Backsliding
Backsliding is the reappearance of interlanguage errors that appeared to have been eradicated. Selinker (1972) identified it as one of the defining characteristics of interlanguage — a learner demonstrates correct usage of a form, then reverts to a previous incorrect form, typically under communicative pressure.
Characteristics
Selinker (1972) argued that backsliding is neither random nor a simple return to the L1. It gravitates toward an interlanguage norm — a stable point in the learner's own system rather than the native language baseline. This distinguishes it from raw transfer.
Backsliding is most visible when:
- The learner is tired, stressed, or emotionally engaged
- Communication demands exceed the learner's processing capacity
- Attention shifts from form to meaning (unmonitored speech)
- The task requires real-time production under time pressure
Diagnostic Value
Backsliding reveals the gap between controlled and automatic knowledge. A learner who produces correct forms only when consciously monitoring — and reverts to errors in spontaneous speech — has not achieved automaticity for that feature. The correct form exists in explicit knowledge but has not been proceduralised.
This has important implications for assessment: a learner's best performance (careful, monitored output) may overestimate their actual acquisition level. Unmonitored production is a truer indicator of what has been fully acquired.
Backsliding vs Fossilization
| Backsliding | Fossilization | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Temporary reappearance of errors | Permanent cessation of development |
| Trigger | Communicative pressure, fatigue, attention shift | Systematic — errors persist regardless of conditions |
| Prognosis | Correct form can be restored with attention | Resistant to instruction and feedback |
| Implication | Incomplete automatisation | Feature may never be fully acquired |
Persistent backsliding over extended periods may be an early indicator of incipient fossilization, particularly if corrective feedback produces only temporary improvement.
Teaching Implications
- Backsliding under communicative pressure is normal and expected — it does not mean the learner has "unlearned" the form
- Activities should include both accuracy-focused practice and fluency tasks to promote automatisation
- Repeated backsliding on the same feature signals the need for further proceduralisation, not simply more rule explanation
- Assessment should sample both careful and spontaneous production
References
- Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 209–231.