| Interlanguage refers to the continuum of a second language learner's systematic knowledge of the target language. It is between the learner's mother tongue and the target language, and is theoretically expected to move toward the target language with the target language input increasing. A lot of studies show, however, that most learners' interlanguage, having reached a certain level, will stay at a certain place without continuing progressing steadily as before toward the target language. Some non-target language forms will never disappear entirely. This is what is called fossilization in interlanguage.Since the notion of fossilization was formally introduced by Selinker in 1972, a number of works have been published on this issue with the view to working out feasible solutions to the problem. They mainly discuss such topics as the definitions and interpretations of fossilization, the causes associated with fossilization and the possible strategies dealing with it. While most of these researches focus basically on the linguistic structure, the complete and systematic research on this issue including language use is rarely found. Moreover, most of them are actually carried out on the basis of the second language in a narrow sense, i.e. the language learners learn the target language within the target language community. We can hardly find out either the concern over the differentiation between the phenomena of fossilization appearing in the second languageteaching and learning environment and those appearing in the typical foreign language teaching and learning environment like ELT in China, or a detailed and systematic analysis of the phenomena of fossilization in the interlanguage of the Chinese learners of English. These are the areas that this dissertation attempts to explore.On the basis of reviewing the literature of interlanguage and fossilization in interlanguage and presenting the status quo of ELT in China, we differentiate between the fossilization in interlanguage in the SLA environment and that in the typical foreign language learning environment, and put forth our own views on classification of fossilization concerning the content and nature. Two surveys have been conducted respectively to investigate the manifestations of fossilization in the aspects of linguistic structure and language use, and the findings of the investigations support our view on this issue to a great extent. And then we discuss the attitudes toward and strategies dealing with the fossilization in the Chinese learners' interlanguage and put forward our views on this matter, which, we believe, will be beneficial in some way to the related research and to the improvement of English language teaching and learning in China.This dissertation consists of the following six chapters:Chapter 1 is an introduction, giving a brief account of the research background, objectives and the layout of this dissertation.Chapter 2 reviews the studies regarding the definition or interpretations of interlanguage and of fossilization in interlanguage, the classification of fossilization and the four models that account for the phenomena of fossilization. It can be seen that most researches focus mainly on the fossilization concerning linguistic structure and that the principal feature of those fossilized or stabilized linguistic items discussed in the researches is that they continue to appear in interlanguage regardless of further exposures to the target language.Chapter 3 gives a general description of the status quo of interlanguage of the Chinese learners of English with the focus on the particularities of the ELT in China as foreign language teaching and learning and a phenomenon caused by these particularities among the Chinese learners: some non-target language forms, having been lasting for a relatively long period of time for lack of appropriate treatment from both the learners and teachers, are likely to be fossilized.Chapter 4 focuses on the phenomena of fossilization in the interlanguage of theChinese learners of...
|
PDF Full Text Request