Interlanguage

Earlier we noted that some researchers consider that the systematic development of learner language reflects a mental system of L2 knowledge. This system is often reffered to as interlanguage. To understand what is meant by interlanguage we need to briefly consider behaviourist learning theory and mentalist views of language learning.

    1.       Behaviourist Learning Theory

The dominant psychological theory of the 1950s and 1960s was behaviourist learning theory. According to this theory, language learning is like any other kind of learning in that it involves habit formation. Habits are formed when learners respond to stimuli in the environment and subsequently have their responses reinforced to that they are remembered. Thus, a habit is a stimulus-response connection.

    2.       A Mentalist Theory of Language Learning

In the 1970s a mentalist theory of first language (L1) acquisition emerged. According to this theory :

a.      Only human beings are capable of learning language.

b.  The human mind is equipped with a faculty for learning language, reffered to as a Language Acquisition Device.

c.      This faculty is the primary determinant of language acquisition.

d.      Input is needed, but only to ‘trigger’ the operation of the language acquisition device.

    3.       What is ‘interlanguage’?

The concept of interlanguage involves the following premises about L2 acquisition :

a.     The learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules which underlies comprehension and production of the L2.

b.   The learner’s grammar is permeable. That is, the grammar is open to influence from the outside and the inside.

c.   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.

d.    Some researchers have claimed that the systems learners construct contain variable rules. That is they argue that learners are likely to have competing rules at any one stage of development.

e.      Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their interlanguages.

f.       The learner’s grammar is likely to fossilize.

    4.       A Computational Model of L2 Acquisition

Figure 3.1 represents the basic computational metaphor that has grown out of ‘interlanguage’ and that informs much of SLA. The learner is exposed to input, which is processed in two stages. First, parts of it are attended to and taken into short-term memory. These are referred to as intake. Second, some of the intake is stored in long-term memory as L2 knowledge. The processes responsible for creating intake and L2 knowledge occur within the ‘black box’ of the learner’s mind where the learner’s interlanguage is constructed. Finally, L2 knowledge is used by the learner to produce spoken and written output (i.e. what we have called learner language).