Abstract
This study explores the nature of interlanguage (IL) in terms of bilingual abstract lexical structure and its role in the formulation and development of IL as learners’ developing linguistic system. Adopting the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM) (Wei, 2002, 2003), it assumes that IL is a composite developing linguistic system because at different times different linguistic systems are in contact, such as learners’ first language (L1), the developing IL, and the target language (TL), and each contributes different amounts to the developing system of IL. The important claim of this study is that the mental lexicon contains abstract entries, called “lemmas”, which contain pieces of information about particular lexemes, and the bilingual mental lexicon contains language-specific lemmas, which are in contact in IL speech production. The other important claim of this study is that IL is fundamentally driven by bilingual abstract lexical structure, which contains several discrete but interacting subsystems: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns, and such an abstract lexical structure in IL may have different sources, such as those from learners’ L1 and/or the TL. The typical instances of learner errors discussed in this study offer some evidence that IL is a composite developing linguistic system.
Highlights
In second language acquisition (SLA) research, much attention has been paid to cross-linguistic influence in second language (L2) learning, and various opposing theories and models have been proposed to account for the nature and sources of language transfer or learner errors
This study explores the nature of interlanguage (IL) in terms of bilingual abstract lexical structure and its role in the formulation and development of IL as learners’ developing linguistic system
Following the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM), it claims that the bilingual mental lexicon is a composite, and the linguistic systems involved in IL, such as learners’ L1, their target language (TL), and their IL, contribute different amounts to the IL production
Summary
In second language acquisition (SLA) research, much attention has been paid to cross-linguistic influence in second language (L2) learning, and various opposing theories and models have been proposed to account for the nature and sources of language transfer or learner errors. 4. Sources of Abstract Lexical Structure in Interlanguage The BLAM claims that IL performance and development are governed by the similar general principles governing all linguistic systems of languages in contact and supports the central argument that in all language contact situations, there must be an ML projecting a grammatical frame that structures the surface constituents (Myers-Scotton, 1993 [1997]).
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