The term language transfer is used to describe what occurs
when people who are in the process of learning a new
language transfer the applications from their native
language, or their first language to the new language.
The process of language transfer is more common when the
new language that the individual is trying to learn bears
some sort of similarity to that person’s original language.
Sometimes, the transfer happens on a conscious level
whereby the speaker of another language trying to learn a
new one makes a conscious effort to apply elements of the
old one as part of the process of learning the new language.
At other times, the process occurs on a more subconscious
level whereby such a person will unknowingly make the
transference from one language to the other without even
realizing that the process is occurring.
Language transfer is also known as L1 interference, linguistic
interference and cross meaning.
Dulay et al (1982) define interference as the automatic
transfer due to habit, of the surface structure of the first
language onto the surface of the target language.
Lott (1983:256) defines interference as errors in the learner’s
use of the foreign language that can be traced back to the
mother tongue.
Ellis (1997:51) refers to interference as “transfer” which he
says is the influence that the learner’s L1 exerts over the
acquisition of an L2. He argues that transfer is governed by
learners perceptions about what is transferable and by their
stage of development in L2 learning.
It explains different accents and mistakes people make. It
can predict how quickly we can acquire a second language
by the amount of similarities and differences between L1 and
L2.
We can transfer grammar, vocabulary, syntax, semantics,
spelling, morphology, pronunciation, structure and culture to
the L2 language.
Our brain is already wired with linguistic rules that help us
operate in our first language.
When we learn a second language, we rely on these
established rules and structures to guess how the new
language works.
For example, Korean sentences use a subject-object-verb
structure while English sentences follow a subject-verb-
object structure.
Thus, a Korean speaker of English may incorrectly say; “I
your cat saw”. Japanese words don’t allow two consonants
next to each other, so a Japanese speaker of English may
add vowel to pronounce an English word more easily; “star”
might sound like “sutar”. Spanish speakers tend to add “e”
before words starting with “s”, “star” will sound like “estar”
There can be negative transfers, when the understanding of
one language complicates the understanding of another
language. Alternatively, there can be positive transfers such
as that knowing one language can aid in developing skills for
the second language. The effect can be on any aspect of
language; grammar, vocabulary, accent, spelling and so on.
Factors that cause language Interference;
Interference is a general problem that occurs in bilingualism.
There are many factors that contribute to interference
(Weinrich, 1970: 64-65)
Speaker bilingualism background; bilingualism is the major
factor of interference as the speaker is influenced by both of
the source and the target language.
Disloyalty to target language; disloyalty to target language
will cause negative attitude. This will lead to disobedience to
target language structure and further force the bilingualist to
put uncontrolled structure of his first language elements to
output in practicing words and utterances both in oral and
written form.
The limited vocabularies of target language mastered by
a learner;
Thus a learner, who is willing to master another language will
meet new words which differ from his native words. The more
vocabularies someone has, the better he masters target
language.
Foreign language learner will try to put deliberately his native
word to state some points when he cannot find the best
words of TL. For example when an Indonesian wants to
mention “rambutan”, he still mentions “rambutan” when he
speaks in English. There is no English word for “rambutan”
Needs of synonym; synonym in language usage plays an
important role as word chosen in order not to repeat similar
word during the communication process (redundancy).
The need of synonym for certain words is seemingly aimed to
intensify meaning.
Prestige and style; applying unfamiliar words (foreign
words) during a communication practice. Those unfamiliar
words usage is aimed to get a pride.
Interference will appear as there are certain words even
though the receiver probably cannot understand the real idea
of the speech. These usual unfamiliar words usage will
become a style of the user. Unfortunately, the user
sometimes does not understand the real meaning whether
the meaning is denotative or connotative.
According to Lott (1983, 258-259) there are three factors that
cause the interference;
The interlingual factor; it stresses upon the negative
interference of mother tongue as the only source of errors. For
example, the construction – “I like to read” is uttered as “I read
to like” by many Hindi speakers. In Hindi, the verb is pre-
positioned while in English it is post positioned. This type of
error is the result of negative transfer of L1 to L2 system.
Errors are the result of interference in learning a second
language from the habits of the first language. Because of the
difference in system especially grammar, the students will
transfer their first language into the second language by using
their mother tongue system.
The over extension of analogy; a learner has been wrong in
using a vocabulary caused by the similarity of the element
between first language and second language, e.g. the use of
cognate words (the same form of word in two languages with
different functions or meanings)E.g. use of month and moon.
Transfer of structure; there are two types of transfer. Positive
transfer and negative transfer. Negative transfer refers to
those instances of transfer, which result in error because old
habitual behaviour is different from the new behaviour being
learned.
Positive transfer is the correct utterance because both the first
language and second language have the same structure.
Effects of language interference; interference may be viewed
as the transference of elements of one language to another at
various levels including phonological, grammatical, lexical and
orthographical.
Berthold et al (1997) define phonological interference as items
including foreign accent such as stress, rhyme, intonation and
speech sounds from the first language influencing the second.
