Language transfer
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Language transfer is the application of linguistic features from one language to another by a bilingual or multilingual speaker. Language transfer may occur across both languages in the acquisition of a
Types of language transfer
When the relevant unit or structure of both languages is the same, linguistic interference can result in correct language production called positive transfer: here, the "correct" meaning is in line with most native speakers' notions of acceptability.
Negative transfer
Within the theory of
Positive transfer
The results of positive transfer go largely unnoticed and so are less often discussed. Nonetheless, such results can have an observable effect. Generally speaking, the more similar the two languages are and the more the learner is aware of the relation between them, the more positive transfer will occur. For example, an
In addition to positive transfer potentially resulting in correct language production and negative transfer resulting in errors, there is some evidence that any transfer from the first language can result in a kind of technical, or analytical, advantage over native (monolingual) speakers of a language. For example, L2 speakers of English whose first language is
Conscious and unconscious transfer
Language transfer may be
The conscious transfer of language, on the other hand, can be illustrated in the principle developed by Roger Andersen called "transfer-to-somewhere," which holds that "a language structure will be susceptible to transfer only if it is compatible with natural acquisitional principles or is perceived to have similar counterpart (a somewhere to transfer to) in the recipient language."[12] This is interpreted as a heuristic designed to make sense of the target language input by assuming a form of awareness on the part of the learner to map L1 onto the L2.[13] An analogy that can describe the differences between the Kellerman's and Anderson's principles is that the former is concerned with the conceptualization that fuels the drive towards discovering the means of linguistic expression whereas Andersen's focused on the acquisition of those means.[13]
Acceleration and deceleration
The theories of acceleration and deceleration are bilingual child language acquisition theories based on the known norms of monolingual acquisition. These theories come from comparisons of bilingual children's acquisition to that of their monolingual peers of similar backgrounds.
Acceleration is a process similar to that of bootstrapping, where a child acquiring language uses knowledge and skills from one language to aid in, and speed up their acquisition of the other language.[14]
Deceleration is a process in which a child experiences negative effects (more mistakes and slower language learning) on their language acquisition due to interference from their other language.
Literacy development
Language transfer is often referred to as cross-language transfer, the ability to use skills acquired in one language and to use those skills to facilitate learning of a new language.[15] Cross-language transfer has been researched and analyzed by many scholars over the years, but the focus on cross-language transfer in literacy research expanded in the 1990s.[16] It is a topic that has been gaining lots of interest from scholars due to the increasing amount of bilingual and multilingual people, especially students, around the world. In the USA alone, English Language Learners (ELL) account for over 10% of the students enrolled in public schools.[17]
The Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis claims that language transfer can occur from L1 (First language) to L2 (Second language), but there first must be a level of proficiency in L1 literacy skills for the skills to transfer over into L2.[18] In other words, there must be some prior knowledge of literacy skills in L1 to assist with acquiring literacy skills in L2. The acquisition of L2 literacy skills can be facilitated and gained with greater ease by having more time, access, and experience with L1 literary skills.[19] Over time, through formal exposure and practice with literacy skills, L2 learners have been able to catch up with their monolingual peers.[20] However, literacy skills acquired in L2 can also be used to assist with literacy skills in L1 because cross-language transfer is bidirectional.[21]
Most studies have indicated that literacy cross-language transfer can occur regardless of the L1 and the L2 languages, but Chung et al. (2012[22]) state that cross-language transfer is less likely to occur when the languages do not share similar orthography systems. For example, using literacy skills acquired in English may be accessed and used with more ease in Spanish because English and Spanish follow similar orthography (they use letters). Whereas, using literacy skills acquired in English to facilitate ease of learning Korean would be more difficult because those languages do not follow a similar orthography system (English uses letters, and Korean uses symbols).
Cross-language transfer can also occur with deaf bilinguals who use sign language and read written words.[23] People may think that both American Sign Language (ASL) and English are the same language, but they are not. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders “ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order".[24] Because sign languages are considered to be their own language, most deaf people are considered to be bilingual because they speak in one language (sign language) and read in other (English, Spanish, Arabic, etc.). It should also be noted that not all sign languages are the same. The sign languages are American Sign Language (ASL), Mexican Sign Language (LSM), British Sign Language (BSL), Spanish Sign Language (LSE), and many more.
In comprehension
Transfer can also occur in
German example: Das Mädchen, das die Frau küsst, ist blond
If translated word for word with word order maintained, this German relative clause is equivalent to
English example: The girl that (or whom) the woman is kissing is blonde.
