Teaching English

Interlanguage

If you are learning English and your mother tongue is French then you create for yourself an intermediary system that is built with part English and part French. This new system you create for yourself is called interlanguage. It is the intermediary language that is between the first language, French in this case, and the second language, English.

While learning a second language, learners build up a system for themselves which is different in some ways from their first language and second language systems. The system which the learners build up for themselves has been given various names but the most widely used terminology is that suggested by Selinker (1974). He calls this Interlanguage to emphasize the structurally intermediate status of the learner’s language system between his mother tongue and his target language. A detailed study of this Interlanguage could help us to understand the learners’ problems better and try to provide timely help to learners, so that they achieve competence in the language they are trying to learn.

Selinker’s theory of Interlanguage

Based on the theory that there is a ‘psychological structure latent in the brain’ which is activated when one attempts to learn a second language. Selinker (1972) proposes the theory of Interlanguage. Selinker says that in a given situation the utterances produced by the learner are different from those native speakers would produce had they attempted to convey the same meaning. This comparison reveals a separate linguistic system. This system can be observed when we study the utterances of the learners who attempt to produce a target language norm.

To study the psychological processes involved one should compare the Interlanguage of the learner with two things. These two things are as under:

(1) Utterances in the native language to convey the same message made by the learner

(2) Utterances in the target language to convey the same message made by the native speaker of that language

Ac cording to Selinker five central processes are responsible for this Interlanguage. They are:

(1) language transfer

(2) transfer of training

(3) strategies of second language learning

(4) strategies of second language communication and

(5) overgeneralization

Jean D’Souza (1977) thinks these five processes could be reduced to three for according to him there is no clear cut distinction between processes three, four and five. According to him overgeneralization could include strategies of second language learning and strategies of second language communication. Besides he points out that it is not always possible to say with certainty whether a learner uses a particular form because he thinks it is enough to communicate effectively or because he is using a particular strategy.

Following are the three processes suggested by Jean D’Souza:

(1) transfer from previous learning experience; errors due to interference;

(2) simplification and overgeneralization of elements of the target language system; errors due to learning strategies; and

(3) errors arising from teaching methods and materials employed; ‘teaching induced’ errors.

• Selinker and Jean D'Souza
• Idiosyncratic Dialect
• Approximative System
• Transitional Competence
• Error Analysis & English Teaching