ABSTRACT
In this commentary, I first begin by couching Processing Instruction’s importance as an instructional strategy within the larger debate on the efficacy of so-called Focus-on-Form(s) strategies for affecting grammatical development. I argue that the merits of Processing Instruction are found largely outside of this debate, and suggest that Processing Instruction’s association with this debate has left an important question unanswered even after 10 years of research: What happens to grammatical development after Processing Instruction treatments? I then argue that continuing to contextualize Processing Instruction’s merits within the Focus-on-Form(s) debate may ultimately be validating traditional approaches to grammar instruction. I conclude by discussing why we still do not know if Processing Instruction can achieve its ultimate goal of training learners to process input in ways that they would otherwise not do.
