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CHAPTER 6: SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF TRANSFER

Presented by: Tran Thi Duong Bui Thi Thanh Hoa Truong Thi Bich Hong Bui Thi Hoang Mai Huynh Ngoc Mai Nguyen Thi Sinh To Nguyen Thi Cam Ha

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I. Problems of definition 1. Some observations about what transfer is not 2. The definition of substratum transfer II. Problems of comparison 1. Descriptive and theoretical adequacy 2. Some problems in contrastive descriptions 3. Structural and nonstructural factors 4. Comparison of performances III. Problems of prediction 1. Forecasts and explanations 2. A classification of outcomes

IV. Problems of generalization 1. Language Universals 2. Linguistics typologies 3. Universalist assumptions

What is transfer ?

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).

-Whitney(1881) used the term transfer to refer to cross-linguistic influences- long before any linguists thought of linking it to the notion of habit formation.

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 over native speakers of Arabic in the acquisition of English vocabulary.

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.

For example: In the case of Ireland, learners of English seem to have fallen back frequently on knowledge of Irish, but such falling back was never entirely eradicated nor did it halt the wide-scale adoption of English.

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 lead to three or more different kinds of source language influences.

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.

*Thus, one might plausibly argue that a fully adequate definition of

transfer presupposes a fully adequate definition of language.

II. PROBLEMS OF COMPARISON

Descriptive and theoretical adequacy Some problems in contrastive descriptions Structural and nonstructural factors Comparison of performances.

10 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.

Descriptive adequacy is a precondition for

theoretical adequacy.

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 variations in the speech of individuals who consider themselves to be speakers of the same language.

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 language.

Structural and nonstructural factors

influence

What is structure?

No matter how good a contrastive analysis is, more than just structural comparisons are necessary for a thorough understanding of transfer, since native language interacts with nonstructural factors.

Structure (tagmeme) is a unity of form (some definite

pattern) and function (some definite use).

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 distance, or the degree of similarities between two languages.

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

(cid:0)

sometimes misleading Comparisons of performances of two or more groups of learners with different native languages are necessary.

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 error resumptive pronouns (cid:0)

- Comparison of performances : such errors are also

made by speakers of languages not having resumptive pronouns in equivalent relative clause.

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.

E.g. : the spelling of playing as blaying is more

likely to be the spelling error of an Arabic speaker than of a Spanish speaker.

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

determining negative transfer, they are indispensable in determining positive transfer.

Comparison of performances

In some cases the need for formal comparison of

performances is not very great.

the distinctiveness of

While formal comparison of spelling and verbs errors the errors are possible, amounts to an implicit comparison. In this case, explicit comparisons are preferable.

While explicit comparisons are often desirable in determining negative transfer, they are indispensable in determining positive transfer.

Comparison of performances

Some studies suggest

that some positive transfer occurs even when the contrastive prediction is stated in a very crude way.

Other studies suggest

that schooling may decrease - not increase - the likelihood of negative transfer.

Some fundamental problems in the study of transfer

Problems of prediction

22 Forecast and explanations

 The literature on contrastive analysis frequently refers to

 In reality, however, the “predictions” of learners’

predictions that are determined by cross-linguistic comparisons.

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 interpreted the data record with the help of cross- linguistic comparisons. (Wardhaugh 1970)

 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

from the kind made before the actual performance of learners is investigated.

A good contrastive analysis should

make it easier to explain why transfer will or will not occur in any given instance.

A classification of outcomes

The following classification offers

some idea of the varied effects that cross-linguistic similarities and differences can produce:

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 comprihension.

 Similarities between vowel systems can make the identification of vowel sound easier.

 Similarities between the writing systems can give learners a head start in reading a writing in the target language.

Future research is likely to show that cross-linguistic similarities in other areas will also promote acquisition.

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

production errors.

