In second language instruction, it is important to examine the learner's effort in carrying out classroom activities in order to relate teaching activities to learning theories. Any impact of a teaching activity on the learner's language development must result from what the learner does, not what the teacher does or intends for learner to do. The different forms of effort made by the learner can be classified and used to link theory to practice. Several distinctions can be made: most broadly, between imitation (repeating what the teacher does in an exemplary role) and cerebration (making sense of a problem, finding solutions, and testing them); within imitation, between reproduction (imitation of the language form itself) and simulation (reproduction of language behavior with attention to its context); and within cerebration, construction (cerebration focused on language itself) and deployment (cerebration focused on a knowledge of the world handled through language). Classroom activities involving reproduction and simulation are form-focused and role-focused, respectively. Construction and deployment use activities that are rule-focused and meaning-focused, respectively. Reproduction and construction focus on language as an autonomous phenomenon. Simulation and deployment focus on things outside language as a formal entity. This categorization can inform construction of classroom activities. (MSE)