INTERLANGUAGETeachers College, Columbia University

Roundtable in Second Language Studies

October 5-7, 2012

Young Kim

What is INTERLANGUAGE?• From dictionary.com

• Interlanguage (noun)

1) A language created or used for international communication

2) (In SLA)

the linguistic system characterizing the output of nonnative speaker at any stage prior to full acquisition of the target language.

Agenda:1) What is Interlanguage?

2) How has the field changed?

3) What do we know about the topic?

4) How will we apply the knowledge in our classrooms?

Elaine Tarone: Durable Themes in Interlanguage Analysis

• “Intellectual Revolution”• Larry Selinker’s Interlanguage Theory (1972)

• Previous works of Labov, Lado, Corder, etc., are reconsidered because of their tendency to place “blanket concept” to language learning.

• For example, child’s L1 learning is different from adult L2 learning.

• Adults cannot be as successful since they don’t use UG.• There is the issue of adult learner’s L1 transfer.• Many believe in Critical Period theory.

Can adults be successful in mastering the TL to NS level?

• Does Interlanguage really exist?• Need relevant data as evidence.• Utterances, leading to attempted meaningful performance in the

new language, are necessary for researches.

• But,,,“Teachers need to recognize that students already has a system, and it must be that things are negotiated to the right way.”

QUESTION: Do you speak any other languages? When did you learn it? Do you consider yourself to be a fluent, native-like speaker? Why or why not?

Terence Odlin: Rediscovering Prediction

• Production of IL development:• 1) language transfer• 2) transfer of training• 3) overgeneralization• 4) learning strategies• 5) communication strategies

• Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (Weinreich)• Is the L1 helping the students learn or is it just interfering with the

students’ progress??

QUESTION: Do you think your previous knowledge aids further learning in related areas?

ZhaoHong Han: Updating the Fossilization Hypothesis

• For adults, acquisition stops and fossilizes before native-like status. (Lightbown)

• Latent psychological structure (LPS), “an already formulated arrangement in the brain,” which prevents the learner from acquiring the TL norms in a permanent way. (Selinker, 1972)

• It is found that fossilization is also a characteristic of the larger community, rather than a single individual cases.

Fossilization (cont.)Accurate Inaccurate

1) Pervasive

2) Idiosyncratic

3) NL influence

4) Most evident when in self-expression and in psychologically unguarded way

1) Global fossilization

2) Fossilized competence

3) Units of fossilization

4) 5 central processes as the source of fossilization

QUESTION: What is your opinion on the idea of fossilization? Have you observed this in your students?

Silvia Montrul: Interlanguage Transfer and Fossilization

• Fossilization is extremely normal and unconscious.

• Students want to achieve “Native speaker competence,”

but most are unsuccessful.

• L2 errors are probably not random. There is often a

pattern or a reason.

Try this out:• I have been waiting here since two hours.• My mother is office worker.• I have 4 years old.• It is more hot today than yesterday.• Russia is the largest country of the world.• We ran for one and a half hour.• According to me, the food was terrible.• It's getting summer.• Except Paul, we were all there.• Did I do any mistakes?

Question: What kind of mistakes do you see in these sentences and which type of students might make such mistakes?

Lourdes Ortega: Trying out Theories on Interlanguage

• Sequences vs. Stages

• What seems to be the differences?

Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig: Documenting Interlanguage Development

• IL is the systematic natural language.

• Relevant data… attempted meaningful performance in second language.

• Coorman & Kilborm (1991)• 1) Temporality• 2) Pragmatics• 3) Conventional Expressions

Susan Gass & Charlene Polio: What counts as data?

• There are…• 1) Teaching and learning perspective• 2) Controlled and automatic production• 3) Individual Differences• 4) Group or single learner• 5) Memory• 6) Input or Output

• Intuitive Grammatical Judgment & Nonce Data

Bill VanPatten: Instructed SLA• Can a person develop native-like knowledge or

ability?• Competence as mental representation…

• 1) Implicit: exists outside of most people’s awareness• 2) Abstract: Not captured by simple rules• 3) Interactive: Communication

Evidence

- Stage development

- Poverty of Stimulus

EXPOSURE/INPUT > INSTRUCTION

• Instruction has never been shown to alter or overcome stage development.

• Acquisition by processing is necessary.

• Change the way the students perceive SLA. Their expectations are often unreasonable. Help them be aware of what they will and won’t be able to do.

• Promote autonomy.

Diane Larsen-Freeman• “Separate teaching from learning.”• Language is a dynamic system and it is constantly

changing. Therefore, error cannot be considered to be just errors. It can turn into a possible innovation.

• How do we put our knowledge into practice?• 1) Affordance rich activities• 2) Psychologically authentic work• 3) Reiterated activities• 4) Teach adaptation• 5) Stand back and respond to the learners.

“We make the road by walking on it.”

What have you learned during your days of teaching?

Who did you learn it from?

What are you doing now to improve your teaching methods?

Thank you!• I want to thank you for joining my meager workshop and

participating in discussions. I got a lot of information from the workshop, and I wanted to share a little bit of my new knowledge, but I feel that I haven’t yet understood all the dense and rich information that was presented to me last weekend. I will continue to read into it more, and if you ever want to chat about anything related to the material, I’d be more than happy to talk to you.

• At the very least, I hope the last hour gave you something to think about. I probably learned a lot from your input during the workshop, and I thank you once again.