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N°28 – From Transfer to Linguistic Innovation: Lexical Creativity Dynamics in Additional Language Learners’ Interlanguage (Ln)

Deadline for sending in final versions of papers: 1 February 2027

Lexis Journal in English Lexicology will publish its 28th issue in 2027. It will be edited by Cédric Brudermann (Cnam, France), Muriel Grosbois (Cnam, France) and Cédric Sarré (Sorbonne Université, France) and will deal with the topic “From Transfer to Linguistic Innovation: Lexical Creativity Dynamics in Additional Language Learners’ Interlanguage (Ln)”.

Context and Rationale

In the learning of so-called “additional” languages – here understood as any language learned after the first language (L1), whether an L2, L3 or Ln – cross-linguistic transfer phenomena constitute fundamental cognitive mechanisms. While such transfers may in some cases facilitate acquisition (Fries [1945]; Larsen-Freeman [1986]), they can also lead to productions that deviate from the standard usage of the target language (Odlin [1989]; Jarvis & Pavlenko [2008]; Ellis [2015]).

This is particularly true of lexis, a component of the linguistic system which is highly permeable to linguistic contact. The learner’s mental lexicon indeed brings together lexical units from all the languages they know or are learning (Boulton [1998]). Thus, examples in French such as “*Ils veulent gagner more, euh” (more used for plus), “*Les gens sont involvés (used for impliqués – influence of the English word involved) (Dewaele [1998]) or “*Gérard dit que ses baggages sont déjà registrés (used for ses bagages sont déjà enregistrés – influence of the English words baggage and registered) or “*un homme avec le nez sanguine...” (for le nez en sang – influence of the English words bloody nose) (Cosereanu [2010]) illustrate strategies of lexical approximation that are cognitively coherent, even if normatively divergent.

However, such forms are far from random. Rather, they reveal the internal logic of interlanguage systems, the processes of analogy (and sometimes reconstruction) and the mechanisms of “nativization” (Andersen [1983]), understood as the conscious or unconscious transfer of lexical, syntactic or phraseological patterns from previously known languages into productions in Ln (Odlin [1989]; Jarvis & Pavlenko [2008]).

  • 1 To avoid terminological overlap, “lexical creativity” is here distinguished both from simple code-m (...)

Accordingly, what have been labelled “transfer errors” (James [1998]), “lexical calques” (Granger [1996]) or “nativization errors” (Ringbom [1987, 2001]) show that a process of lexical creativity – referring to the motivated, structured and sometimes innovative production of units that are absent from or non-conventional in native usage1 – is at work in Ln learning. As such, while cross-linguistic transfers were once viewed as parasitic “interferences,” they are now increasingly understood as specific cases of transcoding markers that offer a privileged observatory for examining the influence of previously known languages on interlanguage development (Cosereanu [2010]).

Thus understood, lexical creativity in Ln unfolds along a continuum ranging from transfer to innovation. Far from being mere “anomalies” the non-standard forms observed reflect the dynamism of interlanguage systems, the influence of source languages and the compensatory strategies that learners use to achieve communicative goals. In this sense, Ln lexical creativity invites broader reflection on lexical norms, acceptability, linguistic validity and learners’ creative potential (Dewaele [1998]).

To foster reflection on these still underexplored issues, Lexis invites contributions for a special issue devoted to lexical creativity in additional language learner productions.

Theoretical Orientations and Aims of the Issue

  • Lexical creativity in Ln reflects a productive tension between norm and innovation situated at the crossroads of several disciplinary fields:

  • Contrastive linguistics, which examines structural differences between linguistic systems (Lado [1957]; König & Gast [2012]);

  • Language and culture pedagogy, which attends to lexical acquisition, learner representations and the development of interlanguage (Selinker [1972]; Ellis [2015]);

  • Cognitive lexicology, which investigates the mechanisms involved in lexical conceptualization and association (Boers & Lindstromberg [2008]; Tyler [2012]);

  • Corpus linguistics, which seeks to identify recurrent patterns in learner production (Granger et al. [2015]);

  • Natural language processing and artificial intelligence, which open new perspectives for annotating, detecting and automatically classifying lexical errors (Crossley & McNamara [2012]; Zhai et al. [2021]; Meurers [2020]; Schlechtweg et al. [2020]).

