The variability of interlanguage use

Abstract

One area of interest in research into second language (L2) acquisition is the nature and properties of the L2 learner's developing knowledge of the target L2 grammar. Variability is evident in the interlanguage grammars of all L2 learners, irrespective of their levels of proficiency; their interlanguage use is characterised by the variable occurrence of target L2 forms, and the occurrence of more than one variant of a form where the target L2 has only one. This pattern of linguistic behaviour is called "non-systematic variability". In this article, the phenomenon of this variability in L2 knowledge is investigated.

Keywords

• second language acquisition
• interlanguage use
• interlanguage grammar