ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with linguistic hybridityas a result of cross-linguistic mediation of texts produced by learners of English. Understanding that cross-linguistic mediation involves the concurrent use of two languages with the purpose of extracting information from text(s) in one language and purposefully relaying itin another, the theoretical discussion concerning the link between cross-linguistic mediation and hybridity is illustrated with findings from empirical researchwith learner data. The findings of this project suggest that in the process oflearner cross-linguistic mediation, the source text is very likely to regulate the target text (i.e. the mediation output) to such a degree that its traces are visible. The mediation output, which has its own characteristics and qualities, is viewed as hybrid reflecting a blending of “voices” and combining the characteristics of two texts at the level of discourse, genre and lexicogrammar. Mediation itself is understood as a dialogic “interaction” between texts, each of which has been produced by social agents for very different pedagogic and social purposes. In discussing the hybridized formations resulting from cross-linguistic mediation, the last part of this chapter raises essential questions, including (a) what degree of linguistic hybridity is acceptable in learner language, (b) why and for whom it is important to recognize different instances of hybridized use of language and (c) how cross-linguistic mediation in language learning and testing programmes mayfacilitate the development of language leaners’ cross-linguistic and intercultural awareness.
