LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 16:4 April 2016
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Different Types of Free Variation in the Writing of
Sri Lankan ESL Learners

K. L. Ramanan
University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Interlanguage is a concept that denotes the developmental stages of second language learning that occurs when a learner starts to acquire a target language after he/she has started acquiring his/her first language. Teachers of ESL need to be aware of these developmental stages of the learners as he/she deals with the learner-errors in the process of teaching. This article analyses the developmental stages of Sri Lankan ESL learners’ interlanguage (errors) adopting qualitative method of inquiry. An undergraduate student has been chosen as a sample, and systematic and free variations (errors) in her writings are analyzed in the light of interlanguage. The study reports some structural errors in detail and enlists some common errors. Though the particular learner conforms to the theory of interlanguage by displaying features of different stages of interlanguage, where the learners are generally considered to be mastering each stage and pass on to the next, she displays a unique phenomena i.e. she is at different stages of the interlanguage continuum at the same time.

Keywords: learner errors, free variation, interlanguage, interlanguage continuum, second language learning.

1. Introduction

In the field of second language acquisition learner-errors, learners’ developmental stages and the variations in their developmental stages are important concerns. The concept of “interlanguage” is perceived as a continuum between the first language and the target language of the learner. At any point along the continuum of interlanguage, the learners’ language is systematic and any difference could be explained by differences in their experience (Larsen Freeman and Michael, 1991). Ellis (1999, p.464) reported that free variation can be held to exist when two or more variants of the same linguistic variable are seen to be used randomly by individuals with regard to all of the following: 1. The same situational context(s). 2. The same illocutionary meanings. 3. The same linguistic context(s). 4. The same discourse context(s) and 5. The same planning conditions.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

K. L. Ramanan
Lecturer, English Language Teaching Centre,
University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Jaffna 40000
Sri Lanka
lakshmananramanan@gmail.com
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