A.

The term interlanguage was first coined and developed in the interlanguage theory in 1972 by Larry
Selinker, a well known SLA theorist

B. @interlanguage is based on the theory that there is a" psychological structure latent in brain
"which is activated when one attempts to learn a second a language.

#interlanguage

C. INTERLANGUAGE IS THE TERM FOR A DYNAMIC, RULE-BASED LINGUISTIC SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN
DEVELOPED BY A LEARNER OF A SECOND LANGUAGE (L2) WHO HAS NOT YET REACHED
PROFICIENCY.IT’S A TRANSITORY STAGE TOWARDS FINAL PROFICIENCY OF THE SECOND LANGUAGE.

Whenever one acquires second or another language, one develops a so called interlanguage, which is
developed by him/ her as a system of rules and applications that can either bear the1. Properties and
rules of L1-2.Properties and rules of both L1 and L23. can also not possess features of neither

[v] Infact, INTERLANGUAGE IS A LANGUAGE CREATED BY LEARNERS OF A SECOND LANGUAGE WHICH IS

BETWEEN THE TARGET LANGUAGE AND THE LEARNER'S FIRST LANGUAGE (L1).

D. This can happen when l2 learners incorrectly apply rules of their native language to the target
language or they have not completely learned the full extent or limitations of a rules use and so
misapplied it systematically.

[ ] In language learning, learner’s errors are caused by several different process

 a. Borrowing patterns from the mother tongue

 b. Extending patterns from the target language.

 c. Expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already known

Interlanguage features

An interlanguage has the following characteristics:

[ ] • Systematic. At any particular point or stage of development, the IL is governed by rules which
constitute the learner’s internal grammar.

[ ] • Dynamic. The system of rules which learners have in their minds changes frequently, or is in a state
of flux, resulting in a succession of interim grammars. Selinker views this change not as a steady
progression along a continuum, but discontinuous progression “from stable plateau to stable plateau”
( 1992 :226).
[ ] • Variable. Although the IL is systematic, differences in context result in different patterns of
language use. •

[ ] Reduced system, both in form and function. The characteristic of reduced form refers to the less
complex grammatical structures that typically occur in an IL compared to the target language

Interlanguage rules

[ ] INTERLANGUAGE RULES • INTERLANGUAGE DOES NOT ABIDE ANY STABLE RULES, BUT IT EVOLVES
AND MODIFIES ALL THE TIME, THEREFORE… O RULES ARE ALTERED O RULES ARE DELETED O RULES
ARE ADDED 

Interlanguage process

The Continuum Of Inter-language Development

[ ] From native language forms to target language forms includes three stages - Basilang – the earliest
stage of target language development - Mesolang- the intermediate stage of target language
development - Acrolang - the final stage of target language development

H. INTERLANGUAGE FOSSILIZATION

“FOSSILIZABLE LINGUISTIC PHENOMENA ARE LINGUISTIC ITEMS, RULES, AND SUBSYSTEMS WHICH
SPEAKERS OF A PARTICULAR NATIVE LANGUAGE WILL TEND TO KEEP IN THEIR INTERLANGUAGE
RELATIVE TO A PARTICULAR TARGET LANGUAGE, NO MATTER WHAT THE AGE OF THE LEARNER OR
AMOUNT OF EXPLANATION OR INSTRUCTION HE RECEIVES IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE”
INTERLANGUAGE (FOSSILIZATION IS A STAGE DURING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING. IT OCCURS WHEN
CERTAIN MISTAKES SEEM TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO CORRECT IN SPITE OF THE ABILITY AND MOTIVATION,
LEARNERS CANNOT RECTIFY AND REPLACE IT WITH CORRECT USAGE)

[ ] Why does fossilization happens Frequent use Reinforcement of communication process Lack of
correction

[ ]  Selinker’s Five Fossilization Process Steps  Over-generalization  Transfer of training  Language

transfer  Strategies of SLL  Strategies of SL communication
[ ] 1) Over-generalization  Learner makes their own rules of language  The act or process of over-
generalizing  The process of extending the application of a rule  Learners use rules from Second
Language .Learners use rules from the second language in a way that native speakers would not. For
example, a learner may say "I goed home", overgeneralizing the English rule of adding - ed to create past
tense verb forms.

Example: I walked to produce forms like *I goed or *I rided.

