Linguistic research

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1. Introduction:
A key tenet of applied linguistic research vis-à-vis second/foreign language acquisition is the modelling of the underlying representations of learners at a particular stage in the process of L2 acquisition and of the developmental constraints that limit L2 production. Interlanguage, i.e. the linguistic system evidenced when a second language learner attempts to express meanings in the language being learned, is a central source of evidence for investigating these mental processes.
On that note, quality of research on language acquisition seems to rely largely on the reliability and validity of the data elicitation and collection procedures. While traditional SLA research had relied heavily on elicited experimental data thereby ignoring the importance of natural language data (Lozano &Mendikoetxea, 2013) , recent developments in (corpus) linguistics has popularised the use of corpora for research on second/foreign language acquisition. The interface between corpus linguistic research and second language acquisition research has given birth to a special category of linguistic corpora known as learner corpora, computerized textual database(s) of the language produced by foreign (or second) language learners (Leech 1998).
Since interlanguages are dynamic linguistic systems that naturally preserve some features of the learners’ first language due to linguistic interference, it is vital to document evidence of such interference and interlingual features in the form of a learner corpora that represents the interlanguage of a group of learners who share the same L1/geographical identity. Such a collection will facilitate high-quality research on target language acquisition. Therefore, the present paper proposes ...

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