Learner Language

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Learner Language
1. What is learner language?
2. The purpose of studying learner language
3. Learner language and errors
4. Developmental sequences of learner
language
5. L1 influence and learner language

I. What is learner language?
 Second language learner language is also
called “interlanguage” – learners’ developing
second language knowledge (Selinker,1972).
 Interlanguage is a developing system with its
interim structure, rather than an imperfect
imitation of the TL.
• it is systematic, predictable but also dynamic,
continually evolving as learners receive more
input and revise their hypotheses about the TL.
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 Interlanguage has the following
characteristics:
1) some characteristics influenced by the
learner’s previous learned language(s),
2) some characteristics of the L2, and
3) some characteristics which seem to be
general and tend to occur in all or most
interlanguage systems.

 The study of L2 learner language includes
• What types of errors learners make
• How their errors show their TL knowledge and
ability to use the TL
• How L2 learners develop their interlanguage
• What factors influence their interlanguage
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II. Purpose of studying learner language
 The study of leaner language helps teachers to
assess teaching procedures in the light of what
they can reasonably expect to accomplish in the
classroom.
 It also helps learners to be aware of the steps that
they go through in acquiring L2 features.
 It provides a deeper understanding of errors that
L2 learners make. An increase in error may not
result from a lack of practice or transfer from L1;
rather, it can be an indication of progress (e.g.,
due to overgeneralization).
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III. Learner language and errors
 During the 1960s:
• Most people regarded L2 learners’ speech as an
incorrect version of the TL.
• Their errors were believed to be the result mainly
of transfer from their L1.
• Contrastive analysis was the basis for
identifying differences between the L1 and the
L2 and for predicting areas of potential errors
(i.e., based on CAH).
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 Why is CAH problematic?
A number of SLA research studies show that
• Many errors can be explained better in terms of
learners’ attempts to discover the structure of
the language being learned rather than an
attempt to transfer patterns of their L1.
• Some errors are remarkably similar to the kinds
of errors made by young L1 learners (e.g., the
use of a regular -ed past tense for an irregular verb).
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 Why is CAH problematic? (continued)
A number of SLA research studies show that
• Errors are not always “bi-directional” when
differences between L1 and L2 exist.
• Learners have intuitions that certain features of
their L1 are less likely to be transferable than
others. For example, they believe that idiomatic
or metaphorical expressions cannot simply be
translated word for word.
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 During the 1970s:
• The research goal was to discover what learners really
know about the TL. Their errors reflect their current
understanding of the rules and patterns of the TL.
• Error analysis replaced contrastive analysis. It did not
set out to predict L2 learners’ errors; rather, it aims to
discover and describe different kinds of errors in an
effort to understand how learners process the L2.
• Error analysis is based on the assumption that L2
learner language is a system in its own right – one
which is rule-governed and predictable.
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* Activity – Error Analysis
 Looking at the activity on p. 74
“The Great Toy Robbery”
• Read the two texts and examine the errors made
by the two learners of English (a French-speaking
secondary school student and a Chinese-speaking
adult learner).
• Do they make the same kinds of errors? In what
ways do the two interlanguages differ?

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- Types of errors
 Developmental errors: the errors that might very well be made
by children acquiring their L1 (e.g., “a cowboy go”).
 Overgeneralization errors: the errors that are caused by trying
to use a rule in a context where it does not belong (e.g., “They
plays toys in the bar”, “She buyed a dress.”).
 Simplification errors: the errors that are caused by simplifying
or leaving out some elements (e.g., all verbs have the same
form regardless of person, number or tense).
 Misuse of formulaic expressions: (e.g., “Santa Claus ride a
one horse open sleigh to sent present for children”).
*See the lyric of Jingle Bell
 Interference errors (transfer from L1): (e.g., “On the back of
his body has big packet” 在他身體背後有個大背包)

- Discussion of Error Analysis
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 Advantage:
It permits a description of some systematic aspects of
learner language.
 Constraints:
It does not always give us clear insights into what
causes learners to do what they do, because
• It is very often difficult to determine the source of errors.
• Learners sometimes avoid using certain features of
language which they perceive difficult. The avoidance of
particular features will be difficult to observe, but it may also
be a part of the learner’s systematic L2 performance.