[ ]  2) Transfer of Training :(The lack of formal instruction in English Fossilization of incorrect language
forms) Result of initial learning process on the performance of the later activities( Fossilization due to
certain features found in the instruction via which the learner is taught the SL)

[ ]  3) Language Transfer ( The errors in the use of L2 result mainly from L1,and the difference between
L1 and the L2 is the reason for the occurrence of errors) Positive transfer Negative transfer

(Learners fall back on their mother tongue to help createtheir language system. This is now recognized
not as amistake, but as a process that all learners go through)

[ ] 4) Strategies of SLL (learning strategies)

strategies which learners use when learning a second language. Strategies have been found to be of
critical importance, so much so that strategic competence has been suggested as a major component of
communicative competence.Strategies are commonly divided into learning strategies and
communicative strategies, although there are other ways of categorizing them. Learning strategies are
techniques used to improve learning, such as mnemonics or using a dictionary.

( Fossilization due to some approaches to the learning of L2 material adopted by the learner  It involves
Incorrect Learning strategies)( fossilization of some features (phonological, morphological, syntactic,
lexical, psycholinguistic, or socio-cultural)

[ ] 5) Strategies of SL communication (Communicative strategies )are strategies a learner uses to

convey meaning even when she doesnt have access to the correct form, such as using pro-forms like
thing, or using non-verbal means such as gestures

(Concern when the communication is going on  Pays attention to the fluency rather than accuracy in
the communication  Learner tries to simplifies the TL rules  Fossilization due to some approaches used
by the learner when communicating with L2 native speakers)
I. GOOD POINTS & BAD POINTS

[ ] Good Points  Natural and systematic Theory of language like L1 acquisition  Learner becomes
active participant to construct the rules by himself  This study can help to determine what a learner
already knows about the rules  The concept of IL has liberated language teaching methods

 Good Points  It determines what a leaner has taught and when and how in a particular SL teaching
programme.

[ ] Bad Points  Limited explanatory power  EA improves errors in IL but too much correction can lead
to lack of motivation  The learner needs to be restricted to important errors only  This theory cant
determine the exact position of the learner in between L1 or L2 Will be interpreted

J. Conclusion

[ ] The theory of IL was the first major attempt to explain the process of SLL, in term of mentalist
perspectives. It is a system based upon the best attempt of learners to provide order and structure to
the linguistic stimuli surrounding them.By a gradual process of trial and error and hypothesis testing,
learners slowly and tediously succeed in establishing closer and closer approximations to the system
used by native speakers of the language.

INTRODUCTION

Second language (L2) learning involves a gradual advancement from the learner’s first language (L1)
towards the target language (TL). During this process of learning, the learner naturally develops an
intermediate language between his L1 and L2. It is neither L1 nor L2, rather a separate language having
its own grammar or linguistic system. This learner system is widely referred to as Interlanguage (IL). The
emergence of Interlanguage evinced the shift in psychological perspectives of second language learning
from a behaviourist approach to a mentalist one. In fact, the concept of Interlanguage, in many ways,
borrowed some of its major assumptions directly from the mentalist theories. This psycholinguistic
concept was first introduced by the well-known SLA theorist Larry Selinker (1969, 1972).
DEFINITION

In a general sense, Interlanguage is defined as the interim grammars constructed by the learner of a
second language on his way to the target language.

In a narrower sense, Interlanguage refers to the intermediate status of the second language learner’s
system between his mother tongue and the target language.

In a broader sense, Interlanguage is defined as the second language learner’s present knowledge of the
language he is learning.

THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS

The core assumptions underlying Interlanguage are as follows:

• Second language learning is a gradual progression form L1/NL/MT towards the L2/TL/FL.

• At every stage of learning the learner develops a system of rules that is neither the system of
L1/NL/MT nor the system of L2/TL/FL, but instead falls between the two.

• The process of learning consists of rule formation or hypothesis-testing.

• The mistakes made by the learner are a natural procedure of language learning.

• There is a psychological structure latent in the brain, which is activated when one attempts to learn a
second language.
• Many learners do not achieve the full L2/TL/FL competence.

