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SOME FUNDAMENTALPROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF
TRANSFER
? Problems of definition
? Problems of comparison? Problems of prediction
? Problems of generalization
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SOME FUNDAMENTALPROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF
TRANSFER
Language transfer refers to
speakers or writers applying knowledgefrom their native language to a secondlanguage.
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Problems of Definition
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Transfer is not simply aconsequence of habit formation
Rooted habits in L1 can hinder the formation of
habits in L2, thus Behaviorists believed transfer
implies the extinction of earlier habits (Odlin. T,
1989).
This notion is inappropriate because:
- Habits in L1 are supposed to be impossible for
L2 learners to get rid of
- Acquisition of L2 does not lead to any
replacement of the learners L1
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Transfer is not simplyinterference
Interference was the result of proactive inhibition(Ellis. R, 1985), i.e. previous learning prevents or
inhibits the learning of new habits, thus, error is
likely to arise in L2E.g. Jai froid I have cold
This is unable to cover the issue of transfer
because there are both differences and similarities
in L1 and L2. If a certain aspect in L1 is similar to
that in L2, there will be no error.
E.g. Elle est belle She is beautiful
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Transfer is not simply a fallingback on the native language
Krashen claims that : Transfer can still be regarded aspadding, or the result of falling back on old knowledge
of L1 rule, when new knowledge is lacking. It may be aproduction strategy that cannot help acquisition.
This is problematic because of :
- The ignorance of the head start that speakers of somelanguages have in coming to a new language.
- The fact that there is no neat correspondence betweenlearners L1 patterns and their attempts to use L2
- Failure to recognize that cross-linguistic influences canbe beneficial in listening or reading comprehension
- Inability of accounting for the long-term results oflanguage contact in some settings
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Transfer is not always nativelanguage influence
Knowledge of three or morelanguages can lead to three or more
different kinds of source languageinfluence, and it is hard to discover theexact influences in multilingual
situation
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Definition
Transfer can be defined as theinfluence resulting from similarities and
differences between the target languageand any other language that has beenpreviously (and perhaps imperfectly)acquired (Odlin, 1989: 27)
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2. PROBLEMS OF COMPARISON
.
2.1. Descriptive and
theoretical adequacy
2.2. Some problems incontrastive description
2.3. Structural andnonstructural factors
2.4. Comparison ofperformances
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2.1 Descriptive and theoretical adequacy
What is descriptive adequacy ?
Descriptive adequacy is the satisfactionwhich shows how a language is actuallyspoken or written
Ex: - /d /: voiced, stop, alveolar
[ li:d] devoiced
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- An ideal grammar would be both descriptively andtheoretically adequate, and the same criteria apply toa contrastive analysis. Accurate and throughdescriptions are important.
Theoreticaladequacy
I bought a
book. (pen)I bought a
pen
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Theoretical adequacy
- While many contrastive analyses provide useful
and sometimes highly perceptive information
about languages they compare, none comes close
to meeting in full the criteria of descriptive andtheoretical adequacy.
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- Despite this lack of consensus,certain theoretical approach havefound much favor among contrastive
analyses and students of secondlanguage acquisition.
Theoretical adequacy
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2.2.Some problems in contrastive description
- One of the most fundamental problems is IDEALIZATION
-Idealization of linguistic data is unavoidable since there aremany minute variations in the speech of individuals whoconsider themselves to be speakers of the same language.
* EX: contrastive descriptions of Arabic speakers in
Iraq and Egypt in pronunciation
-Social variation can matter as much as regionalvariation in contrastive descriptions
The characterization of the most important aspects of alanguage with the elimination of unneeded details.
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- That linguistic difference is equivalent to linguistic difficulty.EX: Apprendre (French) &Teach, learn (English)
- A fully developed contrastive analysis would include anaccurate hierarchy of difficulty, that is, a definitive statement
about which contrastive most and least likely to causeproblems. That hierarchy would have to account for, amongother things, those cases in which similarities betweenlanguages prove to be more troublesome than somedifferences.
EX: the resemblance between English embarrassed andSpanish embarazado (which means "pregnant")( I am very pregnant # I am embarrassed)
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-Another challenge for any contrastive description isthe INTERACTION OF SUBSYSTEMS.Psycholinguistic research has demonstrated astrong interdependence among discourse, syntax,
phonology, and other subsystems in thecomprehension and production of language.
EX:You are a teacher, arent you?
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2.3. Structural and nonstructural factors
-the term structure is roughly synonymous with the termTAGMEME(a unity of form and function) (Pike 1954).
