Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-b5k59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-06T19:18:31.404Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Systematic and Nonsystematic Variability in Advanced Language Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Richard Towell ,
Roger Hawkins  and
Nives Bazergui
Richard Towell
Affiliation:
University of Salford
Roger Hawkins
Affiliation:
University of Essex
Nives Bazergui
Affiliation:
University of Essex
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Variability, both systematic and nonsystematic, has been the subject of much debate in recent years in the study of learner interlanguage. This article presents empirical evidence from a longitudinal study of a small group of advanced learners of French. Variability is noticeable throughout the period of learning of a particular structure in French. Nonsystematicity observed in individual learners' performance is explained in the light of developmental stages such as those put forward in Gatbonton's diffusion model. When looked at in terms of developmental processes, nonsystematic variability becomes an essential element of progress. Patterns of development are observed across the subjects, and learning can thus be seen to follow a systematic route.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , December 1993 , pp. 439 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bialystok, E. (1991). Metalinguistic dimensions of bilingual language proficiency. In Bialystok, E. (Ed.), Language processing in bilingual children (pp. 113–140). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Sharwood Smith, M. (1985). Interlanguage is not a state of mind: An evaluation of the construct for second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 6, 101–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppieters, R. (1987). Competence differences between native and near-native speakers. Language, 63, 544–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R. (1985a). Sources of variability in interlanguage. Applied Linguistics, 6, 118–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R. (1985b) Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (Ed.). (1987). Second language acquisition in context. Cambridge, MA: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gatbonton, E. (1978). Patterned phonetic variability in second language speech: A gradual diffusion model. In Rutherford, W. (Ed.), Second language acquisition and language universals. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Johnson, J., & Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kayne, R. (1981). On certain differences between French and English. Linguistic Inquiry, 12, 349–371.Google Scholar
Kilroe, P. (1989). The grammaticalization of French à. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of Second Language Learning. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Pienneman, M., Johnston, M., & Brindley, G. (1988). Constructing an acquisition-based procedure for second language assessment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10, 217–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinker, S. (1984). Language learnability and language development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rizzi, L. (1990). Relativized minimality. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Rutherford, W. (1989). Preemption and the learning of L2 grammars. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11, 441–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B., & Gubala-Ryzak, M. (1992). Learnability and grammar reorganisation in L2A: Against negative evidence causing the unlearning of verb movement. Second Language Research, 8, 1–38.Google Scholar
Tarone, E. (1983). On the variability of interlanguage systems. Applied Linguistics, 4, 143–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarone, E. (1988). Variability in interlanguage. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Towell, R. (1987). Variability in progress in the language development of advanced learners of a foreign language. In Ellis, R. (Ed.), Second language acquisition in context (pp. 113–127). Cambridge, MA: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar