Research on variability has sought to show that , although allowance should perhaps be made for some free variation, variability in learner language is systematic .That is, learners use their linguistic sources in predictable ways. The use of specific grammatical forms has been shown to vary according to the linguistic context, situational context and the psycholinguistic context.
Furthermore , variability plays an integrative part in the overall pattern of development, with learners moving through a series of stages that reflect different kinds variability 3. Interlanguage
Behaviourist learning theory: the dominant psychological theory of the 1950s and 1960s was Behaviourist learning theory. According to this theory ,language learning involves habit formation .Habits are formed when learners respond to stimuli in the environment and subsequently have their responses reinforced .thus ,a habit is a stimulus –response connection. It is believed that all behaviour 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. Behaviourist accounts of L2 acquisition emphasize only what can be directly observed and ignore what goes on in the black box of the learner‘s mind.
Mentalist theory: the 1960s witnessed a major shift in psychology and linguistics. From a preoccupation with the role of nurture ,researchers switched their attention to nature. This new paradigm was mentalist in orientation. in the 1960s and 1970s a mentalist theory of L1 acquisition
emerged. According to this theory;
1,only human being are capable of learning language 2,The human mind is equipped with a faculty for
learninglanguage ,referred to as a language acquisition device. 3.This faculty is the primary determinant of language acquisition 4. Input is needed but only to trigger the operation of the language acquisition device.
What is interlanguage ? Interlanguage was coined by American linguist Larry Selinker.
In recognition of the fact that L2 learners construct a linguistic system that draws ,in part ,on the learners‘L1 but is different from it and also different the target language, A learner‘s interlanguage is a unique linguistic system. The concept of interlanguage involves the following premises about L2 acquisition:
1. The learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules which underlies comprehension and production .the system of rules is viewed as a ―mental grammar ? and is referred as as ?interlanguage‘
2. The learner ?s grammar is permeable. That is ,the grammar is open to influence from the outside and inside 3. The learner?s grammar is transitional.
4. some researchers have claimed that the systems learners construct contain variable rules. others see variability as an aspect of performance rather than competence.
5. learners employ various learning strategies to develop their
interlanguage.
6. The learner ?s grammar is likely to fossilize. Fossilization does not occur I L1 acquisition and thus is unique to L2 grammars.
The concept of interlanguage incorporates elements from mentalist theories of linguistics and elements from cognitive psychology
A computational 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 referred to as intake.
second ,some of the intake is stored in long –term memory as L2 knowledge.The process responsible for creating intake and L2 knowledge occur within the blck 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. 4.social aspects of interlanguage
The prevailing perspective on interlanguage is psycholinguistic which researchers has been primarily concerned with identifying the internal mechanisms that are responsible for interlanguage development. However, SLA has also acknowledged the importance of social factors. Three different approaches to incorporating a social angle can be identified .1st views interlanguage as consisting of different style s which learners call upon under different conditions of language use .The 2nd concerns how social factors determine the input that learners use to construct their interlanguage. The 3rd considers how the social identities
that learners negotiate in their interactions with native speakers shape their opportunities to speak and thereby ,to learn an L2. Interlanguage as a stylistic continuum Tarone‘s theory
Tarone proposed that learners develop a capacity, which constitutes an abstract linguistic system ,is comprised of a number of different styles which learners access in accordance with a variety of factors .At the end of the continuum is the careful style ,evident when learners consciously attending to their choice of linguistic forms ,as when they feel the need to be correct. At the end of the continuum is the vernacular style, evident when learners are making spontaneous choices of linguistic form ,as is likely in free conversation.
An interlanguage grammar is constructed according to the same principles although different from the native speaker‘s grammar.
Some problems about stylistic continuum :1st,learners are not always most accurate in their careful style and least accurate in their vernacular style.2nd,the role of social factors remain unclear. Tarone‘s theory seems to relate more to psycholinguistic rather than social factors in variation. Howard Giles‘s accommodationtheory.
This seeks to explain how a learner‘s social group influences the course of L2 acquisition. The key is social accommodation. When people interact with each other they either try to make their speech similar to that of their addressee in order to emphasize social cohesiveness( a process of convergence ) or to make it different in order to emphasize their social
distinctiveness( a process of divergence) .When social conditions are such that learners are motivated to converge on native- speakers norms,high level of profiency ensue.;but when the condition encourage learners to maintain their own social in group, less learning takes place .According to his theory ,social factors influence interlanguae development via the impact they have on the attitudes that determine the kinds of language use learners engage in.
The acculturation model of L2 acquisition John Schumann‘s acculturation model:
He proposed that pidginization in L2 acquisition results when learners fail toacculturate to the target language group ;when they are unable to adapt to a new culture. The main reason for that is social distance ,This concerns the extent to which individual learners become members of a target –language group and therefore achieve contact with them .which is determined by a number of factors .Thus ,a good learning situation is one where there is little social distance because both view each other as socially equal, to wish the L2 group to assimilate the two share the same social facilities, the L2 group lacks cohesion,the L2 group is small ,both groups display positive attitudes towards each other and the L2 group is relatively permanent. . He also recognizes that social distance is sometimes indeterminate .In such cases ,psychological distance becomes important and identifies a further set of psychological factors ,such as language shock and motivation ,to account this.
Two problems with such a model: it fails to acknowledge the factors are
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