Item versus system learning: explaining free variation

Abstract

This article provides an explanation for the existence of free variation in learner language. It argues that interlanguage is best conceptualized as sets of loose lexical networks that are gradually reorganized into a system or systems. Free variation in learner-language is seen as the behavioural manifestation of the lexical networks and systematic variation of the existence of a system. The article reviews previous research that provides evidence of the existence of free variation. It argues that free variation is of theoretical significance to SLA researchers because it reflects the role of item learning in acquiring an L2. Free variation arises when learners add items to those they have already acquired and before they analyse these items and organize them into a system. This view of free variation accords with current cognitive views of L2 acquisition according to which syntactic categories are extracted from items that are implicitly acquired through exposure to input (Ellis 1996).