Which term best describes the process by which learners notice and internalise language from exposure?

• A. Intake
• B. Input
• C. Output
• D. Interlanguage

Answer: (A)

Noticing and internalizing language from exposure happens when learners take in language they encounter and actually process it to update their developing knowledge. The term that best describes this is intake: the portion of input that learners notice and actively process, and that then becomes part of their internal language system. Input is simply the language the learner is exposed to; it isn’t guaranteed to be processed or learned. Output is what the learner produces, which can reinforce learning but isn’t the process of internalizing new language from exposure. Interlanguage refers to the learner’s evolving internal grammar as it develops over time. So intake is the step where exposure becomes learned language through noticing and processing.