Ex: The baby bit Mary (SVO)
- Discourse involves much more than what apurely structural analysis covers.
Is she a good student ?
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Politeness is an aspect of discoursethat is very important for any cross-
linguistic comparison, but it is also onethat involves many nonlinguisticfactors.
Apologies in JapaneseApologies in English
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- Another problematic factors is LANGUAGE DISTANCE,
-There are clear resemblances between languages
whose historical relationships are not certain
EX: Korean and JapaneseJapanese and Quechua
EX: English = French> Eskimo- Spanish = French > English
( the degree of similarity between two languages.)
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- Objective measures of the distance between
languages can be established through careful
comparisons of structural similarities whichwould show
Ex: - Lhopital (in French)- Hospital (in English)
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The subjective judgments of languagedistance by learners can matter
considerably.
mund
weib
donner
mond
wiif
donder
mouth
wife
thunder
GermanDutchEnglish
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2.4. Comparison of performances
- While a contrastive analysis is a necessary condition toestablish the likelihood of transfer, it is not always asufficient condition. By comparing the performances ofspeakers of at least two different native languages,researchers can better determine any effects of negativetransfer
Ex: I know the man that John gave the book to
resumptive pronouns.(A contrastive analysis of a relative clause in Persian)
him
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-In some cases the need for a formal comparison ofperformances is not very great.
EX: the spelling of playing as blayingis more likely
be the spelling error of an Arabic speaker than of aSpanish speaker
EX: - He's after telling a lieHe has told a lie"
The anomalous verb formfound in Hiberno-Englishsentences
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While explicit comparisons are often desirable indetermining negative transfer, they are indispensable in
determining positive transfer.
EX: :- El cuadro es muy oscuro.
The picture is very dark
The contrastive ofSpanish and English
( word- for- word- grammaticalcorrespondence betweenSpanish & English)
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- Regardless of how much or how little any training intranslation or other second language behaviors mayencourage substratum transfer, there is strongevidence that different acquisition patterns are
associated with different native languagebackgrounds.
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3.3 Problems of prediction
Forecasts andexplanations
A classificationof outcomes
Transfer andsimplification
Individualoutcomes
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3.3.1 Forecasts and explanations
ForecastsPrediction is frequently based on dataabout learner performances already knownto a linguist who has interpreted the data
record with the help of cross
linguisticcomparisons.
Eg:A record of errors in French made byEnglish-speaking students in previous
years can serve as predictor of errors thatEnglish-speaking students will make in aFrench course next year
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ExplanationsGood contrastive analysis should make it easier to
explain why transfer will or will not occur in anygiven instance
* Relation between Prediction andExplanations
Without a clear understanding of the conditions thatoccasions transfer, there is a little hope ofdeveloping highly sophisticated contrastiveanalyses that make predictions
While good predictions may be the ultimate goal,good explanations are crucial part of achieving thatgoal
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Contrastive analyses
Forecasts Explanations
develop
understand
Possible outcomes of cross- linguisticsimilarities and differences
3 3 2 A l ifi i
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3.3.2 A classificationof outcomes
Positive transfer Differing lengthsof acquisitionNegative transfer
Underproduction Overproduction Production errors Misinterpretation
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I.Positive transferThe effects of positive transfer are only determinablethrough comparisons of the success of groups withdifferent native languages.Such comparisons oftenshow that cross- linguistic similarities can produce
positive transfer in several ways.* Similarities between native language and targetlanguage vocabularycan reduce the time needed todevelop good reading comprehension.
Eg: Similarities betweenEnglish & French
vocabularies ( sport, volleyball, football, baby-sitter,pay/payer,admire/admirer,finish/finir,arrive/arriver,impatience,simple....)
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* Similarities between vowel systemscan make theidentification of vowel sounds easier.
Eg:English and Vietnamese vowel systems
( monothongs; u,e,o,a,i -> how to use articals a/an)
Similarities between writing systemscan give learners ahead start in reading and writing in the target language
Eg:How to write a compositon in English and Vietnamese( 3 main parts: introduction, body, conclusion),how towrite a letter...
* Similarities in syntactics structurescan facilitate theacquisition of grammar
English: I played sports.S V O
French: J ai fait du sport .
S V COD
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II.Negative transfer
Since Negative transfer involves divergencesfrom norms in the target language, it is oftenrelatively easy to identify.
