Learner Uptake in Communicative ESL Lessons

This article examines incidental and transitory focus on form. Learner uptake was studied in focus‐on‐form episodes occurring in 12 hours of communicative ESL teaching. Learner uptake was generally high and successful—to a much greater extent than has been reported for immersion classrooms. Uptake was higher and more successful in reactive focus on form and in student‐initiated focus on form than in teacher‐initiated focus on form. The level of uptake was also influenced by whether meaning or form was negotiated and by the complexity of an episode. This study indicates that focus on form can occur without disturbing the communicative flow of a classroom and that the classroom context can affect the amount of uptake.