Interlanguage

According to Ginna: What is interlanguage

Interlanguage is what is spoken by a language learner who is in the process of acquiring a language additional to his/her first tongue. It implies that the learner has begun to develop some grasp of the language, but with errors. It represents, ideally, a phase that the learner will move beyond as his/her competency improves. However, some learners get “stuck” at that point — possibly because they are meeting their communicative functions even with their errors, and full competency is not their goal — so their interlanguage becomes fossilized.

According to Ginna: What are the underlying processes typically shaping it?

These are among the considerations that shape the stage of a learner’s interlanguage: why are they learning, what do they need or use the language for, do they have full or partial access to native speakers, are they required to speak it daily for communication purposes or do they have to seek out opportunities, how high is their motivation to acquire a greater level of competence? Also involved are the learner’s natural aptitude for language-learning, the teacher’s ability to engage the learner’s interest, the level of their affective filter, and much more.

According to experts

1. Cunningham Florez, MaryAnn and Burt, Miriam. “Beginning to Work with Adult English Language Learners: Some Considerations. October 2001: National Center for ESL Literacy Education. (http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/beginQA.html)

“… periods during which learners make systematic errors that are a natural part of language learning. These may be similar to those of a child learning a first language (e.g., adding ed to signify all past tense verbs) or similar to patterns in a learner’s native language (e.g., Spanish speakers placing adjectives after nouns, such as shirt blue). If errors appear to be normal and developmental, provide feedback and modeling of correct structures to support learners as they move through these steps. If an error persists, consider more structured practice on the point.”

1. “Framework for Quality Professional Development for Practitioners Working with Adult English Language Learners” http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/profdev/framework/

   “Interlanguage refers to the intermediate patterns of language use between the target language (English) and the learner’s first language (Selinker, 1972; Ellis, 2000). In moving from the first or native language to the target language, learners make hypotheses about how a language works. These hypotheses are part of the learner’s interlanguage. Learners may produce some forms because they have a faculty hypothesis about the target language at a stage of their learning (Dulay & Burt, 1972, 1974a, 1974b, 1976; Ellis, 2000). For example, learners may make all past tense forms end in the letters “ed,” even those that are irregular verbs, such as “went.” If a teacher sees a pattern in the forms the learner is producing, such as putting an “ed” on every verb to make it past tense, then the teacher can deduce that the learner has a faculty hypothesis about formation of past tense in English. In instruction, the teacher can address this issue.

   “Teachers and tutors can grasp the concept of interlanguage and how it affects a learner’s movement toward producing correct target language forms. However, if they are to come to a deeper knowledge of what interlanguage is and how to benefit from this knowledge in their teaching, they need to apply this knowledge with their own students. After a training in which teachers and tutors receive this knowledge, they are then given an assignment to construct this knowledge in light of their own students’ learning. They may be asked to analyze several pieces of student writing for interlanguage patterns, ascertain if there are consistencies in the forms used, and determine what hypotheses the learners may have about English. Then they can detail what they would teach to lead the learners toward a correct hypothesis about the language. Through this activity of analyzing their students’ writing, they are constructing their knowledge about interlanguage. In future professional development sessions, teachers can discuss what they have learned and obtain more information about this topic.”

1. Schaetzel, Kirsten, Peyton, Joy Kreeft and Burt, Miriam. “Professional Development for Adult ESL Practitioners: Building Capacity.” October 2007: Center for Applied Linguistics. (http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/socident.html)

   “Knowledge of second language acquisition includes understanding the order of acquisition of linguistic features, interlanguage patterns (the emerging linguistic system of the language learner), differences in child and adult language acquisition, the impact of social and cultural identity on language learning, and the need for intensity of exposure and opportunities to use the language. With knowledge of these concepts, teachers can structure language learning appropriately for their students, help them set realistic goals for achievement of levels of proficiency over time, and understand why some students progress faster than others and why some materials and methods work better with particular groups of students than with others  (Adger, Snow, & Christian, 2002; Baca & Escamilla, 2002; Cummins, 1991; Ellis, 2000; Fillmore & Snow, 2002; Florez & Burt, 2001; Grabe, Stoller, & Tardy, 2000; Johnston & Goettsch, 2000; Long, 1990; Muchisky & Yates, 2004; Nolan, 2001; Richardson, 2002; Yates & Muchisky, 2003).

   “Individual teaching styles are influenced by one’s own experience as a language learner (Borg, 2006; Freeman & Freeman, 1994). Opportunities should be provided for teachers to reflect on their own language learning experiences and on what second language acquisition research shows about language learning as they consider strategies to use with learners in their classes (Farrell, 2004, in press; Richards & Farrell, 2005, Smith, Harris, & Reder, 2005).”

1. Ullman, Char. “Social Identity and the Adult ESL Classroom.” October 1997: University of Arizona

   “Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, theorists of second language acquisition (SLA) and practitioners of ESL tended to see language learning in terms of the formal qualities of language (Corder, 1974). Theoretical discussions about the meanings of particular errors, the order in which learners acquire certain grammatical forms, and the phenomena of interlanguage translated into a focus on grammar and pronunciation in the classroom.

   “By the 1980s and 1990s, discussions shifted from language itself to learning processes and learning styles (Cohen and Aphek, 1981; Oxford, 1990). Taxonomies of learning strategies were developed (Oxford, 1990) that helped teachers to individualize instruction, but that also held the danger of reducing learners to the style profile commonly associated with their ethnic group (McCarty, 1991). However, this research laid a foundation for the next development in the field: an emphasis on the social context of language learning.”

What is L₁/n and TL?

• L1/n represent the learner’s first or subsequent languages
• TL stands for target language: that currently under study.

How do we define our TL in the case of English?

It depends on the students’ needs and the environments in which they will be speaking English. First, what form of English do they want to know? International English, American, British or one of many other regional forms? And for what purposes are they learned? For international business? For daily life in the US? For education in England? We define our target language by the students’ intended usage.