Interlingua

The learner’s developing second language knowledge. It may have characteristics of the learner’s native language, characteristics of the second language, and some characteristics which seem to be very general and tend to occur in all or most interlingua systems. Interlinguas are systematic, but they are also dynamic, continually evolving as learners receive more input and revise their hypotheses about the second language.

Interlingua is systematic, because the learner selects the rules systematically, learners bases plans on the rule system, in the same way as the native speaker bases on the internalized knowledge of L1 system.

Interlingua is dynamic; learner’s Interlingua is constantly changing. The learner revises the interim system to accommodate new hypotheses about L2 system. (First introduction the new rule in one context and than another, and so on).

As a result of Interlingua theory, errors were no longer seen as unwanted forms, but as evidence of the learner’s active contribution. Error analysis can be used to investigate the processes that contribute to Interlingua development. The most significant contribution of error analysis is that, it elevates the status of errors from the undesirability to the guide to the inner workings to the language learning process.

Error analysis can benefit the tutor in several ways. First, it accounts for many errors which Contrastive Analysis does not. Second, because it emphasizes the student's recognition of language systems -- the fact that the student is learning rules and applying them -- the tutor can approach the student with a more positive attitude. Instead of seeing the student as simply an individual who has not or cannot learn proper usage, the tutor can understand the student as someone practicing cognitive skills -- analyzing, inducing, classifying, etc. From this perspective, the student becomes an active thinker -- not merely a passive receptacle waiting only to receive instruction.

Third, the tutor can use error analysis to classify the error according to a system and correct it by teaching proper target language examples. For instance, if the student consistently forms the past tense by adding -ed to all verbs but can identify and correct them when editing, the tutor may conclude that the student is overextending the rule during the composition of the first draft simply because he or she is concentrating on the ideas expressed rather than on spelling. Instead of reviewing past tense rules, the tutor might elect to stress the need to edit and proofread.