Transcript interlanguage

Interlanguage
Chapter 3
Rod Ellis, 2003
Page: 31-35
By:
Fresi Yuliana Rahma Yusita
2201410123
THE GOALS
Behaviourist learning theory
 Mentalist theory of language learning
 What is ‘Interlanguage’ ?
 A computional model of L2 acquisition

INTERLANGUAGE
Earlier we noted that some researchers consider that
the systematic development of learner langauge refelects a
mental system of L2 knowledge. This system is often reffered
to as interlanguage. To understand what is meantby
interlangauge we need to briefly consider behaviourist
learning theory and mentalist views of language learning.
BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING
THEORY
The dominant psychology theory of the 1950s and
1960s was beahviourist 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 ti stimuli in the enviroment and
subsequently have their responses reinforced so that they
are rembered. Thus, a habit is a stimulus-response
connection.
BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING
THEORY
It was believed that all behaviour, including the kind
of complex behaviour found in language acquisition, could
be explained in terms of habits. Learning took place when
learners had the opportunity to practise making the correct
response to a given stimulus. Learners imitated models of
correct language and received positive reinforcement if they
were correct and negative reinforcement if they were
incorrect.
BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING
THEORY
Behaviour cannot adequately account for L2
acquisition. Learners frequently do not produce output
that simply reproduce the input. Furthermore, the
systematic nature of their errors demonstrates that they
are actively involved in constructing their own ‘rules’,
rules that sometimes bear little resemblance to the
patterns of language modelled in the input.
A MENTALIST THEORY OF
LANGUAGE LEARNING
The obvious inadequacies of behaviourist
explanations of L2 acquisition led researchers to
look towards an alternative theoretical framework.
They did not have to look very far as the 1960s
witnessed a major shift in thinking in psychology
and lingusitic.
IN THE 1960S AND 1970S A MENTALIST THEORY OF
FIRST LANGUAGE (L1) ACQUISITION EMERGED.
ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY:
Only human beings are capable of learning language.
 The human mind is equipped with a faculty for
learning language, reffered to as a Language
Acquisition Device. This is separate from the
faculties responsible for other kinds of cognitive
activity.
 This faculty is the primary determinant of language
acquisition.
 Inout is needed, but only to ‘trigger’ the operation of
the language acquisition device.

WHAT IS ‘INTERLANGUAGE’ ?
In term ‘interlanguage’ was coined by the
American linguist, Larry Slinker, in recognation of
the fact that L2 learners construct a linguistic system
that draws, in part, on the learner’s L1 but is also
different from it and also from the target language. A
learner’s interlanguage is, therefore, a unique
linguistic system.
THE CONCEPT OF INTERLANGUAGE INVOLVES THE
FOLLOWING PREMISES ABOUT L2 ACQUISITION:



The learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules
which underlies comprehension and production of the L2. This
system of rules is viewed as a ‘mental grammar’ and is reffered
to as an ‘interlanguage’.
The learner’s grammar is permeable. That is, grammar is open
to influence from the outside . It is also influence from the
inside.
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. This is results in an
interlanguage continuum. That is, learners construct a series of
mental grammars or interlanguages as they gradually increase
the complexity of their L2 knowledge.
THE CONCEPT OF INTERLANGUAGE INVOLVES THE
FOLLOWING PREMISES ABOUT L2 ACQUISITION:



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. However, other researchers srgue that
interlanguage systems are homogenous and that variability
reflects the mistakes learners make when they try to use their
knowledge to communicate.
Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their
interlanguages. The different kinds of errors learners produce
reflect different learning strategies.
The learner’s grammar is likely to fossilize. The prevalence of
backsliding is typical of fossilized learners. Fossilization does
not occur in L1 acquisition and thus is unique to L2 grammars.
WHAT IS ‘INTERLANGUAGE’ ?
This concept of interlanguage offers a general
account of how L2 acquisition takes place. It
incorporates elements from mentalist theories of
linguistic (i.g. the nation of a ‘language acquisition
device’) and elements from cognitive psychology
(i.g. ‘learning strategies’).
A COMPUTIONAL MODEL OF L2
ACQUISITION
The concept of interlanguage can be viewed as
a methaphor of how L2 acquisition takes place. It
implies that the human mind functions like a computer
. Figure 3.1 reprents the basic computational metaphor
that has grown out of ‘interlanguage’ and that informs
much of SLA.
A COMPUTIONAL MODEL OF L2
ACQUISITION
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 reffered 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.
A COMPUTIONAL MODEL OF L2
ACQUISITION
Intake
Input
L2 knowledge
output
A COMPUTIONAL MODEL OF
LANGUAGE LEARNING
As we shall shortly see, this basic model of L2
acquisition can be elaborated in anumber of ways. For
example, a component labelled ‘social context’ might be
added to explain how the nature of the input varies from one
setting to another. The ‘L2 knowledge’ component can be
broken up into two or more components to reflect the
different kinds of knowledge learners construct. An arrow
can be drawn from ‘output’ to ‘input’ to show that what a
leraner says or writes can also serve as samples of language
from which intake can be derived.
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