Why Bilingual People Can Get Stuck In In-Between-Land
Interlanguage Fossilization
Fossilization isn't just something that happens to trees and people who refuse to get off the couch. Did you know there's a concept called "fossilization" in linguistics as well? I'm gonna dive into it in this article, so if this is your thing (understanding why you/your team keep getting stuck in linguistic in-between-land, I mean) keep reading.
You might've noticed my sub-heading was "Interlanguage Fossilization" and not just "fossilization" - so this is specifically about learners of second languages. So what does "interlanguage” mean?
Well: you know that thing where you might keep saying "Ich bin ein Ingenieur", even though you might have been told many times that one doesn't put "a/an" in front of people's jobs in German ('cause it sounds more like "I'm ONE engineer" - to which the reply would be "well, duh - how many engineers could one person be?").
That's interlanguage. It's a linguistic mish-mash that learners of a second language (L2) often create, where they technically speak the L2 but preserve some features of their first language (L1) that break the rules of the L2. It's common, and understandable. It's also unique to every language learner, even though some patterns are more consistent than others - eg. not every native English speaker relatively new to learning German will get the word order wrong...but most do.
Impact
Needless to say, if you need your team to get to, say, a B2-Level in German, fossilization throws a spanner in your works. Here's an unfortunate thing I've noticed over my many years of teaching: sometimes knowing a little bit of a language is worse than knowing none of it. Because someone who knows a little bit can think they know more than they do, and become unreceptive to feedback. The A0/A1 student might be showing up with their eyes and ears wide open, ready to absorb knowledge - but the A2/B1-ish one might have already built some unproductive patterns that they're reluctant to break.
Especially in the context of business communication, doing it right and not just kinda-sorta-doing it, can make all the difference between being taken seriously by your foreign-language stakeholders or clients. Of course, people will often cut the L2 learner some slack when they see they're trying, however the learner's understanding of the language will still suffer. Fossilization isn't just about struggling to express oneself correctly - it can also be about struggling to understand patterns different to one's native tongue. Also, sometimes they might cut that German learner too much slack and switch to English - which keeps their German development stuck in fossilization.
Mitigation
One thing I've found helps curb fossilization and get people closer to "Deutsch" than "Denglish", is a perspective shift. I know, I know: if you've been reading me for a while, you know how much I hate 'MinDseTt WuRk' and other amateur-hour psychology from non-experts. But in this case it's less about "mindset" and more about expanding the learner's viewpoint.
Here's what I mean:
- when someone starts learning an L2, their first goal is usually bare-bones communication. In other words, "can people understand what the hell I'm saying, even on a basic level?". And that's great - it *should* be their first goal. You walk first, run later, etc.
- HOWEVER: the problems start showing up when their command of the L2 is upgraded...but their goals aren't. So now they speak a bit of the L2, and their goals are still stuck on that "can people understand what the hell I'm saying, even on a basic level?". If you're not a complete beginner, though, it's kind of a given that you can express yourself in a rudimentary way, even if it's not that nuanced or elegant. And the whole point of business communication (and, by extension, language learning FOR that purpose) *is* nuance and pizzazz. It's not enough for people to just about be able to follow, possibly with you throwing a few charades in there.
And there's the issue: learners need to have their goals upgraded along with their growing knowledge of the L2. Now, you might think "well duh - isn't that obvious? If they're taking a course to get them to B1/B2, why would they stop improving at an A2?". Well, because it's not enough for them to...sit through a B2-level course. They also need to be receptive to that level of vocab, grammar, and cultural context. So the expectation that they will do that needs to be baked into every kind of input they get, from you and me. They need to be told preemptively that fossilization is common, and that this is one of the big causes of it. They need to be encouraged to not dial back the openness to learn as soon as they know a little. I call that the "yeah, yeah" factor.
As in: I used to have a student, whom I taught English for his job. He'd learned some English and could mostly express himself in a clumsy, basic way. So when I'd correct him ("George, it's not 'what is mean deadline?' - it's 'what does deadline mean?'“), he'd go "yeah, yeah - you understood me". Learners need to be discouraged from resting on their laurels and adopting the "yeah, yeah - you understood me" mentality. And to a large extent that comes from letting them know their goal is to communicate WELL, not just...at all.
In other words, once they go above 'complete beginner', their target needs to shift to something else - not just 'the same, but more of it'.
