An interlanguage grammar is one that is acquired by the speakers of one language (L1) whilst they are attempting to learn another (L2). The interlanguage grammar is erroneous in the context of the second language, and may develop for one of two main reasons. The first is that L2 will be spoken with some grammatical elements found in L1, as would be found in a pidgin or a creole but with less certainty and more flexibility. It may also evolve where the learner has begun learning some rules that only apply to certain contexts of L2 (Cook, 2014). This is usually termed simplification and is more common in early learners of L2 (Cook, 2014). It is also related somewhat to the idea of a universal grammar, which suggests that even early learners of L2 conform to the rules of universal grammar, despite the fact that they are making these interlanguage grammar errors (Cook, 2013).
In the transcript above, it seems as though the non-native speaker is using an interlanguage grammar for several reasons. The first is major reason is that the mistakes that are being used are being done so on a repeated basis. In the case of a performance error, each individual mistake would be made once or twice. The difference is that the native speaker may also experience such slips of grammar and their language would constitute a performance error (Cook, 2013). In the case of an interlanguage grammar error, the mistakes that occur do so on a frequent basis and the non-native speaker is making the same error repeatedly due to their own grammar rules (Cook, 2013). There are several examples of the non-native speaker in the transcript making the same error multiple times.
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The non-native speaker makes the error of using the passive voice incorrectly three times within the transcript, each time using “she born”. The more correct format of this would be “she was born” when using England, and therefore the speaker is incorrectly using the past tense here (White, 2003). This is offset by the use of the passive voice correctly once during the transcript (“it is located”) although this is not the same type of verb as “born” and it is not referring to the same individual throughout the sentence, so the error is still being continuously made throughout (White, 2003). Another error that the speaker makes with respect to verb use comes from the use of “who are living”, where a native English speaker would use “who live”, although both are grammatically correct. This is a suggestion that the speaker is using the perfect grammatical rules rather than the ones that are most applicable in this situation (White, 2003).
Another error that is commonly made by non-native English speakers and is done throughout this transcript is the misuse or removal of articles. This speaker makes this mistake several times throughout the transcript, for example “It’s not very big village” (where the article “a” is missing” and “Karasha is near the Ankara” (where the article “the” is substituted where it is not necessary). These types of mistakes are commonly found in speakers of languages that always use an article before the noun, whereas English only has two (“a/an” or “the”) which are commonly misused (Holliday, 2005). This suggests that the speaker in the current dialogue is imposing their own grammar onto English grammar in a repeated way to come up with this new interlanguage grammar (Holliday, 2005).
- Cook, V. (2013). Second language learning and language teaching. Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ma0uAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=interlanguage+grammar&ots=uXeulNKQlf&sig=FBDA02BbaekyFhtnm06Zb6_kF4g
- Cook, V. (2014). How Important is Grammar in Acquiring and Using a Second. Key Topics in Second Language Acquisition, 10, 55.
- Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Cambridge Univ Press. Retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=1221880
- White, L. (2003). On the nature of interlanguage representation: Universal grammar in the second language. The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, 19–42.