IV. Developmental sequences
 SLA research has revealed that
• L2 learners, like L1 learners, pass through sequences
of development.
• In a given language, many of these developmental
sequences are similar for L1 and L2 learners.
• It is not always the case that L2 features which are
heard or read most frequently are easier to learn (e.g.,
articles - ‘a’ & ‘the’).
• Even among L2 learners from different L1 backgrounds
and different learning environments, many of these
developmental sequences are similar.
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Grammatical morphemes
 Negation
Questions
 Relative clauses
 Reference to past
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- Grammatical morphemes
 Learners are often more accurate in using plural -s than
in using possessive -s’.
 Learners are often more accurate in using -ing than in
using -ed past.
 The learner’s L1 has some effect on the accuracy order
of grammatical morphemes; however, it is not entirely
determined by the learner’s L1. There are some strong
patterns of similarity among learners of different L1
backgrounds.
(* Please see p. 5 for the L1 development of grammatical morphemes)
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- Negation
 The acquisition of negative sentences by L2 learners follows a
path that looks nearly identical to the stages of L1 language
acquisition (* Please see p. 6).
 The difference is that L2 learners from different language
backgrounds behave somewhat differently within those
stages.
 Stages of forming negative sentences (see examples on pp. 77-78):
• stage 1 – using ‘no’ before the verb or noun
• stage 2 – using ‘don’t’
• stage 3 – using ‘are’, ‘is’, and ‘can’ with ‘not’
• stage 4 – using auxiliary verbs with ‘not’ that agree with tense,
person, and number.

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- Questions
 The developmental sequence for questions by L2 learners is similar in
most respects to L1 language acquisition (* Please see pp. 7-8).
 The developmental sequence for questions, while very similar across
learners, also appears to be affected to some degrees by L1 influence
(e.g., German learners of English, p. 79).
 Stages of forming questions (see examples on p. 79):
• stage 1 – single words or sentence fragments
• stage 2 – declarative word order (no fronting and no inversion)
• stage 3 – fronting (wh- fronting but no inversion; do-fronting)
• stage 4 – inversion in wh- + copula and ‘yes/no’ questions
• stage 5 – inversion in wh- questions
• stage 6 – complex questions (tag questions; negative questions;
embedded questions)

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- Relative clauses
 The pattern of acquisition for relative clauses (the
“accessibility hierarchy” for relative clause in English):
• Subject (‘The girl who was sick went home’)
• Direct object (‘The story that/which I read was long’)
• Indirect object (‘The man who[m] I gave the present to was
absent’)
• Object of preposition (‘I found the book that John was talking
about’)
• Possessive (‘I know the woman whose father is visiting’)
• Object of comparison (‘The person that Susan is taller than is
Mary’)

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- Reference to past (I)
 Learners with very limited language may simply refer to
events in the order in which they occurred or mention a
time or place to show that event occurred in the past.
e.g. My son come. He work in restaurant. He don’t like
his boss.
 Later, learners start to attach a grammatical morpheme
which shows that the verb is marked for the past. After
they begin marking past tense on verbs, learners may still
make errors such as overgeneralization of the regular -ed
ending.
e.g. John worked in the bank. He rided a bicycle.

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- Reference to past (II)
 Learners are more likely to mark past tense on some verbs
(action verbs) than on others (state verbs).
For example, learners seem to mark past tense more easily
in the sentences “I broke the vase” and “He fixed the car.”
than in the sentences “She seemed happy last week” or
“My father belonged to a club”.
 Learners seem to find it easier to mark past tense when
referring to completed events than when referring to states
and activities which may last for extended periods without a
clear end-point.
e.g. He stays there for a week. I want to know how he
learns English.

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- Conclusion
 Research shows that there are systematic and predictable
developmental stages, or sequences, of second language
acquisition.
 It is important to emphasize that developmental stages are not
liked “closed rooms”. Learners do not leave one behind when
they enter another. It is common that learners produce
sentences typical of several different stages.
 It is better to think of a stage as being characterized by the
“emergence” and “increasing frequency” of a particular form
rather than by the disappearance of an earliest one.
 Even for a more advanced learner, conditions of stress or
complexity in a communicative interaction can cause the
learner to ‘slip back’ to an earlier stage.

V. L1 influence and learner language
• Learners’ knowledge of their L1 helps them to learn the parts
of the L2 that are similar to the L1.
• The L1 may interact with learners’ developmental sequences
of the L2.
• “Avoidance” may be associated with learners’ perception
that a feature in the L2 is distant and different from their L1.
• Learners are usually aware that idiomatic or metaphorical
uses of words are often unique to a particular language;
therefore, L1 transfer of these uses seldom occurs.
• When learners’ interlanguage form does not cause any
difficulty in communicating meaning, they may find it difficult
to get rid of it (i.e., fossilization).
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Summary
 Researchers have found that learners who receive grammar-based
instruction still pass through the same developmental sequences and
make the same types of errors as those who acquire language in
natural settings.
 Research also shows that L2 learners from different L1 backgrounds
often make the same kinds of errors when learning the L2.
 The transfer of patterns from the L1 is only one of the major sources
of errors in learner language; however, there are other causes for
errors too, such as developmental errors, overgeneralization errors,
and simplification errors, which constantly affect interlanguage.
 Therefore, interlanguage errors are evidence of the learners’ efforts
to discover the structure of the TL itself rather than just attempts to
transfer patterns from their L1.

Learner Language

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