Volume 2: Elements of a Written Interlanguage: A Computational and Corpus-based Study of Institutional Influences on the Acquisition of English by Hong Kong Chinese Students
This study is the first to describe by empirical means many of the chief lexical, grammatical and discoursal characteristics of the written English of Hong Kong students. It questions theories that make strong claims for linguistic constraints on L2 acquisition, and suggests instead that EFL learners are often explicitly encouraged in production strategies that may limit the acquisition of grammatical and communicative competence. This research will be of interest to teachers, textbook authors and others interested in the characteristics of Hong Kong Interlanguage, how these patterns are acquired, and how the features of Standard English might more effectively be made available to learners.