A. Underproduction

 Learner may produce very few or no examples of a

 There is good evidence for one form of

target language structure.

underproduction related to language distance: avoidance (If learners sense that particular structures in the target language are very different from counterparts in the native language, they may try to avoid using those structure).

 For example:

Schacter found that Chinese and Japanese students of ESL tended to use fewer relatice clause than did students whose languages have relative clause structures more like those of English.

B. Overproduction

 Overproduction is something simply a

consequence of underproduction.

 For example, in an effort to avoid relative clauses, Japanese students may violate norms of written prose in English by writing too many simple sentences

C. Production errors

1.Substitutions

Involving a use of native language forms in the target language.

Now I live home with my parents. But sometimes I must go bort.

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

3. Alterations of structure

D. Misinterpretation

Native language structures can influence

the interpretation of target message, and sometimes that influence leads to learners inferring something very different from what speakers of the target language would infer.

3. Differing lengths of acquisition

Several years of study of one foreign languge can greatly reduce the time needed to acquire a similar language.

IV. PROBLEMS OF GENERALIZATION

Valid generalization about

transfer

Valid

 generalization about the nature of language/

language universals. For example, all languages have nouns and verbs, or all

• Language universals • Linguistic typologies • Universalist assumptions

spoken languages have consonants and vowels.

Language universals : Two of the most distinctive approaches to the studies of universals

Chomskyan approach Greenbergian approach

-The intensive analysis of one identify abstract principles of a Universal Grammar. - Various characteristics of the syntax of standard written English.

-Cross-linguistic comparisons. to language

cross-linguistic -The variations seen in particular structures : word order.

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.

Biological “program”

Infants’ efforts to walk Infants’ efforts to talk

Language universals

lead to Chomskyan analyses

Empirical investigations in second language acquisition

determine

The extent to which Universal Grammar is still “available” to guide the progress of adults learning a second language.

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

Grammar Subjects Verb/Verb phrase Object Ex : John bought the car.

Language universals

Greenberg found two orders also to be common :

Irish, Classical Arabic English, Russian Persian, Japanese Malagasy Hixkaryana Apurina

Somewhat common Very common Very common Rare Very rare Very rare

Order Examples Cross-linguistic frequency VSO SVO SOV VOS OVS OSV

Linguistic universals

Three word order types (SVO, VSO, SOV) account for itself highly languages is

the vast majority of significant.

Other word-order patterns were often predict from basic

word order.

Linguistic typologies

* Typology, the study of such classifications, benefits work in linguistics, grammatical

including historical fields,

Language Inflectional Basic Resumptive Lexical tones ? morphology word order Pronouns? English Simple SVO Arabic Complex VSO Yes Thai

No No Negligible SVO No Yes

many theory, and contractive analysis.

Linguistic typologies

* Typological analyses contribute to the study of

- They provide a basis

transfer in 3 ways :

for estimating language

- Typological analyses encourage the study of transfer

distance.

in term of systemic influences. - Typological analyses allow the for

clearer understanding of relations between transfer and developmental sequences

Linguistic typologies

Typologically common patterns: -

the second

language acquisition,

language

factors, and

in first language acquisition, are both as errors and as correct forms. the in negative patterns may sometimes reflect influences, sometimes native sometimes developmental perhaps both transfer and developmental factors.

Linguistic typologies

Typologically common features gives clues to

universal preferences in linguistic structure. Ex: The five-vowel system of Spanish is common The eleven- vowel system of Vietnam is rare.

Universalist assumption

- One of the most important is the assumption that there the analysis of all to

are categories applicable language.

Ex: Greenberg’s classification of language in term of basic that categories such as

word order assumes “Subject”are universal.

- Another crucial universalist assumption in typological and contrastive analyses  “meaning” that are equivalent in the discourse and semantic system of all human language.

Universalist assumption

There is one assumption of universalist analyses that is found in many other kinds of research- that a for reasonably good sample of behavior allow reasonable inferences about all such behavior.