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<b> CHAPTER 6: SOME FUNDAMENTAL </b>

<b>PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF TRANSFER</b>

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<b>CONTENTS</b>

<b>I. Problems</b> <b>of</b> <b>definition </b>

1. Some observations about what transfer is <i>not</i>

2. The definition of substratum transfer

<b>II. Problems</b> <b>of comparison</b>

1. Descriptive and theoretical adequacy

2. Some problems in contrastive descriptions
3. Structural and nonstructural factors

4. Comparison of performances

<b>III.</b> <b>Problems</b> <b>of</b> <b>prediction</b>

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<b>CONTENTS</b>

<b>IV.</b> <b>Problems</b> <b>of</b> <b>generalization</b>

1. Language Universals
2. Linguistics typologies

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<b>I. Problems of definition</b>

1. Some observations about what transfer is <i>not</i>

<i>1.1.Transfer is not simply a consequence of habit formation.</i>

-Carroll(1968): <i><b>the behaviorist notion of transfer</b></i> is quite different from <i><b>the </b></i>
<i><b>notion of native language influence.</b></i>

+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.

<i>Behaviorism may never have been relevant to the study of transfer.</i> 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).

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<b>I. Problems of definition</b>

<i>1.2 Transfer is not simply interference.</i>

-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.
<i><b>negative transfer</b></i>

<i>For example: </i>

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. <i><b>positive </b></i>
<i><b>transfer</b></i>

<i>For example</i>: the number of Spanish-English cognates (e.g., <i><b>público and </b></i>
<i><b>public</b></i>) is far greater than the number of Arabic-English

cognates.native speakers of Spanish have a tremendous advantage

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<b>I. Problems of definition</b>

<i><b>1.3. Transfer is not simply a falling back on the native language</b></i>

-Krashen (1983): <i>Transfer… can still be regarded as padding, or the result of falling back on </i>
<i>old knowledge, the L1 rule, when new knowledge…is lacking.</i>

-There are several problems with analyzing transfer as merely a falling back:

+<b>First</b>, it ignores the head start that speakers of some languages have in coming to a new
language.

<i>For example:</i> 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.

+<b>Second</b>, Krashen’s statements imply that native language influence is always manifested in
some transparent “L1 rule”. However, native language influences can <i>interact</i> with other
influences so that sometimes there is no neat correspondence between learners’ native
language patterns and their attempts to use the target language.

+<b>Third</b>, transfer may be a mere “production strategy” fails to recognize that cross-linguistic
influences can be beneficial in listening or reading comprehension.

+<b>Fourth</b>, Krashen’s analysis cannot account for the long-term results of language contact in
some settings.

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<b>I. Problems of definition</b>

<i><b>1.4. Transfer is not always native language </b></i>

<i><b>influence</b></i>

When individuals know two languages,

knowledge of both may affect their

acquisition of a third.



knowledge of three or more languages can

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<b>I. Problems of definition</b>

<b>2. The definition of substratum transfer</b>

Transfer is the <i>influence</i> resulting from similarities and differences
between the target language and any other language that has been
previously (and perhaps imperfectly) <i>acquired.</i>

<i>*It is only a working definition, since there are problematic terms within the </i>
<i>definition: <b>influence, acquired</b>.</i>

<i>*A fully adequate definition of transfer seems unattainable without </i>
<i>adequate definitions of many other terms, such as <b>strategy, process, </b></i>
<i><b>and simplification. </b>Such definitions may presuppose an account of </i>
<i>bilingualism that accurately characterizes relations between transfer, </i>
<i>over-generalization, simplification, and other second language </i>
<i>behaviors.</i>

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<b>II. PROBLEMS OF COMPARISON</b>

<b>Descriptive and theoretical adequacy</b>

<b>Some problems in contrastive descriptions</b>

<b>Structural and nonstructural factors</b>

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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.

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Some problems in contrastive

descriptions

One of the most fundamental problems is

<i>idealization</i>

.



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

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Some problems in contrastive

descriptions

Too much idealization amounts to

<i>distortion</i>

.

Another challenge for any contrastive

description is the

<i>interaction of linguistic</i>

<i>subsystems</i>

.

Psycholinguistic research has demonstrated a

strong interdependence among discourse,

syntax, phonology, and other subsystems in

the comprehension and production of

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Structural and nonstructural

factors

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

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

pattern) and function (some definite use).

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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

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Comparison of performances

<i>A contrastive analysis</i> 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
sometimes misleading

 Comparisons of performances of two or more groups of

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Comparison of performances

<i>Example</i> : I know the man that John gave the book to
him .

( an error made by Persian speakers)

- <i>Contrastive analysis</i>: Persian relative clauses often have
resumptive pronouns  error

- <i>Comparison of performances</i> : such errors are also

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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.

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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

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Comparison of performances

In some cases the need for formal comparison of
performances is not very great.

