Order-of-Acquisition vs. Dynamic Paradigm: A Comparison of Method in Interlanguage Research

Much of the research in recent years on interlanguage focuses on the order of acquisition of morphemes as determined by their appearance in obligatory Standard English contexts. Although this approach to interlanguage research may reveal an acquisition order (Dulay and Burt 1974) or difficulty order (Bailey, Madden and Krashen 1974) of the morphemes under study, it fails to recognize the systematic use of English functors before they acquire Standard English functions and to explicate the interrelationships of the various areas of the interlanguage syntax. This paper reports on the development of the article system in an adult's interlanguage over a one-year period. It compares the results of a conventional order-of-acquisition analysis with a paradigm model based on Bickerton (1975). It concludes that: 1) differences in approach to data analysis result in different and sometimes apparently opposing conclusions concerning the nature of interlanguage; 2) the early stages of the interlanguage reflect considerable relexification of the first language; 3) functors judged ungrammatical by the order-of-acquisition approach apparently have well-defined functions within the interlanguage and follow systematic paths toward the standard use; and 4) those paths, like those in the depidginization process, are at least in part determined by psycholinguistic forces such as ambiguity avoidance.