Everything about Language Transfer totally explained
Language transfer (also known as
L1 interference,
linguistic interference, and
crossmeaning) refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language. It is most commonly discussed in the context of
English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation when someone doesn't have a native-level command of a language, as when
translating into a second language.
Positive and negative transfer
When the relevant unit or structure of both languages is the same, linguistic interference can result in correct language production called
positive transfer — "correct" meaning in line with most native speakers' notions of acceptability. An example is the use of
cognates. Note, however, that language interference is most often discussed as a source of errors known as
negative transfer. Negative transfer occurs when speakers and writers transfer items and structures that are not the same in both languages. Within the theory of
contrastive analysis (the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying their structural differences and similarities), the greater the differences between the two languages, the more negative transfer can be expected.
The results of positive transfer go largely unnoticed, and thus are less often discussed. Nonetheless, such results can have a large effect. Generally speaking, the more similar the two languages are, the more the learner is aware of the relation between them, the more positive transfer will occur. For example, an
Anglophone learner of
German may correctly guess an item of German vocabulary from its English counterpart, but
word order and
collocation are more likely to differ, as will
connotations. Such an approach has the disadvantage of making the learner more subject to the influence of "
false friends" (false cognates).
Conscious and unconscious transfer
Transfer may be
conscious or
unconscious. Consciously, learners or unskilled translators may sometimes guess when producing speech or text in a second language because they've not learned or have forgotten its proper usage. Unconsciously, they may not realize that the structures and internal rules of the languages in question are different. Such users could also be aware of both the structures and internal rules, yet be insufficiently skilled to put them into practice, and consequently often fall back on their first language.
Multiple acquired languages
Transfer can also occur between acquired languages. In a situation where
French is a second language and
Spanish a third, an
anglophone learner, for example, may assume that a structure or internal rule from French also applies to Spanish.
Examples
Language transfer produces distinctive forms of learner
English, depending on the speaker’s first language. Some examples, labeled with a
blend of the names of the two languages in question, are:
Similar interference effects, of course, also involve languages other than
English, for example
French and
Spanish (
Frespañol).
These examples could be multiplied endlessly to reflect the linguistic interactions of speakers of the thousands of existing or extinct
languages.
Such interfered-language names are often also used informally to denote instances of
code-switching,
code-mixing, borrowing (using
loan words).
Broader effects of language transfer
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
Québec,
Canada, and predominantly Spanish-speaking regions in the
U.S.. For details on the latter, see the and the
list of U.S. communities with Hispanic majority populations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Language Transfer'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://language_transfer.totallyexplained.com">Language transfer Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
