will encompass all of the input. If i+1 is in fact true and we will learn the degree slightly above our language level, then we can eventually intake all of the input. This is mostly dependent upon the learner's level of comprehension.

Imagine the learner's language level as represented by the bull's eye on a dartboard. The language input is represented by the darts thrown by an expert dart player and the intake is that which sticks on the learner's level. The learner will not take in anything on the outside of its level unless it is one level outside the bull's eye. When the player hits the bull's eye repetitively, the learner understands, and if they hit just outside the bull's eye, they begin to comprehend. As time progresses, the level outside the bull's eye becomes the learner's level and then the next level outside is the new +1. Now as more darts (data) is thrown at the player, the learner comprehends and can eventually move to the outside levels. Eventually, there will be no more outside rings and the darts will all count as comprehensible data. In this case, all of the input is now intake. Only through repetitive usage and constant accuracy will this occur and each dart be considered comprehensible. Overall, though input and intake are different, in the end, they will be the same.

Answer 2

In language learning, "input" refers to any exposure to the language, such as reading or listening to native speakers. "Intake" specifically refers to the language that a learner comprehends and internalizes from the input. Intake is what the learner actually processes and learns from the input they receive.