Interlanguage

Gross Anabella

Morales Valentina

Ruiz Avalo Aldana

Romero María

Romero Flavia

Stages of interlanguage development:

1- Random errors: the learner is vaguely aware that there is an order in a particular class of items

2- Emergent: the learner is growing in consistency in linguistic production

3- Systematic: more consistency in producing the L2

4- Stabilization: relatively few errors and has mastered fluency and pronunciation

Empirical evidence for interlanguage hypothesis

Selinker ➡️ Interlanguage:structure system which the learner constructs at any given stage in his development

               ➡️ 5 principal processes operate in interlanguage:

                    1) transfer from L1

                    2) overgeneralization

                    3) transfer of training

                    4) strategies of L2 learning

                    5) strategies of L2 communication

                ➡️ "Latent language structure" = language acquisition device of L1 but to learn L2 in adults

                ➡️ Language learning is:

                             •permeable

                             •dynamic

                             •systematic

Interlanguage Background:

•L1 Mentalist view:

           - language is a human-specific faculty

           - language acquisition device ➡️ "atrophies with age"

           - stimulus-response

           - gradually increases

           - a process ➡️ internal

The concept of interlanguage involves the following premises about L2

acquisition:

1. The system of rules is viewed as a 'mental grammar' and is referred to as

an 'interlanguage'.

2. The learner's grammar is permeable. That is, the grammar is open to

influence from the outside.

3. The learner's grammar is transitional. Learners change their grammar

from one time to another by adding rules, deleting rules, and restructuring

the whole system.

4. The systems learners construct contain variable rules. That is, the learners

are likely to have competing rules at any one stage of development.

5. Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their

interlanguages. The different kinds of errors learners produce reflect

different learning strategies.

6. The learner's grammar is likely to fossilize.

What is Interlanguage?

A unique linguistic system.

Ellis -Behaviourist learning theory

Adapted the idea from Weinreich's term "interlingual" (1953)

Selinker (1972)

Interlanguage

The CAH compares two languages in terms of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and sounds. If there are similarities, the interference benefits us.

 - Interference: when one language affects the use of another

Wardhaugh (1970):

CAH is quite unrealistic and impracticable

Hierarchy of difficulty: predicts the difficulty of an aspect of the L2

6 levels (Prator, 1967):

• 0-Transfer: no difference bet. The 2 lgs.

• 1- Coalescence: two items in the native language are one in the target lg. (ENG: His-Her/SPA: Su)

• 2- Underdifferentiation: An item in the native lg is absent in the target lg.

• 3- Reinterpretation: An item in the native lg does not exist in the target lg.

• 4- Overdifferentiation: Every new item must be learned

• 5- Split: One item from the native lg splits into 2 in the target lg

Error analysis give 2 kind of information:

•The linguistics type of error

•The psycholinguistics type of error

Overgeneralization: it is caused by trying to use a rule in a context where it doesn't belong.

Corder "Error analysis procedure"

1)A corpus of language is selected

2) The errors are identified

3) Then classified

4) Then explained

5) Then evaluated

Interlanguage: learners developing L2. There are interlanguage systems which are systematic and dynamic as well.

(Lightbown)

Developmental errors: Students make mistakes and errors while learning and it is ok.

Accuracy order

Order of acquisition

Cognitive development

Fossilization:

Learners stop learning the target language, they forget about grammatical rules and lose vocabulary and fluency when they speak. Also, errors could be fossilized when we learn a wrong concept.

Developmental sequences

What is learnt early by one is learnt by others.

(Lightbown)

Errors and their grammatical categories:

1- Omission

2- Misinformation

3- Misordering

New approach: error analysis

(Lightbown)

Types of errors:

Global: Violate the overall structure of a sentence.

Local: Affect a single constituent in the sentence.

Difference between errors, mistakes and slips.

1- Slip: The student makes something wrong because of tiredness.

2- Mistakes: They are occasional lapses in performance and the learner is unable yo perform what he knows.

3- Errors: The student doesn't know about what is correct. He/she lacks of knowledge

Mentalist theory of language learning

-The human mind is equipped with a faculty of learning a language.

-Language acquisition device.

-Input is needed, but only to trigger the operation.

- Habit formation.

- Habits are formed when learners respond to stimuli in the environment.

- Learners imitate models of correct language and receive positive reinforcement.

- Learners simply reproduce the input.

Erros and error analysis: Teachers should identify students'errors and ask themselves why learners make them. Also, they ought to encourage students to self-correction

SLA: process of acquiring whatever items are different from the L1 (Brown, 2000)

Contrastive Analisis: 4 procedures

1. Describe both lgs

2. Select the criteria to compare

3. Contrast

4. Predict transfer errors

Behaviourism and transfer

Contrastive Analisis Hypothesis (Brown, 2000)