Cross-Language Transfer and Attentional Control in Early Bilingual Speech

Purpose: This study investigated the roles of cross-language transfer of first language (L1) and attentional control in second-language (L2) speech perception and production of sequential bilinguals, taking phonological overlap into account. Method: Twenty-five monolingual Dutch-speaking and 25 sequential bilingual Turkish–Dutch-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds were tested using picture identification tasks for speech perception in L1 Turkish and L2 Dutch, single-word tasks for speech production in L1 and L2, and a visual search task for attentional control. Phonological overlap was manipulated by dividing the speech tasks into subsets of phonemes that were either shared or unshared between languages. Results: In Dutch speech perception and production, monolingual children obtained higher accuracies than bilingual peers. Bilinguals showed equal performance in L1 and L2 perception but scored higher on L1 than on L2 production. For speech perception of shared phonemes, linear regression analyses revealed no direct effects of attention and L1 on L2. For speech production of shared phonemes, attention and L1 directly affected L2. When exploring unshared phonemes, direct effects of attentional control on L2 were demonstrated not only for speech production but also for speech perception. Conclusions: The roles of attentional control and cross-language transfer on L2 speech are different for shared and unshared phonemes. Whereas L2 speech production of shared phonemes is also supported by cross-language transfer of L1, L2 speech perception and production of unshared phonemes benefit from attentional control only. This underscores the clinical importance of considering phonological overlap and supporting attentional control when assisting young sequential bilinguals' L2 development.

Interferences in Writing Skills Performance of BA Students Enrolled in Norwegian Didactics

This article investigates different types of language errors performed in a written summative exam by ten BA students enrolled in an elective Norwegian Didactics course in Romania. The corpus comprising the students’ exam papers was analysed qualitatively to identify various types of errors. The theoretical model suggested by Gass & Selinker (1994) was used to discuss issues of error analysis. A survey was then conducted to receive student feedback on the reported errors in the texts. Findings indicate that students make both inter-lingual and intra-lingual errors and that error analysis can be helpful when designing L2 Norwegian instructional materials. Keywords: error analysis, foreign language teaching, language transfer, language distance, writing skills, Norwegian, Romanian.

When Language Transfer is Negative

This paper analyses morpho-syntactic interference errors committed by learners of French as a foreign language in four Tanzanian universities: UDSM, UDOM, DUCE and Makumira. The paper has three specific objectives: (i) to identify morpho-syntactic interference errors, (ii) to account for their sources and (iii) to recommend a corrective treatment. The study included a total of 61 respondents. The data was collected through learners’ written texts in French from which a corpus was developed. The study was guided by the interlanguage theory and the error analysis approach. Data analysis was qualitative. The findings reveal that errors included the use of nouns with English origins (18.87%), omission of prepositions (36.79%) and absence of determiners (44.34%). The findings further show that these errors are due to previously acquired or learned languages: Swahili, ethnic community languages and English. Different recommendations are given following the findings. As regards the use of definite and indefinite articles in French, teachers should provide a guided reading of different French texts through which learners will be able to understand how articles are used. To master the use of prepositions, teachers should encourage learners to read a variety of texts in French as this can make them understand and internalize the different prepositions. Moreover, through regular exercises on word formation in French, learners may be able to familiarize themselves with French nouns, hence internalizing their forms. Finally, the learning of French nouns should be done in context.

Interlanguage of Error Analysis on Students Writing in Covid-19 Pandemic Era

This study aims to investigate the interlanguage of error analysis production on students writing. In writing process, there are general problem that occur such error from the interlanguage. This problem certainly getting worse during this Covid -19 pandemic era where the students only have limited direct or face to face English learning for one hour per week. Interlanguage is language used by second or foreign language when prosess of learning the target language. Data collected through documentation technique. The sample was taken using purposive sampling technique. There were five students as the sample. The framework of interlanguage and error analysis was applied in the process of data analysis. The results of this study indicate that the interlanguage of the students is influenced by 78% of language transfer, 10.5%of transfer of training and 10.5%of overgeneralization.

