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Fossilization : a case study of an adult learner

Linguistic fossilization is a prevalent phenomenon in adult ESLA and presents a perpetual
pedagogical challenge to teachers. Despite controversy about the theoretical concept, research is
increasingly showing that persistent erroneousness cannot be attributed to single causal factors.
This single case study examines controversial aspects surrounding the concept and formulates
criteria for identifying fossilization. The study investigates the conversational output of an
independent adult learner over a period of nine months and presents a holistic exploration of
causal influences. The findings substantiate that fossilization arises from changing combinations
of factors, and that such combinations are unique to the situation of each adult learner. The key
to the successful treatment of fossilized errors may lie in identifying their roots, which can be
achieved by analyzing output and through discussion with learners in order to gain insight into
their experience of the learning process. Results also suggest that a critical perspective on the
theoretical construct is needed in order to investigate the phenomenon in adult second language acquisition. / Linguistics / M.A. (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL))

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/3083
Date06 1900
CreatorsDe Wit, Veronica Diane
ContributorsScheepers, Ruth Angela
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Format1 online resource (ix, 150 leaves)

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