Corpus-based approaches to learner interlanguage:: case studies based on the 'International Corpus of Learner English'

This article deals with two aspects of learner language. It first outlines the advantages of present-day learner corpora over the 1970s' error collections as well as their potential and limitations for foreign language pedagogy. In two case studies, the German and Italian components of the International Corpus of Learner English are then employed to demonstrate the usefulness of this corpus for the study of transfer and learner universals. The analysis of verb/adjective/noun + preposition combinations and text connectors shows the great influence of native language interference on advanced learners' productions. At the same time it becomes evident that the absence of native language transfer does not necessarily imply the existence of learner language universals.