A.Underproduction:
Learners may produce very few or noexamples of a target language structure.There isgood evidence for one form of underproductionrelated to language distance: avoidance
Eg: Chinese and Japanese students tended touse fewer relative clause structures more like thoseof English
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II.Negative transfer
B.Overproduction
Overproduction is sometimes simply aconsequence underproduction.
Eg: In an effort to avoid relative clauses,Japansese students may violate norms of writtenprose in English by writing too many simplesentences in the native and target languages
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In speech and writing there are 3 types oferrors especially likely to arise fromsimilarities and differences
substitutions calques alterations
Production errors
II.Negative transferC.Production errors
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Production errorsSubstitutions
Substitutions involve a use of native language forms in the
target language.Eg:
English: Now I live home with my parents but sometimes I mustgo away
Swedish: Now I live home with my parents but sometimes I
must go bort.( bort is the Swedish word)Arabic speakers sometimes make ESL spelling errors:
Letter b & p as in playing -> blaying, habit -> hapit
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Production errors
CalquesCalques are errors that reflect very closely a
native language structure
Eg:
English: 1. I like you very much
2. Nams house
Vietnamese: 1. I very like you.
2. Houses Nam
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Production errors
AlterationsEg: Intonation between English and
Vietnamese
1.Yes/No Questions: Do you live here?
Are you happy?
2.WH Questions : Where do you live?
What is your name?
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D.Misinterpretation
Native language structures can influence theinterpretation of target language messages,and sometimes that influence leads to learnersinferring something very different from whatspeakers of the target language would infer.
Misinterpretations may also occur when nativeand target language word- order differ
Eg:Vietnamese: She is a girl beautifulEnglish: She is a beautiful girl
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II.Negative transfer
Misinterpretations may also occur whencultural assumptions differ
Eg:
Vietnamese: Ask questions:(Age,Marriage,Salary)
English: Avoid asking these questions
( considered private questions)
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III.Differing lengths of acquisition
The distinction between positive and negativetransfer is useful, but the study of these typesof transfer tends to focus on specific detailsand not on the cumulative effects of cross-
linguistic similarities and differences on theacquisition process.
One way of assessing such effects is to look atthe length of time needed to achieve a high
degree of mastery of a language
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III.Differing lengths of acquisition
Little reseach: The length of language coursesoffered to member of the U.S diplomatic corps.
Language Number of weeks
Chinese 44
Dutch 24 French 20
Indonesian 32
Italian 20
Japanese 44
Similar to Englishin many respects
Share fewer structuralsimilarities with English
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3.3.3 Transfer and simplification
There are cases in which cross-linguistic influenceis not very compelling explanation
?Eg: The omission of pronouns of a Spanishspeaker
In Saturday no like, no time, watch TV...
On Saturday I dont like ( to go to the movies), I
dont have any time. I watch TV...
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3.3.4 Individual outcomes
Individuals vary in many ways,including in their
experience and aptitude for learning languages andsuch variation can definitely affect transfer .
In the study of complex individuals who speakcomplex languages, predictions are statements of
probabilities.Progress will result from refiningcontrastive predictions so that they more frequentlytally with actual outcomes
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SOME FUNDAMENTALPROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF
TRANSFER
PROBLEMS OF GENERALIZATION
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Problems ofgeneralization
Laguageuniversals
Linguistictypologies
Universalistsassumptions
LANGUAGE UNIVERSALS
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LANGUAGE UNIVERSALS Chomskyan approach: Children are hypothesized to have
an innate knowledge of the basic grammatical structure
common to all human languages. This innate knowledge is
often referred to as universal grammar (retrieved from
Wikipedia) which is available to guide the progress of
adults learning L2 (Odlin, 1989: 44)
Greenbergian approach: involves the cross-linguistic
regularities which include the finding of the most common
word-order patterns in the world languages such as SVO,
SOV, VOS (Odlin, 1989: 44)
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LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGIES
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LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGIES(cont.)Typological analyses contributions to
the study of transfer: (3 ways)
- Provide basis for estimating language
distance.- Encourage the study of transfer in
terms of systemic influences
- Provide a clearer understanding ofrelation between transfer anddevelopmental sequences
UNIVERSALIST
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UNIVERSALISTASSUMPTIONSThere are categories (e.g. Subject are
universal) applicable to the analysis ofall languages
There are certain meanings that areequivalent in the discourse andsemantic systems of all humanlanguages. Without some notion of
translation equivalence, there can beno useful cross-linguistic comparisonof structures (e.g. Negation is found inall language)
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