No matter how good a contrastive analysis is, more than just structural comparisons are necessary for a thorough understanding of transfer, since native language influence inte[r]
(1)CHAPTER 6: SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF TRANSFER
(2)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
(3)CONTENTS
IV. Problems of generalization
1 Language Universals Linguistics typologies
(4)(5)I Problems of definition
1 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)
(6)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
(7)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
(8)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
(9)I Problems of definition
2 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, over-generalization, simplification, and other second language behaviors.
(10)II PROBLEMS OF COMPARISON
Descriptive and theoretical adequacy
Some problems in contrastive descriptions
Structural and nonstructural factors
(11)Descriptive and theoretical adequacy
According to Chomsky (1965), an ideal
grammar would be both descriptively and
theoretically adequate, and the same criteria apply to contrastive analysis.
(12)Some problems in contrastive descriptions
One of the most fundamental problems is
idealization
Why is idealization a fundamental problem?
Because:
Idealization is the characterization of the most important aspects of a
language with the elimination of unneeded detailed
Idealisation of linguistic data is unavoidable since there are many minute
(13)Some problems in contrastive descriptions
Too much idealization amounts to distortion.
Another challenge for any contrastive
description is the interaction of linguistic
subsystems
Psycholinguistic research has demonstrated a strong interdependence among discourse, syntax, phonology, and other subsystems in the comprehension and production of
(14)Structural and nonstructural factors
No matter how good a contrastive analysis is, more than just structural comparisons are necessary for a thorough understanding of transfer, since native language influence interacts with nonstructural factors
Structure (tagmeme) is a unity of form (some definite
pattern) and function (some definite use)
(15)Structural and nonstructural factors
Discourse involves much more than what a purely structural analysis covers.
One problematic relation between structural and nonstructural factors is language
(16)Comparison of performances
A contrastive analysis is a necessary condition to establish the likelihood of transfer, but it is not a sufficient condition
* transfer interacts with other factors
* explanations based only on contrastive analyses are sometimes misleading
Comparisons of performances of two or more groups of
(17)Comparison of performances
Example : I know the man that John gave the book to him
( an error made by Persian speakers)
- Contrastive analysis: Persian relative clauses often have resumptive pronouns error
- Comparison of performances : such errors are also
(18)Comparison of performances
In some cases the need for a formal comparison
of performances is not very great.
Two kinds of comparison:
* Implicit comparison: Certain spelling errors or grammatical errors reflect characteristic
problems of speakers of particular native languages.
(19)Comparison of performances
Explicit comparison: an error is rather common among
speakers of several different native languages E.g : the omission of articles is common among
speakers of several languages ( Picture is very dark )
* While explicit comparisons are often desirable in
(20)Comparison of performances
In some cases the need for formal comparison of performances is not very great
While formal comparison of spelling and verbs errors are possible, the distinctiveness of the errors amounts to an implicit comparison In this case, explicit comparisons are preferable
(21)Comparison of performances
Some studies suggest that some positive transfer occurs even when the contrastive prediction is stated in a very crude way.
(22)Some fundamental problems in the study of transfer
(23)Forecast and explanations
The literature on contrastive analysis frequently refers to
predictions that are determined by cross-linguistic comparisons
In reality, however, the “predictions” of learners’
behavior are often derived after the fact: What counts as a prediction is frequently based on data about learner performances already known to a linguist who has
(24)cross- A record of errors in French made by
English-speaking students in previous year can serve as a predictor of errors that English-speaking
students will make in a French course next year.
However, such predictions are clearly different
(25)A good contrastive analysis should
make it easier to explain why
(26)A classification of outcomes
The following classification offers
some idea of the varied effects that cross-linguistic similarities and
(27)1 Positive transfer
The effects of positive transfer are only
determinable through comparisons of the success of groups with different native
languages
Similarities between native language and
target language vocabulary can reduce the time needed to develop good reading
(28) Similarities between vowel systems can
make the identification of vowel sound easier.
Similarities between the writing systems can
(29)Future research is likely to show
that cross-linguistic similarities in other areas will also promote
(30)2 Negative transfer
Negative transfer involves divergences from
norms in the target language, it is often relatively easy to identify
Negative transfer tends to be equated with
(31)A Underproduction
Learner may produce very few or no examples of a
target language structure
There is good evidence for one form of
underproduction related to language distance:
avoidance (If learners sense that particular
(32) For example:
Schacter found that Chinese and
(33)B Overproduction
Overproduction is something simply a
consequence of underproduction.
For example, in an effort to avoid relative
clauses, Japanese students may violate
(34)C Production errors
1.Substitutions
Involving a use of native language forms in the target language.
Now I live home with my parents But
(35)2.Calques
Errors that reflect very closely a native language structure.
Vamos rapido a poner el fuego afuera Let’s quickly put the fire out
(36)D Misinterpretation
(37)3 Differing lengths of acquisition
Several years of study of one foreign languge can greatly
(38)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.
• Language universals
• Linguistic typologies
(39)Language universals : Two of the most
distinctive approaches to the studies of universals Chomskyan approach Greenbergian approach
-The intensive analysis of
one language to identify abstract principles of a Universal Grammar
- Various characteristics of
the syntax of standard written English
-Cross-linguistic comparisons
-The cross-linguistic
(40)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
(41)Language universals
Chomskyan analyses Empirical investigations in
second language acquisition lead to
The extent to which Universal Grammar is still “available” to guide the progress of adults learning a second language.
(42)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 V O
(43)Language universals
Greenberg found two orders also to be common :
Order Examples Cross-linguistic frequency
VSO Irish, Classical Arabic Somewhat common SVO English, Russian Very common
SOV Persian, Japanese Very common
VOS Malagasy Rare
OVS Hixkaryana Very rare
(44)Linguistic universals
Three word order types (SVO, VSO, SOV) account for the vast majority of languages is itself highly significant
(45)* Typology, the study of such classifications, benefits work in many fields, including historical linguistics, grammatical theory, and contractive analysis.
Language Inflectional Basic Resumptive Lexical tones ? morphology word order Pronouns?
English Simple SVO No No Arabic Complex VSO Yes No Thai Negligible SVO No Yes
(46)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
(47)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.
(48)Linguistic typologies
Typologically common features gives clues to universal preferences in linguistic structure.
(49)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
(50)Universalist assumption
(51)THANK YOU FOR
nouns verbs, consonants vowels.