Functional Constraints on Variation in Interlanguage Morphology

This paper critically evaluates the functional hypothesis that interlanguage (IL) is an efficient means of communicating referential information.It is concluded that early IL is a relatively poor vehicle for the communication of referential information, and that this weakness is not peculiar to IL from any one group of learners. As a result, a significant amount of repair through interaction is necessary if information is not to be lost altogether.