| Abstract: | To learn a language means actively coming to terms with it. The only means of arriving at an insight into the strategies that a learner uses is through the product, namely his learner language. In language acquisition the learner derives rules from the input and forms hypotheses about the target language, which he then tests in utterances. This learner language shows similarities to child language, which indicates that similar cognitive processes play a role in both cases. However, the learner language also shows the influence of the learner's native language, which means that the two learning processes are not identical. The learner language is not only characterised by the influence from the base language but by the following intrinsic characteristics: systemati‐city, which makes communication possible; variability, expressing itself in the use of different rules under different circumstances; dynamicity, which is implied by the learning process itself as the learner, by stages, approaches the target system; and relative stability, evident in developmental stages, in the uniformity of the process across learners and as an indication of the termination of the learning process. In addition to providing the necessary input, instruction can assist the learner in analysing the input and in testing his hypotheses. |