DISCUSSION

Here follows a detailed discussion on Interlanguage theory based on the assumptions mentioned
hereinabove:

INTERLANGUAGE CONTINUUM

During L2 acquisition, the learner formulates the hypotheses about the system/rules of TL. The rules are
viewed as mental grammars that construct the Interlanguage system. These grammars are permeable.
They are exposed to influences both from outside the learner and form the learner’s internal processing.
This suggests that the learner’s performance is variable. These grammars are transitional. The learner
changes his grammar from one time to another by adding rules, deleting rules, and restructuring the
whole system. Thus, in every stage of learning, there is an Interlanguage. Through the gradual process of
checking and rechecking hypotheses, the learner keeps changing his Interlanguage until the target
language system is fully acquired/ shaped. This gradual progression naturally implies to an Interlanguage
Continuum.

LANGUAGE DEVICES

Interlanguage can proceed by adopting two types of mechanisms:

1. L1 Mechanisms: L2 learners can utilize the same mechanisms as L1 learners adopt during language
acquisition:

(a) Universal Grammar (UG): This device is postulated by Avram Noam Chomsky (1959). Chomsky asserts
that there are certain principles that all possible natural human languages have. These principles are
biologically determined and specialized for language learning.
(b) Latent Language Structure: This device is a counterpart to UG. It was proposed by Eric Heinz
Lenneberg (1967), a contemporary of Chomsky. The proponent assumes that the child’s brain has an
innate propensity for language acquisition and that this propensity is lost as maturation takes place.

Within the Latent Psychological Structure there exist several important notions:

1. Fossilization

Selinker recognized Fossilization as an important mechanism of the Latent Psychological Structure. He

assumes that many learners will not achieve the total mastery of L2, but will stop somewhere in the
middle with their language still affected by errors. Fossilization can take place at any stage of the
learning process, even at a very early age. According to him, out of all the L2 learners, only 5% of them
are thoroughly successful as to be able to reach the end of the Interlanguage Continuum. And when the
learners stop progressing any further, their Interlanguage is said to have fossilized. However, the
successful learner doesn’t fossilize, rather constantly moves along the Interlanguage continuum.

2. Psycholinguistic Processes

Selinker points out five psycholinguistic processes which determine the fossilized forms:

i) Overgeneralization: fossilization due to the use of an L2 rule in contexts where it is not required.

ii) Transfer of Training: fossilization due to certain features found in the instruction via which the learner
is taught the second language.
iii) Strategies of Second Language Learning: fossilization due to some approach to the learning of L2
material adopted by the learner.

iv) Strategies of Second Language Communication: fossilization due to some approach used by the

learner when communicating with L2 native speakers.

v) Language Transfer: fossilization due to L1 influence.

LEARNING/TEACHING METHOD

From the above discussion, it is apparent that the interpretation of Interlanguage is partially undertaken
by investigating and interpreting the errors produced by the L2 learner. Hence, Error Analysis (EA) has
become a prevailing learning method in Interlanguage development. The notion of EA was proposed
by Pit Corder (1967).

STRENGTHS

The theory of Interlanguage is significant for a number of reasons:

1. The study of Interlanguage is systematic and universal by nature. Like the Innate Theory of L1
acquisition, Interlanguage theory considers the learner as an active participator, since he is capable of
constructing rules from the data he encounters.

2. The study of Interlanguage can help to determine what the learner already knows at a certain point of
time and what he has to be taught when and how in a particular second language teaching programme.

3. The concept of Interlanguage has liberated language teaching methods. It has paved the way for the
Communicative Teaching Approach. Since errors are considered a natural part of the learning process,
teachers now tend to use teaching activities which do not require constant supervision of the learner‘s
language. Consequently, group work and pair work has become a suitable means for language learning
these days.

WEAKNESSES

Despite many positive sides, some of the assumptions of Interlanguage have been criticized for their
weaknesses:

1. A major Interlanguage criticism relates to its limited explanatory power. The theory assumes that the
linguistic stage that a learner is at can be predicted by analyzing his errors. However, Error Analysis as a
mode of inquiry is limited in its scope as it concentrates on what the learner did wrong rather than on
what made him successful. It is often impossible to identify the unitary source of an error.

2. Error Analysis gives the learner base for improvements of his Interlanguage rules. But researches
confirm that too much correction can lead to a lack of motivation and thereby leading many correct
utterances unnoticed. Thus the learner needs to be restricted to important errors only.

3. The theories of Interlanguage cannot determine how the exact position of the learner in between L1
and L2 will be interpreted.