Drawing on these approaches, this issue aims to bring together theoretical, empirical, methodological and applied perspectives to better understand the role and functions of lexical creativity in additional language acquisition. In particular, it seeks to examine the lexical transformations characteristic of interlanguage and to explore the boundaries between error, variation and innovation.

Possible Orientations

Submissions may rely on a wide range of learner corpora (written or oral, specialized or general, institutional or informal), including:

  • Data collected in instructional contexts (tests, assignments, classroom interactions);

  • Digital productions (forums, blogs, social media, learner journals, etc.);

  • Existing corpora (e.g., ICLE, LANG-8, Cambridge Learner Corpus);

  • Corpora automatically annotated or processed through supervised learning or AI-based tools (Kwako et al. [2022]; Qiu et al. [2020]).

Analyses may also focus on learners with diverse profiles according to:

  • Their first language(s);

  • Their proficiency levels in the target language(s) (CEFR or other frameworks);

  • The genres produced (narrative, argumentative, dialogic, etc.);

  • The contexts in which they are exposed to the target language (immersion, formal instruction, digital environments, etc.).

Suggested Areas of Analysis

This issue seeks to open an interdisciplinary space for exploring transcoding markers that reveal lexical creativity in Ln, viewed as traces of cognitive activity and indicators of linguistic innovation. Contributions may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

1. Typology of lexical transformations and creative transfers

  • Orthographic transfers, borrowings, lexical calques, deviant collocations, semantic false friends, innovative unattested forms, etc.;

  • Creative strategies of lexical appropriation through literal translation, semantic extension, misuse of lexicographic resources or overgeneralization;

  • Recurrent error characteristic of specific L1 learner communities.

2. Contrastive analysis and interlinguistic modelling

  • Lexical and morphosyntactic influences of L1 on Ln;

  • Cross-linguistic comparisons of lexical patterns;

  • Interactions between languages in multilingual contexts.

3. Corpora and automatic processing of learner productions

  • AI-assisted methods for detecting, annotating and classifying lexical errors;

  • Use of pre-trained language models (BERT, GPT, T5, etc.) for analyzing learner vocabulary;

  • (Semi-)automatic annotation and supervised learning for identifying recurrent lexical patterns;

  • Quantitative and qualitative analysis based on annotated corpora;

  • Contribution of AI-powered tools to the study of learner lexis.

4. Lexical pedagogy and remediation

  • Pedagogical use of lexical errors;

  • Development of teaching materials that mobilise learner creativity;

  • Effects of tasks, contexts and teaching/learning modalities on cross-linguistic transfer and lexical creativity;

  • Integration of learner variation in teacher education;

  • Automated feedback and formative assessment (Jones et al. [2022]; Huang et al. [2022]; Klebanov & Madnani [2020]).

5. Error, creativity and linguistic innovation

  • The linguistic status of “error”: deviance, variation or innovation?

  • Contribution of interlanguage to emerging non-native varieties (e.g., World Englishes);

  • Reflections on norms, acceptability and intelligibility;

  • The role of lexical creativity and linguistic variation in communicative competence.

Submission Languages

Proposals may be submitted in English or French.

References

Andersen, Roger. 1983. Pidginization and creolization as language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Arndt-Lappe, Sabine, Angelika Braun, Camille Moulin & Eva Winter-Froemel (eds.). 2018. Expanding the lexicon: Linguistic innovation, morphological productivity, and ludicity. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Arabski, Janusz. 2006. Language transfer in language learning and language contact. Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 12–21.

Boers, Frank & Seth Lindstromberg. 2008. Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Boulton, Alex. 1998. L’acquisition du lexique en langue étrangère. Actes du 26e Congrès de l’UPLEGESS. 77–87.

Cosereanu, Elena. 2010. Transferts interlinguistiques dans des tâches d’écart d’information chez des apprenants de FLE. Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures 7(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/rdlc.2111.

Crossley, Scott A. & Danielle S. McNamara. 2012. Computational assessment of lexical differences in L1 and L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 21(2). 149–163.

Dewaele, Jean-Marc. 1998. Lexical inventions: French interlanguage as L2 versus L3. Applied Linguistics 19(4). 471–490.

