Interlanguage: the Development of Learner Language – Chapter 1

In the previous chapter, Introduction, we exploited the metaphor “Bridging the gap” to
understand Interlanguage. In Chapter 1, define it and check what characteristics describe it.
(for further practice and information, the reader is referred to https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0561.pub2
Ellis; Gass & Selinker; Lightbown & Spada; Tarone)

Definition
Interlanguage (IL) corresponds to the type of language or language system used by second
language learners who are in the process of learning a Target Language (TL). Interlanguage studies
focus on the ways non-native speakers acquire, comprehend, and use patterns in a second language.
Learners create inter-language when they attempt to communicate in the target language.
In this sense, Interlanguage is the learner's current version of the language they are learning.
Interlanguage changes all the time but can become fossilized language when learners do not have
the opportunity to improve.
According to David Crystal, "A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, "[Interlanguage]
reflects the learner's evolving system of rules, and results from a variety of processes, including the
influence of the first language (transfer), contrastive interference from the target language, and
the overgeneralization of newly encountered rules" (Crystal, 2008, p. 1120).
From those brief considerations, it is possible to state that Interlanguage presents four basic
characteristics that define it: Interlanguage is dynamic, permeable, systematic and variable.

Characteristics
Interlanguage is dynamic and permeable. Consider, again, the “bridging the gap” metaphor.
At first, Interlanguage serves as the path between L1 and L2, because learners have not mastered
L2 yet. However, as learners progress in their development, their competence evolves and their
Interlanguage reflects such progress. For example: from I no swimming, to I don’t swimming, and
finally I don’t swim or I don’t know how to swim. Their progress occurs because Interlanguage is
always being altered, changed, deleted, and added, as an indication of its action and mutation.
Interlanguage is systematic. Each learner creates their own Interlanguage with rules and
variations. Learners rely on their first language (L1) to understand and organize L2 or to compensate
for lack of knowledge in L2 (Language Transfer or Interference). Although Interlanguage rules may
not correspond to the actual rules, they are systematic also because they are predictable in certain
ways. For example: I received money, I buyed a new car, and I selled it, as for Past Simple rule, in
which learner did not differ Regular Verbs from Irregular ones. As discussed later on
Overgeneralization of Target Language Rules, the system internalized may correspond to the
general rules, but not to the exceptions.
Interlanguage is variable. Learners apply the same rule differently in different situations.
Therefore, learners’ performance varies in terms of accuracy and fluency. For example, in a
classroom setting, learners usually focused on producing grammatically correct sentences, whereas
in a spontaneous conversation, learners may focused on fluency in detriment of accuracy. From I
don't drink coffee, in class, to I no drink coffee, during the break.