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))
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/3083 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | De Wit, Veronica Diane |
| Contributors | Scheepers, Ruth Angela |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (ix, 150 leaves) |
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