chapter 6 some fundamental problems in the study of transfer 3115

CHAPTER 6: SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF TRANSFER CONTENTS I Problems of definition Some observations about what transfer is not The definition of substratum transfer II Problems of comparison Descriptive and theoretical adequacy Some problems in contrastive descriptions Structural and nonstructural factors Comparison of performances III Problems of prediction Forecasts and explanations A classification of outcomes CONTENTS IV Problems of generalization Language Universals Linguistics typologies Universalist assumptions What is transfer ? I Problems of definition Some observations about what transfer is not 1.1.Transfer is not simply a consequence of habit formation -Carroll(1968): the behaviorist notion of transfer is quite different from the notion of native language influence +The behaviorist notion of transfer often implies the extinction of earlier habits +The acquisition of a second language need not(and normally does not) lead to any replacement of the learner’s primary language  Behaviorism may never have been relevant to the study of transfer Behaviorism is now so widely discredited in the field of psycholinguistics that some leading textbooks in that field give virtually no attention to behaviorist analyses(e.g., Clark and Clark 1977; Foss and Hakes 1978) -Whitney(1881) used the term transfer to refer to crosslinguistic influences- long before any linguists thought of linking it to the notion of habit formation I Problems of definition 1.2 Transfer is not simply interference -The notion of interference does seem applicable in the description of some aspects of second language performance, such as phonetic inaccuracies that resemble sounds in the learner’s native language  negative transfer For example: Nevertheless, much of the influence of the native language (or of some other previously learned language) can be very useful, especially when the differences between two languages are relatively few. positive transfer For example: the number of Spanish-English cognates (e.g., público and public) is far greater than the number of Arabic-English cognates. native speakers of Spanish have a tremendous advantage over native speakers of Arabic in the acquisition of English vocabulary I Problems of definition 1.3 Transfer is not simply a falling back on the native language -Krashen (1983): Transfer… can still be regarded as padding, or the result of falling back on old knowledge, the L1 rule, when new knowledge…is lacking -There are several problems with analyzing transfer as merely a falling back: +First, it ignores the head start that speakers of some languages have in coming to a new language For example: the similarities in vocabulary, writing systems, and other aspects of English and Spanish reduce the amount that may be utterly new in English for Spanish speakers in comparison with Arabic speakers +Second, Krashen’s statements imply that native language influence is always manifested in some transparent “L1 rule” However, native language influences can interact with other influences so that sometimes there is no neat correspondence between learners’ native language patterns and their attempts to use the target language +Third, transfer may be a mere “production strategy” fails to recognize that cross-linguistic influences can be beneficial in listening or reading comprehension +Fourth, Krashen’s analysis cannot account for the long-term results of language contact in some settings For example: In the case of Ireland, learners of English seem to have fallen back frequently on knowledge of Irish, but such falling back was never entirely eradicated nor did it halt the wide-scale adoption of English I Problems of definition 1.4 Transfer is not always native language influence When individuals know two languages, knowledge of both may affect their acquisition of a third  knowledge of three or more languages can lead to three or more different kinds of source language influences I Problems of definition The definition of substratum transfer Transfer is the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly) acquired *It is only a working definition, since there are problematic terms within the definition: influence, acquired *A fully adequate definition of transfer seems unattainable without adequate definitions of many other terms, such as strategy, process, and simplification Such definitions may presuppose an account of bilingualism that accurately characterizes relations between transfer, overgeneralization, simplification, and other second language behaviors *Thus, one might plausibly argue that a fully adequate definition of transfer presupposes a fully adequate definition of language II PROBLEMS OF COMPARISON Descriptive and theoretical adequacy Some problems in contrastive descriptions Structural and nonstructural factors Comparison of performances 10 Differing lengths of acquisition Several years of study of one foreign languge can greatly reduce the time needed to acquire a similar language 37 IV PROBLEMS OF GENERALIZATION Valid generalization about transfer  Valid generalization about the nature of language/ language universals For example, all languages have nouns and verbs, or all spoken languages have consonants and vowels • • • 38 Language universals Linguistic typologies Universalist assumptions Language universals : Two of the most distinctive approaches to the studies of universals Chomskyan approach -The intensive analysis of one language to identify abstract principles of a Universal Grammar - Various characteristics of the syntax of standard written English 39 Greenbergian approach -Cross-linguistic comparisons -The cross-linguistic variations seen in particular structures : word order Language universals The Chomskyan approach advances many claims about language structure, language acquisition and linguistic theory One key hypothesis : Universal Grammar is a biological inheritance which simply requires activation in child language acquisition Biological “program” 40 Infants’ efforts to walk Infants’ efforts to talk Language universals Chomskyan analyses lead to Empirical investigations in second language acquisition determine The extent to which Universal Grammar is still “available” to guide the progress of adults learning a second language 41 Language universals The Greenbergian approach have provided the basic for much research on grammatical theory and language acquisition The basic word order of English : S 42 V O Grammar Subjects Verb/Verb phrase Ex : John bought the car Object Language universals Greenberg found two orders also to be common : Order Examples linguistic frequency VSO SVO SOV VOS OVS OSV 43 Cross- Irish, Classical Arabic Somewhat common English, Russian Very common Persian, Japanese Very common Malagasy Rare Hixkaryana Very rare Apurina Very rare Linguistic universals Three word order types (SVO, VSO, SOV) account for the vast majority of languages is itself highly significant Other word-order patterns were often predict from basic word order 44 Linguistic typologies * Typology, the study of such classifications, benefits work in many fields, including historical linguistics, grammatical theory, and contractive analysis Language Inflectional Lexical tones ? morphology English Simple Arabic Complex Thai Negligible Yes 45 Basic word order SVO No No VSO SVO Resumptive Pronouns? Yes No No Linguistic typologies * Typological analyses contribute to the study of transfer in ways : - They provide a basis for estimating language distance - Typological analyses encourage the study of transfer in term of systemic influences - Typological analyses allow for the clearer understanding of relations between transfer and developmental sequences 46 Linguistic typologies Typologically common patterns: - in first language acquisition, are both as errors and as correct forms - in the second language acquisition, the negative patterns may sometimes reflect native language influences, sometimes developmental factors, and sometimes perhaps both transfer and developmental factors 47 Linguistic typologies Typologically common features gives clues to universal preferences in linguistic structure Ex: The five-vowel system of Spanish is common The eleven- vowel system of Vietnam is rare 48 Universalist assumption - One of the most important is the assumption that there are categories applicable to the analysis of all language Ex: Greenberg’s classification of language in term of basic word order assumes that categories such as “Subject”are universal - Another crucial universalist assumption in typological and contrastive analyses  “meaning” that are equivalent in the discourse and semantic system of all human language 49 Universalist assumption There is one assumption of universalist analyses that is found in many other kinds of research- that a reasonably good sample of behavior allow for reasonable inferences about all such behavior 50 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!! 51