Learner Readiness and L2 Production in Spanish: Processabitily Theory on Trial

Abstract

This study investigates interactions between learner readiness and instruction type as they affect stage development in second language (L2) learners of Spanish. Working from a Processability framework (Pienemann, 1998) and Johnston’s (1995) proposed stages for Spanish, learner development was examined in terms of emergence of stage forms in oral L2 production. Three instruction types were administered to L2 Spanish learners categorized as ready or unready for personal a and the subjunctive. These two forms were predicted by Johnston (1995) to belong to Stage 4 and Stage 7 in his hierarchy. Results indicate that learners produced a form for which Pienemann and Johnston would classify them as unready. In addition, full processing instruction brought about effects that were significantly different from explicit information and structured input. These results do not lend support to Processability Theory as presented by Pienemann (1998) and call into question the hierarchy for Spanish proposed by Johnston (1995).