Another factor is, of course, consistency. (Most) adults simply don't absorb languages like a sponge, the way children do. After 10+ years of teaching adults, I would guess maybe one in ten can do that. So if you're looking to havde a whole team trained...they need consistency. That doesn't mean pressure, but it does mean 'regular contact with the L2' - again, from my experience the best results tend to come from 1-2 hours per week for 1:1 training, or 3-4 for groups. In addition, learners need to be strongly encouraged to keep building those new connections in their brain - daily exposure to things like learning apps, beginner-level stories, podcasts, or Youtube channels, all help. So does chatting with potential friends or family they might have in the L2-speaking country(/-ies). The effect is cumulative, and there's also something to be said about not feeling under pressure. When learners see "using L2" as just another part of their day, seamlessly woven inbetween brushing their teeth and going to the grocery store, they're less likely to stress about it. Which is why I encourage (and lead) non-traditional L2-based activities to supplement "formal" lessons - think cafe/restaurant crawls, walks in the park, or role-playing games. Gamification of learning is highly productive because learners build that flexible muscle memory instead of seeing L2 as something one "does", only during "lesson time".
And that's another context within which fossilization can occur: you might have noticed some learners use the L2 correctly...but only within specific contexts. For example, they might write well, but speak clumsily - or vice versa. Or they might have learned certain fixed phrases but not map their structure over to similar context (eg. they might say or write "I look forward to hearing back from you", but as soon as they have to use a different verb it might become "I look forward to meet you tomorrow"). Cognitive flexibility, built into their ongoing language training in the form of gamification, low-stakes use of the L2, or both, can help curb that.
Another tactic I've found highly effective, is what I call "threading the needle", ie. honing their L2-troubleshooting skills without applying them to themselves at first. People often have blind spots for their own mistakes, and there's also something to be said about ego and wanting to be right. Hence, they (well...we!) are more likely to spot the exact same mistake when someone else does it. So I often have students troubleshoot each other (nicely! #teamwork), or present them with texts I've purposefully screwed up, to see if they can pick out the mistakes. Once their L2-troubleshooting ability becomes sharper, then I have them self-analyze - as a rule, with a much higher success rate.
Fossilization VS Cultural Differences
Of course, part of what may seem like 'fossilization' is just misunderstanding of context. Pretty much any professional I've taught German has been thrown for a loop when they'd ring a German colleague, and they'd just get "Schmidt". That's a cultural difference: in the German-speaking world, the default way you answer a phone, is by simply saying your surname. No "hi, this is X?", and certainly not "hi, this is X - how can I help you?"! Even I, being a native German speaker, sometimes get caught off-guard after ten years in London.
Yet another reason why language learning for business needs to have a 'cultural context' component - ideally by someone who's either a native speaker of L2, has lived in the L2-speaking country for a long time, or both. Bonus points if they've lived in the L1-speaking for a long time as well, so they can really compare the two settings. Without knowing if students are stuck because they're playing by a different rulebook or because their L2 is fossilizing, it can be tricky to troubleshoot.
In Conclusion
Your team doesn't need to get stuck in linguistic in-between-land, but you do need to do certain things to minimize the odds of that happening. Key ones being:
1. hire experienced teachers who, at minimum, tick all of these boxes:
* good understanding of instructional design and how adults learn, especially in professional environments
* strong 'soft skills' (I hate that term, and maybe you do, too - but it's the quickest way to get us both on the same page, isn't it?) that allow them to create a suppportive and relaxed learning environment
* (inter)cultural competence, ie. are either native speakers of the L2, have lived in L2 territory for a long time, or both (preferable if they've ALSO lived in L1 territory for a long time and can compare those two contexts)
* flexibility in terms of teaching methods, which include non-strictly-lesson formats like cultural/language immersion activities
2. lay the groundwork and let your learners know, in advance, that the objectives will be updated as their level of proficiency grows (as mentioned, moving from "making any sense" to "speaking with clarity and nuance")
3. organize learning in the format that works for your team (1:1? Group? In-person? Online? Weekly? Twice a week? Collect that data!)
4. make sure you have the budget for some consistency AND some resources outside of "hiring a good teacher/trainer". Resources like paid subscriptions to Amazon Audible, DuoLingo, Rosetta Stone, a potential travel budget, a potential "day out doing activites in L2" budget, etc.
That's all for now. As always, if you have any comments or questions, comment here or email me!
Nick
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Some further reading, if that's your thing:
"A Review of Interlanguage Fossilization in English Learning", by Zishuo & Zikai (2024). Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How Languages Are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Pearson Education.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching. A Practical Introduction for Teachers. Council of Europe.
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
Han, Z. H. (2004). Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.