Abstract
The term interlanguage can be used to refer both to the object of investigation, i. e. learners’ L2 competences as instantiated in their linguistic productions, or to an approach to investigating such competences and describing such productions. In this second sense, it has major implications for both research and teaching, as it involves treating learners’ utterances as being based on separate linguistic systems, which need to be described in their own right, with no reference to other languages, including the L2. The didactic consequences of the interlanguage approach include, among other things, a different attitude towards errors, greater learners’ autonomy and a focus on linguistic experimentation and hypotheses-testing. The article reports on a project that applied these principles in some Italian primary schools. Pupils worked in groups to produce long, complex and well-organized written texts retelling a silent movie. Data collected at the beginning and end of the school year reveal that these experimental classes outperformed control classes on a number of dimensions, including group cohesion and motivation, text quality assessed with rating scales, and objective measures like text length, number of idea units, use of punctuation and cohesive devices. It is argued that interlanguage analysis and the interlanguage approach should become an integral part of teacher training in all areas of language education.
References
Andrade, Maurine Snow & Norman W. Evans. 2013. Principles and practices for response in second language writing. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203804605Search in Google Scholar
Baerman, Matthew, Dunstan Brown & Greville G. Corbett (eds.). 2015. Understanding and measuring morphological complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198723769.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen. 2014. Documenting interlanguage development. In ZhaoHong Han & Elaine Tarone (eds.), Interlanguage: Forty years later, 127–146. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/lllt.39.08ch6Search in Google Scholar
Bereiter, Carl & Marlene Scardamalia. 1987. The psychology of written composition. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Search in Google Scholar
Bley-Vroman, Robert. 1983. The comparative fallacy in interlanguage studies: The case of systematicity. Language Learning 33. 1–17.10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00983.xSearch in Google Scholar
Cancino, Herlinda, Ellen Rosansky & John Schumann. 1978. The acquisition of English negatives and interrogatives by native Spanish speakers. In Evelyn Hatch (ed.), Second Language Acquisition: A Book of Readings, 207–230. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House.Search in Google Scholar
Cloran, Carmen, David Butt & Geoffrey Williams (eds.). 2015. Ways of saying: Ways of meaning: Selected papers of Ruqaiya Hasan. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Search in Google Scholar
Cook, Vivian & Li Wei (eds.). 2016. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multicompetence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781107425965Search in Google Scholar
Council of Europe. 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Culp, Lisa-Anne. 1999. Academic English is no one’s first language: A multidisciplinary approach to teaching writing. University of Arizona doctoral dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Dulay, Heidi, Marina Burt & Stephen Krashen. 1982. Language two. New York: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Dunn, Thomas J., Thom Baguley & Vivienne Brunsden. 2014. From alpha to omega: A practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation. British Journal of Psychology 105(3). 399–412.10.1111/bjop.12046Search in Google Scholar
Ellis, Rod & Natsuko Shintani. 2014. Exploring language pedagogy through second language acquisition research. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203796580Search in Google Scholar
Gass, Susan M. & Alison Mackey. 2007. Data elicitation for second and foreign language research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.10.4324/9780203826102Search in Google Scholar
Gass, Susan M. & Larry Selinker. 2013. Second Language Acquisition: An introductory course. 4th edn New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203137093Search in Google Scholar
Genesee, Fred, Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, William Saunders & Donna Christian (eds.). 2006. Educating English Language Learners: A Synthesis of Research Evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511499913Search in Google Scholar
Granger, Sylviane, Joseph Hung & Stephanie Petch–Tyson (eds.). 2002. Computer learner corpora, second language acquisition, and foreign language teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/lllt.6Search in Google Scholar
Huebner, Thom. 1983. Linguistic system and linguistic change in interlanguage. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 6. 33–53.10.1017/S0272263100000280Search in Google Scholar
Klein, Wolfgang & Clive Perdue. 1992. Utterance structure. Developing grammars again. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/sibil.5Search in Google Scholar
Klein, Wolfgang & Clive Perdue. 1997. The basic variety (or: Couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research 13(4). 301–347.10.1191/026765897666879396Search in Google Scholar
Kuiken, Folkert & Ineke Vedder. 2017. Functional adequacy in L2 writing: Towards a new rating scale. Language Testing 34(3). 321–336.10.1177/0265532216663991Search in Google Scholar
Lakshmanan, Usha & Larry Selinker. 2001. Analyzing interlanguage: How do we know what learners know?. Second Language Research 17. 393–420.10.1191/026765801681495886Search in Google Scholar
Mastruserio Reynolds, Kate. 2015. Approaches to inclusive English classrooms. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783093342Search in Google Scholar
Naomi, Storch. 2013. Collaborative writing in L2 classrooms. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847699954Search in Google Scholar
Norris, John & Lourdes Ortega. 2003. Defining and measuring SLA. In Catherine J. Doughty & Michael H. Long (eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, 717–761. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Pallotti, Gabriele. 2010. Doing interlanguage analysis in school contexts. In Inge Bartning, Maisa Martin & Ineke Vedder (eds.), Communicative proficiency and linguistic development: Intersections between SLA and language testing research, 159–190. Amsterdam: Eurosla Monographs.Search in Google Scholar
Pallotti, Gabriele. 2017. Osservare l’interlingua: Percorsi di educazione linguistica efficace per ridurre le diseguaglianze [Observing interlanguage: Paths of effective language education to reduce inequalities]. In Massimo Vedovelli (ed.), L’italiano dei nuovi italiani. Atti del XIX Convegno Nazionale GISCEL. Roma: Aracne.Search in Google Scholar
Pallotti, Gabriele & Claudia Borghetti. In press. How the interlanguage construct can inform a writing programme. In Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta, et al. (eds.), Reconceptualizing connections between language, learning and literacy. New York: Springer.Search in Google Scholar
Pica, Teresa. 1984. Methods of morpheme quantification: Their effect on the interpretation of second language data. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 6(1). 69–78.10.1017/S0272263100000309Search in Google Scholar
Pienemann, Manfred. 1998. Language Processing and Second Language Development: Processability Theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/sibil.15Search in Google Scholar
Pike, Kenneth. 1954. Language in relation to a unified theory of the structure of human behavior. Glendale, CA: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Search in Google Scholar
Selinker, Larry. 1972. Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 10(2). 209–231.10.1515/iral.1972.10.1-4.209Search in Google Scholar
Siegel, Jeff. 2010. Second dialect acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511777820Search in Google Scholar
White, Ron & Valerie Arndt. 1991. Process Writing. Harlow: Longman.Search in Google Scholar
Wiliam, Dylan & Siobhán Leahy. 2015. Embedding formative assessment: Practical techniques for K-12 classrooms. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences International.Search in Google Scholar
Wolfe-Quintero, Kate, Shunji Inagaki & Hae Young Kim. 1998. Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy and complexity. Honolulu: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.Search in Google Scholar
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
