Abstract

Abstract Fossilization is when there is a permanent cessation of a person learning a new target language. Certain incorrect forms of the language are fossilized into the person's language production. After a while, these incorrect forms are accept as correct. There are many reasons why language learners never reach target-like proficiency of the new target language. In Papua New Guinea, there are many examples of fossilisation in the use of English. These non-standard fossilized forms may emerge due to the transfer of the phonetic sounds of the mother tongue. Fossilization may occur with the lack of syntactic knowledge, therefore, the some speakers have difficulty in constructing a correct form of the English sentence. Semantic fossilization is common when words are imported from a local language into English. The most common reason for fossilization is that adequate communication is achieved so there is no motivation to continue learning the various forms of the new language. Changing these commonly accepted forms is very difficult. Background Why does Selinka (1972) say that only five percent of second language English learners achieve native-like use of their new language? Why as a language teacher in Papua New Guinea (PNG), do many of my students only achieve partial knowledge of English? Long (1997) suggested that even with the right motivation and ample learning opportunities, most learners never achieve full proficiency in the target language. Language learners are prone to aspect of language fossilization. Interlanguage According to Fossilization There may be many attempts to stimulate the continual learning process. The term 'fossilization' was created to provide the sense of entrenching and permanence of incorrect Language & Linguistics in Melanesia Vol. 33 No. 2, 2015 ISSN: 0023-1959 61 application of grammatical rules, spelling, and even issues of pronunciation. Even though this term is strongly debated, it will be used in this essay to refer to the process in which incorrect forms of the target language become a habit and cannot easily be corrected. It appears that the target language is 'set in stone Brown (1994) implies that many adult language learners progress from the acculturation stage and begin to progress into adaptation and assimilation stages but fail to progress any further. Brown uses the metaphor of "cryogenation"; the process of freezing matter at very low temperatures; to depict the reversibility of fossilization. Both Fossilization often means that certain aspects of the language were learnt incompletely or incorrectly, such as grammatical features, like conjugating verbs, wrong vocabulary, or sentence structure (Why Does Fossilization Happen?). Maybe, there is a subconscious use of forms originating from mother tongue syntax and/or phonology. The learner subconsciously does not wish to replace the existing forms of the original language for forms in the target language. Why is there complacency in achieving target like proficiency? What are the general reason for language fossilization? 3. Reasons for Fossilization 1. Critical Period Hypothesis: It is recognised that pronunciation fluency is not possible beyond a certain age. This is called the critical period hypothesis. It is argued that language fossilization is inevitable within individuals who are learning a new language beyond puberty, especially in terms of cadence and pronunciation. It seems as though the brain loses its plasticity at this critical age to learn new sounds. Lack of motivation: Often the lack of motivation to learn a target language has an impact on the level of proficiency. It seems that the lack of learning is due to a lack empathy for the target language Language Situation of the Language Learner: Fossilization can occur when there is language transfer from mother tongue to the target language. The most common is the interference of the sound system of the mother tongue with the sound system of the target language. This can lead to incorrect pronunciation of words and expressions. Some words may have similar sounds but have different meaning. Learning these difference is an important aspect of language learning. Inadequate learning environment Academic exercise Fossilization is often contributed to an inadequate learning environment. In a classroom, where the target language is regarded as an academic task, with little impact on life, many language learners cannot see the long term benefits of learning the new target language. In many cases students learn enough of the target language to pass the final exams, but do not aim to achieve proficiency levels so they can communicate with people of the target language. Lack of corrective feedback Sometimes fossilization occurs when the learners receive little corrective feedback from the instructor. Maybe, the instructor is not sufficiently competent to provide the necessary feedback. Even when errors are noticed by the instructor, the instructor may not be familiar with the correct form. Exposure to Faculty Examples In some language classrooms, learners are exposed to faculty examples of the target language. Without realising the situation, the learners learn false aspects of the target language. These faculty examples may come from the instructor, the learning environment or external environment where faculty examples are seen and heard by the students. Communication is achieved One of the most common reasons why language fossilization occurs is that learners feel that they have met their communication needs. They are understood so they is no need to endear the difficult task of learning more rules. In a colloquial sense, there is a sense that "I can get by so why bother; people know what I am trying to say." If there is no pressure or value to achieve accuracy, then fossilization is a logical step. Types of Fossilization There are many different forms of language fossilization: Morphological fossilization: This type of fossilization is to do patterns of word formation, including inflection, derivation and composition. For example, the adding of suffixes or prefixes can affect the pronunciation of the word. expression has a different means from the mother tongue to English, the target language. It is examining the language from its historical roots and then notices the changes of language use. 5. Phonological fossilization: This type of fossilization relates to speech sounds and how particular sounds are pronounced. Charles Fries (1945) states that with learning a new language, the chief problem is not the learning vocabulary items, but the mastery of sound system-to understand the stream of speech, to hear the distinctive sound features and to approximate their reproduction. Elliot (1995) implies that pronunciation is more difficult to improve than other target language skills. Scovel (1967) also believes that phonological fossilization will plague the second language learner.