Variability in interlanguage

(1)?Contextual variability

①?variability resulted of situational context

1)?Empirical studies:

a.?issue: phonological and grammatical development

b.?Conclusion:

when a learner is able to attend closely to his performance, he may produce not only a higher incidence of target language forms, but also a higher incidence of L1 forms, if these are associated with formal use in the L1

2)?The interlanguage continuum (Tarone)

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a.?the stylistic continuum is the product of differing degrees of attention reflected in a variety of performance tasks

b.?it is part of competence, not performance

②?variability resulted of linguistic context

1)?two different linguistic contexts induce different forms (correct form or deviant forms)

2)?acquisition of a linguistic feature consisted of the gradual mastery of its use in a range of linguistic contexts

③?Summary

1)?the effects of the linguistic and situational context interact to influence jointly the learner’s use of interlanguage forms

2)?Interlanguage as the intersection of two continua

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(2)?Free variability

①?There are alternative rules

②?The acquisition of the forms of the formulas preceded the acquisition of their functions

(3)?Summary

①?The learner slowly extends the contextual range of the forms he has acquired, by mastering their use in additional stylistic and linguistic contexts

②?The learner slowly resolves the free variability that exists in his interlanguage by developing clear form-function relationships