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

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Comparison of performances

Some studies suggest that some positive

transfer occurs even when the contrastive

prediction is stated in a very crude way.

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<b>Some fundamental problems in the </b>

<b>study of transfer</b>

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<b>Forecast and explanations</b>

 The literature on contrastive analysis frequently refers to

predictions that are determined by cross-linguistic
comparisons.

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

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

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cross-

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

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

A good contrastive analysis should

make it easier to explain

<i>why </i>

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<b>A classification of outcomes</b>



The following classification offers

some idea of the varied effects that

cross-linguistic similarities and

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<b>1. Positive transfer</b>



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

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

Similarities between vowel systems can

make the identification of vowel sound

easier.



Similarities between the writing systems can

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

Future research is likely to show

that cross-linguistic similarities in

other areas will also promote

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<b>2. Negative transfer</b>



Negative transfer involves divergences from

norms in the target language, it is often

relatively easy to identify



Negative transfer tends to be equated with

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<i><b>A. Underproduction</b></i>

 Learner may produce very few or no examples of a

target language structure.

 There is good evidence for one form of

underproduction related to language distance:

<i>avoidance (If learners sense that particular </i>

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

For example:

Schacter found that Chinese and

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<i><b>B. Overproduction</b></i>



Overproduction is something simply a

consequence of underproduction.



For example, in an effort to avoid relative

clauses, Japanese students may violate

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<i><b>C. Production errors</b></i>

1.Substitutions

Involving a use of native language forms in

the target language.

Now I live home with my parents. But

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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

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<i><b>D. Misinterpretation</b></i>

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<b>3. Differing lengths of acquisition</b>

Several years of study of one

foreign languge can greatly

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Valid generalization about

<i>transfer</i>



Valid

generalization about

<i>the nature of language/ </i>

<i>language universals.</i>

<i>For example, all languages have nouns and verbs, or all </i>
<i>spoken languages have consonants and vowels.</i>

•

<i>Language universals</i>

•

<i>Linguistic typologies</i>

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<b>Language universals</b>

<b> : </b>

<b>Two of the most </b>

<b>distinctive approaches to the studies of universals</b>

<b>Chomskyan approach</b> <b>Greenbergian approach</b>

-The intensive analysis of

one language to identify
abstract principles of a
Universal Grammar.

- Various characteristics of

the syntax of standard
written English.

-Cross-linguistic
comparisons.

-The cross-linguistic

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<b>Language universals</b>

The Chomskyan approach advances many claims about
language structure, language acquisition and linguistic
theory.

One key hypothesis : Universal Grammar is a <i>biological</i>
<i>inheritance</i> which simply requires activation in child
language acquisition.

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<b>Language universals</b>

<i>Chomskyan analyses</i> <i>Empirical investigations in</i>

<i>second language acquisition </i>
<i>lead to</i>

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

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<b>Language universals</b>

The Greenbergian approach have provided the basic for much
research on grammatical theory and language acquisition.

The basic word order of English :

<b>S V O</b>

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<b>Language universals</b>

Greenberg found two orders also to be common :

<i>Order Examples Cross-linguistic frequency</i>

VSO Irish, Classical Arabic Somewhat common
SVO English, Russian Very common

SOV Persian, Japanese Very common

VOS Malagasy Rare

OVS Hixkaryana Very rare

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<b>Linguistic universals</b>

Three word order types (SVO, VSO, SOV) account for
the vast majority of languages is itself highly
significant.

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<i>* Typology</i>, <i>the study of such classifications, benefits</i> work in
many fields, including historical linguistics, grammatical
theory, and contractive analysis

.

<i>Language Inflectional Basic Resumptive Lexical tones ? </i>
<i> morphology word order Pronouns? </i>

English Simple SVO No No

Arabic Complex VSO Yes No
Thai Negligible SVO No Yes

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<b>Linguistic typologies</b>

* Typological analyses contribute to the study of
transfer in 3 ways :

- They provide a basis for estimating <i>language </i>

<i>distance.</i>

- Typological analyses encourage the study of transfer

in term of <i>systemic influences.</i>

- Typological analyses allow for the clearer

understanding of relations between transfer and

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Typologically common patterns:

-

in first language acquisition, are both as

errors and as correct forms.

-

in the second language acquisition, the

negative patterns may sometimes reflect

native language influences, sometimes

developmental factors, and sometimes

perhaps both transfer and developmental

factors.

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<b>Linguistic typologies</b>

Typologically common features gives clues to

universal preferences in linguistic structure.

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<b>Universalist assumption</b>

- One of the most important is the assumption that there
are categories applicable to the analysis of all
language.

Ex: Greenberg’s classification of language in term of basic
word order assumes that categories such as
“Subject”are universal.

- Another crucial universalist assumption in typological

and contrastive analyses  “meaning” that are

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<b>Universalist assumption</b>

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<b>THANK YOU FOR </b>

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