Learners may preserve features of L1 and overgeneralize rules for L2, such as 'goed' instead of 'went'. This is known as which term?

• A. Language Learning
• B. Calp
• C. Interlanguage
• D. Language Acquisition

Answer: (C)

The concept here is interlanguage. Learners build an evolving, personalized grammar that sits between their native language and the target language, shaped by features from L1 and by the rules they’ve generalized from what they’ve learned in L2. When a learner says “goed” instead of “went,” they’re applying a familiar pattern (add -ed to form a past tense) to a verb that doesn’t follow that rule, revealing how their interim system tests and refines rules based on exposure and feedback. This shows language knowledge in progress, not a fixed L1 or the fully established L2. Other terms describe language as a whole (language learning or language acquisition) or are not the specific learner-driven system at work here.