The German and the English examples differ in that in German the subject role can be taken by das Mädchen (the girl) or die Frau (the woman) while in the English example only the second noun phrase (the woman) can be the subject. In short, because German singular feminine and neuter articles exhibit the same inflected form for the accusative as for the nominative case, the German example is syntactically ambiguous in that either the girl or the woman may be doing the kissing. In the English example, both word-order rules and the test of substituting a relative pronoun with different nominative and accusative case markings (e.g., whom/who*) reveal that only the woman can be doing the kissing.
The ambiguity of the German NNV relative clause structure becomes obvious in cases where the assignment of
Because in English relative clauses with a noun-noun-verb structure (as in the example above) the first noun can only be the object, native speakers of English who speak German as a second language are likelier to interpret ambiguous German NNV relative clauses as object relative clauses (= object-subject-verb order) than German native speakers who prefer an interpretation in which the first noun phrase is the subject (subject-object-verb order).[25] This is because they have transferred their parsing preference from their first language English to their second language German.
Broader effects
With sustained or intense contact between native and non-native speakers, the results of language transfer in the non-native speakers can extend to and affect the speech production of the native-speaking community. For example, in North America, speakers of English whose first language is Spanish or French may have a certain influence on native English speakers' use of language when the native speakers are in the minority. Locations where this phenomenon occurs frequently include
See also
Notes
- )
- S2CID 143994688.
- ^ Shatz, Itamar (2017). Native Language Influence During Second Language Acquisition: A Large-Scale Learner Corpus Analysis (PDF). Proceedings of the Pacific Second Language Research Forum (PacSLRF 2016). Hiroshima, Japan: Japan Second Language Association. pp. 175–180. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ Lennon, P. (2008). Contrastive analysis, error analysis, interlanguage. In S. Gramley & V. Gramley (Eds.), Bielefeld Introduction to Applied Linguistics (pp. 51-60). Bielefeld, Germany: Aisthesis.
- ISBN 978-0-87840-381-3. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-3-00-057535-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ISBN 0309070368.
- ^ Solé Alonso, Gemma; Pladevall Ballester, Elisabet (2017). False friends in advanced learners of English. The effect of task type and mode. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
- ^ Chang & Mishler 2012
- ISBN 9781349304936.
- ISBN 9780805853513.
- ISBN 9781443866248.
- ^ ISBN 978-1853596872.
- PMID 20150407.
- S2CID 44047677.
- S2CID 53199706.
- ^ Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition (August 2022). "English Learners: Demographic Trends" (PDF). National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- S2CID 144416837.
- S2CID 149920398.
- .
- ^ Kim, Young-Suk Grace; Piper, Benjamin (2019). Cross-Language Transfer of Reading Skills: An Empirical Investigation of Bidirectionality and the Influence of Instructional Environments. Vol. 32.
- S2CID 144558088.
- S2CID 251358752.
- ^ "American Sign Language". NIDCD. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Nitschke, Kidd & Serratrice 2010.
- ISBN 9789027203328.
References
- Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, and Experience & School. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
- Chang, C. B.; Mishler, A. (2012). "Evidence for language transfer leading to a perceptual advantage for non-native listeners" (PDF). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 132 (4): 2700–2710. PMID 23039462.
- Nitschke, S.; Kidd, E.; Serratrice, L. (2010). "First language transfer and long-term structural priming in comprehension". Language and Cognitive Processes. 25 (1): 94–114. S2CID 145749085.
- Porter, L. W.; Duncan, C. P. (1953). "Negative Transfer in Verbal Learning". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 46 (1): 61–64. PMID 13069669.
- Postman, L (1962). "Transfer of training as a function of experimental paradigm and degree of first list learning". Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 1 (2): 109–118. .
- Postman, L.; Stark, K. (1969). "Role of response availability in transfer and interference". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 79 (1): 168–177. doi:10.1037/h0026932.
- Underwood, B. J. (1949). "Proactive inhibition as a function of time and degree of prior learning". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 39 (1): 24–34. PMID 18111558.
- Wahlbrinck, Bernd. German-English Language Interference, Tumbleweed 2017.
- Whitley, M. Stanley (2002), Spanish/English Contrasts: A Course in Spanish Linguistics (2nd ed.), Georgetown University Press, ISBN 978-0-87840-381-3