Definition : Fossilization is process which sometimes occurs in which incorrect linguistic features gradually become a permanent part of the way a learner speaks or writes the language.
Example : A C2 level speaker may still leave off the 3rd person "s", despite using other more complex structures accurately and at a generally "expert" level.
Associated with the work of Selinker in the 1970s.
Further reading
Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning
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