Rozmówki polsko-hiszpańskie. Problemy językowe i próby ich przezwyciężenia podejmowane przez polskich uczestników hiszpańskiej wojny o niepodległość w świetle materiałów wspomnieniowych

The article presents selected mechanisms of communication between the Polish participants of the Napoleonic campaign in 1808–1812 and the local population behind the Pyrenees. The sources of information were the memoirs of Polish soldiers fighting on the Iberian Peninsula in the Grande Armée. Even though a significant part of the memoirs focuses on the military aspects of the participation of Poles in the Peninsular War, several do provide a whole spectrum of information about the daily lives of soldiers on foreign ground and many observations regarding the customs of their brothers in arms – mainly the French – as well as the local population. Among the fragments devoted to the non-military aspects of their stay on the Iberian Peninsula, the remarks on the attempts at communication – both verbal and non-verbal – between Poles and Spaniards seem to be particularly interesting. The purpose of this article is to explain why, in many situations, efficient communication could not take place in an intermediary language (French) and how the Polish soldiers dealt with lexical and grammatical structures in the previously unknown Spanish language. It is worth pointing out that language transfer is clearly noticeable – both from the native language of the soldiers (Polish) and from French, which most of Napoleonic soldiers learnt as their first Romance language.

Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis: Does the Positive Transfer in Writing Skill Occur in Lower Level Students?

<p><strong>Abstract:</strong> Language transfer always becomes an interesting topic to discuss in SLA. From the two types of language transfer take place in the process of language learning, this research aims to investigate the positive transfer occurs in junior high school students’ writing skill. The two languages to be involved in this research, Indonesian as L1 and English as L2. The analysis of the positive transfer within writing skill in this research is carried out under the theory of ‘Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis’ proposed by Cummins. Correlational research design is employed to analyze the correlation between the students’ L1 (Indonesian) writing ability and L2 (English) writing ability. The analysis result shows that the positive transfer in students’ writing does not exist. This happens due to the lack of exposure that the students have in practicing L2 (English) writing.</p><strong>Abstrak:<em> </em></strong>Transfer bahasa selalu menjadi topik yang menarik untuk dibicarakan dalam pemerolehan bahasa kedua. Dari dua jenis transfer bahasa yang terjadi dalam proses pembelajaran bahasa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi transfer positif yang terjadi dalam keterampilan menulis siswa SMP. Ada dua bahasa yang dilibatkan dalam penelitian ini, yaitu bahasa bahasa Indonesia dan bahasa Inggris. Analisis transfer positif dalam keterampilan menulis pada penelitian ini mengacu pada teori ‘<em>Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis</em>’ yang digagas oleh Cummins. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode korelasional untuk menganalisis korelasi kemampuan menulis siswa dalam bahasa Indonesia dan bahasa Inggris. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada transfer positif yang terjadi dalam tulisan siswa. Hal ini terjadi karena kurangnya pajanan yang diterima siswa untuk mengasah keterampilan menulis dalam bahasa Inggris.

Sous-titrage et apprentissage des langues

Our overview on subtitling and language learning is based on a fact and a question. The internationalisation of media and the development of Communication and Information technology (ICT) is bound to change our relationship to languages. But how can we improve our command of foreign languages? Memories and experiences of the classroom are not always positive. On the other hand, in today's world, we cannot avoid reading on screens. Since the beginning of the 1980 ’s, several studies have been carried out on the possible use of intralingual subtitles for language acquisition. We first review the types of studies and the scope of some of them, before considering specific empirical studies dealing with different language competences (vocabulary, listening comprehension, language transfer). Finally, we suggest new research topics, regarding the use of subtitling in natural and institutional language learning settings.

The Impact of Negative Transfer of Mother Tongue On College ESL Learners: Zhejiang Yuexiu University as a Case Study

Negative transfer of mother tongue is a major difficulty that every second language learner has to overcome, especially for those students whose target language is quite different from their mother tongue. With the in-depth development of pluralism in the world, people pay more and more attention to the learning of various languages, especially English. In this situation, the concerns of language researchers on the negative transfer of mother tongue are inevitably boosting. Given this, based on the pertinent theories of the negative language transfer, this study aims to explore the impact of negative language transfer on Chinese college students’ English learning through a questionnaire poll with some students of Zhejiang Yuexiu University as the research objects. The results of the study are mainly shown in two aspects: the impact of the negative transfer of mother tongue on college students’ oral learning and college students’ writing learning. At the end of the article, the author puts forward the cultural differences between China and the Western countries that lead to the negative transfer of mother tongue, and some effective methods to help Chinese college English learners reduce the negative transfer of mother tongue in their process of English learning.