Chapter 8. Trying out theories on interlanguage
-
Lourdes Ortega
Abstract
This chapter examines the development of English negation through the diverse theoretical lenses that have been applied to this phenomenon over 40 years of interlanguage research. Depending on the theory, L2 learners are imagined to have different learning tasks: from traversing negation stages or adding negation strategies in a sequence, in the foundational years of the field, to learning from affordances experienced as contingent and structured by social practices, in recent usage-based theories. Each lens contributes theory-specific analytical tools and explanations that in turn can advance description by triangulation and falsification. The chapter closes with the identification of three pending issues: accounting for variation and context, disentangling crosslinguistic influences vis-à-vis universal patterns, and clarifying the ambivalent role of accuracy in development.
Abstract
This chapter examines the development of English negation through the diverse theoretical lenses that have been applied to this phenomenon over 40 years of interlanguage research. Depending on the theory, L2 learners are imagined to have different learning tasks: from traversing negation stages or adding negation strategies in a sequence, in the foundational years of the field, to learning from affordances experienced as contingent and structured by social practices, in recent usage-based theories. Each lens contributes theory-specific analytical tools and explanations that in turn can advance description by triangulation and falsification. The chapter closes with the identification of three pending issues: accounting for variation and context, disentangling crosslinguistic influences vis-à-vis universal patterns, and clarifying the ambivalent role of accuracy in development.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enduring questions from the Interlanguage Hypothesis 7
- Chapter 2. Rediscovering prediction 27
- Chapter 3. From Julie to Wes to Alberto 47
- Chapter 4. Interlanguage, transfer and fossilization 75
- Chapter 5. The limits of instruction 105
- Chapter 6. Documenting interlanguage development 127
- Chapter 7. Methodological influences of “Interlanguage” (1972) 147
- Chapter 8. Trying out theories on interlanguage 173
- Chapter 9. Another step to be taken – Rethinking the end point of the interlanguage continuum 203
- Chapter 10. Interlanguage 40 years on 221
- Name index 247
- Subject index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enduring questions from the Interlanguage Hypothesis 7
- Chapter 2. Rediscovering prediction 27
- Chapter 3. From Julie to Wes to Alberto 47
- Chapter 4. Interlanguage, transfer and fossilization 75
- Chapter 5. The limits of instruction 105
- Chapter 6. Documenting interlanguage development 127
- Chapter 7. Methodological influences of “Interlanguage” (1972) 147
- Chapter 8. Trying out theories on interlanguage 173
- Chapter 9. Another step to be taken – Rethinking the end point of the interlanguage continuum 203
- Chapter 10. Interlanguage 40 years on 221
- Name index 247
- Subject index 253
