What is "interlanguage"

n. 1 A language created by students of a foreign language, incorporating aspects of their own language, a mixed language. 2 A lingua franca, a common language used by speakers of different languages. 3 A pidgin, a creole

n. a common language used by speakers of different languages; "Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times" [syn: lingua franca, koine]

Interlanguage is the term for an ideolect that has been developed by a learner of a second language (or L2) who has not yet reached proficiency. A learner's interlanguage preserves some features of their first language (or L1), and can also overgeneralize some L2 writing and speaking rules. These two characteristics of an interlanguage result in the system's unique linguistic organization.

An interlanguage is idiosyncratically based on the learners' experiences with the L2. It can "fossilize", or cease developing, in any of its developmental stages. The interlanguage rules are claimed to be shaped by several factors, including L1-transfer, previous learning strategies, strategies of L2 acquisition (i.e., simplification), L2 communication strategies (i.e., circumlocution), and overgeneralization of L2 language patterns.

Interlanguage is based on the theory that there is a dormant psychological framework in the human brain that is activated when one attempts to learn a second language. Interlanguage theory is often credited to Larry Selinker, who coined the terms "interlanguage" and "fossilization." Uriel Weinreich is credited with providing the foundational information that was the basis of Selinker's research. Selinker (1972) noted that in a given situation, the utterances produced by a learner are different from those native speakers would produce had they attempted to convey the same meaning. This comparison suggests the existence of a separate linguistic system. This system can be observed when studying the utterances of the learner who attempts to produce meaning in their L2 speech; it is not seen when that same learner performs form-focused tasks, such as oral drills in a classroom.

Interlanguage can be variable across different contexts; for example, it may be more accurate, complex and fluent in one domain than in another.

To study the psychological processes involved one can compare the interlanguage utterances of the learner with two things:

1. Utterances in the native language (L1) to convey the same message produced by the learner.
2. Utterances in the target language (L2) to convey the same message, produced by a native speaker of that language.

It is possible to apply an interlanguage perspective to a learner's underlying knowledge of the target language sound system (interlanguage phonology), grammar (morphology and syntax), vocabulary (lexicon), and language-use norms found among learners (interlanguage pragmatics).

By describing the ways in which learner language conforms to universal linguistic norms, interlanguage research has contributed greatly to our understanding of linguistic universals in second-language acquisition.

An interlanguage is an emerging language system in the mind of a second language learner.

Interlanguage may also refer to:

• Interlanguage, a term in interlinguistics referring to any language used between people who cannot communicate by means of their first languages
• Interlanguage, a synonym for pivot language, an intermediary language used as a tool for translation between many different languages