Analyzing Late Interlanguage with Learner Corpora: Québec Replications of Three European Studies

Abstract

The characterization of learner interlanguage has been largely confined to the early acquisition of speech in a second language (L2), with later acquisition not commonly analyzed in this framework for lack of theory, lack of data, and the fact that late acquisition is intermeshed with the acquisition of literacy. The current trend to electronic submission of classroom writing relieves the data problem, defines steps in the acquisition of literacy, and may even contribute to the growth of theory. When assembled by teachers or researchers into a learner corpus (LC) of suitable size and character, such a corpus provides the empirical means to discover what advanced learners know and do not know about their L2. A strong tradition of LC analysis has emerged in Europe; the present study introduces this work and tests its applicability to a North American context.