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Chapter 7. Methodological influences of “Interlanguage” (1972)

Data then and data now
  • Susan M. Gass and Charlene Polio
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Interlanguage
This chapter is in the book Interlanguage

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of Selinker’s claim that certain data were inappropriate for SLA research: grammaticality judgments and nonsense syllables. The field has gradually come to understand SLA through multiple data types, so that the current view is that data are not appropriate or inappropriate in a vacuum, but rather need to be understood in the context of the research questions asked. The chapter describes the data used in studies prior to 1972, and then focuses on grammaticality judgments and nonsense data, including artificial languages, in studies after 1972. Although both data types are common in current SLA research, Selinker problematized their use and made us consider what we can learn from data other than elicited speech.

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of Selinker’s claim that certain data were inappropriate for SLA research: grammaticality judgments and nonsense syllables. The field has gradually come to understand SLA through multiple data types, so that the current view is that data are not appropriate or inappropriate in a vacuum, but rather need to be understood in the context of the research questions asked. The chapter describes the data used in studies prior to 1972, and then focuses on grammaticality judgments and nonsense data, including artificial languages, in studies after 1972. Although both data types are common in current SLA research, Selinker problematized their use and made us consider what we can learn from data other than elicited speech.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 1. Enduring questions from the Interlanguage Hypothesis 7
  6. Chapter 2. Rediscovering prediction 27
  7. Chapter 3. From Julie to Wes to Alberto 47
  8. Chapter 4. Interlanguage, transfer and fossilization 75
  9. Chapter 5. The limits of instruction 105
  10. Chapter 6. Documenting interlanguage development 127
  11. Chapter 7. Methodological influences of “Interlanguage” (1972) 147
  12. Chapter 8. Trying out theories on interlanguage 173
  13. Chapter 9. Another step to be taken – Rethinking the end point of the interlanguage continuum 203
  14. Chapter 10. Interlanguage 40 years on 221
  15. Name index 247
  16. Subject index 253
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.39.09ch7

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 1. Enduring questions from the Interlanguage Hypothesis 7
  6. Chapter 2. Rediscovering prediction 27
  7. Chapter 3. From Julie to Wes to Alberto 47
  8. Chapter 4. Interlanguage, transfer and fossilization 75
  9. Chapter 5. The limits of instruction 105
  10. Chapter 6. Documenting interlanguage development 127
  11. Chapter 7. Methodological influences of “Interlanguage” (1972) 147
  12. Chapter 8. Trying out theories on interlanguage 173
  13. Chapter 9. Another step to be taken – Rethinking the end point of the interlanguage continuum 203
  14. Chapter 10. Interlanguage 40 years on 221
  15. Name index 247
  16. Subject index 253
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