Ellis, Rod. 1994. The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, Rod. 2015. Understanding second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fries, Charles C. 1945. Teaching and writing English as a foreign language. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Granger, Sylviane, Gaëtanelle Gilquin & Fanny Meunier (eds.). 2015. The Cambridge handbook of learner corpus research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Granger, Sylviane. 1996. From CA to CIA and back: An integrated approach to computerized bilingual and learner corpora. In Karin Aijmer, Bengt Altenberg & Matti Johansson (eds.), Languages in contrast. Lund: Lund University Press. 37–51.

Huang, Xiaoyan, Dingjie Zou, Guangyu Cheng, Xun Chen & Hui Xie. 2022. Trends, research issues and applications of artificial intelligence in language education. Educational Technology & Society 26(1). 112–131.

James, Carl. 1998. Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. London: Longman.

Jarvis, Scott & Aneta Pavlenko. 2008. Crosslinguistic influence in language and cognition. New York: Routledge.

Jones, Devon M., Liying Cheng & Mark G. Tweedie. 2022. Automated scoring of speaking and writing: Starting to hit its stride. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology 48(3).

Klebanov, Beata B. & Nitin Madnani. 2020. Automated evaluation of writing: 50 years and counting. In Proceedings of the 58th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 7796–7810.

König, Ekkehard & Volker Gast. 2012. Understanding English–German contrasts (2nd ed.). Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.

Körtvélyessy, Lívia, Pavol Štekauer & Peter Kačmár. 2022. Creativity in word-formation and word-interpretation: Creative potential and creative performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kwako, Alton, Yue Wan, Jie Zhao, Kai-Wei Chang, Li Cai & Micah Hansen. 2022. Using item response theory to measure gender and racial bias of a BERT-based automated English speech assessment system. In Proceedings of the 17th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, 1–7.

Lado, Robert. 1957. Linguistics across cultures: Applied linguistics for language teachers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 1986. Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mattiello, Elisa. 2013. Extra-grammatical morphology in English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Meurers, Detmar. 2020. Natural language processing and language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 40. 157–172.

Odlin, Terence. 1989. Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Qiu, Xipeng, Tianxiang Sun, Yige Xu, Xing Wu Shao, Ning Dai & Xuanjing Huang. 2020. Pre-trained models for natural language processing: A survey. Science China Technological Sciences 63. 1872–1897.

Ringbom, Håkan. 1987. The role of L1 in foreign language learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Ringbom, Håkan. 2001. Lexical transfer in L3 production. In Jasone Cenoz et al. (eds.), Crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Schlechtweg, Dominik, Barbara McGillivray, Simon Hengchen, Haim Dubossarsky & Nina Tahmasebi. 2020. SemEval-2020 Task 1: Unsupervised lexical semantic change detection. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Workshop on Semantic Evaluation. 1–23.

Selinker, Larry. 1972. Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 10(3). 209–231.

How to submit

Please clearly indicate the title of the paper and include an abstract between 3,000 and 6,000 characters (including spaces) as well as a list of relevant key-words and references. All abstract and paper submissions will be anonymously peer-reviewed (double-blind peer reviewing) by an international scientific committee composed of specialists in their fields. Papers will be written preferably in English or occasionally in French.

Manuscripts may be rejected, accepted subject to revision, or accepted as such. There is no limit to the number of pages.

Submissions (abstracts and articles, in Word document) will be submitted via the journal’s submission platform. If you encounter any problem, please send a message to Lexis.

Deadlines

November 2025: Call for papers

April 30 2026: Deadline for submitting abstracts to Lexis via the journal’s submission platform

July-August 2026: Evaluation Committee’s decisions notified to authors

November 15 2026: Deadline for submitting papers via the journal’s submission platform (Guidelines for submitting articles: https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/1000

November and December 2026: Proofreading of papers by the Evaluation committee

January 2027: Authors’ corrections

February 1 2027: Deadline for sending in final versions of papers

Notes

1 To avoid terminological overlap, “lexical creativity” is here distinguished both from simple code-mixing markers (i.e., products of cross-linguistic transfer) and from neological phenomena in the strict sense, even though these three notions may partially overlap. Lexical creativity is therefore not understood here as an aesthetic or intentional category but rather as a cognitive-linguistic process of lexical construction specific to learners, unfolding along a continuum from transfer to reanalysis and innovation.

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