Grammatical interference is defined as the first language
influencing the second in terms of word order, use of pronouns
and determinants, tense and mood.
Interference at a lexical level provides for the borrowing of
words from one language and converting them to sound more
natural in another.
Orthographic interference includes the spelling of one
language altering another.
LEXICAL GRAMMATICAL
• Accent • Word order
• Stress • Vocab • Spellings • Pronouns
• intonation • Sayings of words • Tenses
PHONOLOGICAL ORTHOGRAPHICAL
Negative Transfer Vs Positive Transfer
Negative transfer impedes learning; negative transfer occurs
when L1 knowledge influences L2 understanding and results
in errors; such transfer hinders the acquisition of L2 at least
temporarily.
Negative transfers involve divergences between the source
and the target language. It affects word choice, word order,
pronunciation and any other aspect of L2.
Positive transfer facilitates learning; Learning in one language
context assists the process of learning in another language
context. Example, speakers of a language that has the
concept of articles make less errors in articles than those
whose first language do not have the concept of articles.
When both languages have the same unit or structure, it can
lead to correct language production.
Negative transfer; from a more general standpoint, “all new
learning involves transfer based on previous learning “
(Brown, 2000)
The greater the differences between the two languages, the
more negative transfer can be expected.
Since the German noun “information” can also be used in the
plural – “informationen”- German students will almost
invariably use “informations” in English too, which is
grammatically wrong.
Our brain is already wired with linguistic rules that help us
operate in our first language. When we try to learn a second
language, we rely on these established rules and structures
to guess how the new language works.
In groups of 3, discuss what caused these errors and how can
you relate this to negative transfer from your mother tongue
I go there already
Sir, can you chop this document for me?
She like roti canai!
Last night I ate curry chicken
I can speak Mandarin little bit little bit
Mummy, the uncle from your office gave me an angpow!
Lets look at some of the different types of negative transfer;
Substitution; is caused by the absence of some sounds in
L1 often forces learners to opt for a similar sound because
they struggle with replicating the original sound.
Many Slavic languages do not differentiate between “g” and
“k” or “d” and “t” as the final letter. “med” (honey, Bulgarian)
and “met”(copper, Bulgarian) are both pronounced “met”.
Therefore, “skit” and “skid” may be hard to articulate for such
learners.
Spanish and Korean speakers may not pronounce “h” in “her”
because this sound in that position is either silent or very soft
in their L1. This is called substitution
Underdifferentiation; is the inability to make a distinction
made in another language.
Spanish speakers may try to use “borrow” and “lend’ as
synonums or equivalent words because in Spanish there is
only one word that means both: “prestar”
Simplification; is another type of negative interference. L2
learners make reductions to linguistic structures resulting in
grammatically incorrect sentences.
The Korean language for instance, does not use definite
articles; as a result, Korean speakers may omit “a” or “the” in
sentences like; “House is very pretty”
Calques; negative transfers that reflect L1 structure are
called “calques”.
These can involve improper collocations like; “do mistakes”
disagreement in subject and verb: “She like apples”.
Disagreement in countable and uncountable nouns:
“Money are very important”; or wrong use of parts of speech;
“Cities are noise and dirty”
Negative transfer has been the popular issue while positive
transfer received less concern though its obvious effect is
universally acknowledged.
However, it is not appropriate to emphasize the obvious
negative transfer and overlook the positive part, since cross-
linguistic similarity which may generate positive transfer is an
integral part of the whole cross-linguistic influence set.
A learner’s L1 always has great impact on his or her L2.
Today, linguists are paying more and more attention to L1
transfer.
One theory is universal grammar by Chomsky. Another one
is linguistic universals raised by Greenberg.
L1 and L2 share much in common, the learners can at least
stay in communication and manage to make him or herself
understand the language rules.
Transfer as a strategy; strategy to discover the L2 structure
and to help in communicative performance.
Newmark and Reibel (1968) say that adult learners do no
substitute what he knows in the native language for the target
language; instead to fill in their gaps they refer for help from
what they already know.
Transfer as a constraint; transfer acts as a constraint in the
development of the learner’s language. The constraints lead
to non-target- like production.
It prevents a student from being aware of similarities or from
deciding that the similarities are real (Odlin, 2002)
Transfer is a learning process and a production process
(kohn, 1986). The process is part of the learner’s
interlanguage behaviour; creating transformation of the input
and meaningful input.
Suggestion:
It is important for teachers to know the differences and
similarities between the learner’s native and target language. It
will help the teachers decide what strategy, methodology and
materials to use in teaching a second language.
Tutorial Task
Discuss ways to enhance second language acquisition
through language transfer.
Does it mean we can now start to teach English using our
native language?
References
Grabe and Kaplan (1991) Introduction to Applied Linguistics;
Second Language professional library; Addison –Wesley
Publishing Company.
Krashen, S. D(1981) Second Language Acquisition and
Second language Learning. Oxford:Pergamon.
Halliday M.A.K McIntosh A. Stevens P. (1964) The Linguistic
Sciences and Language Teaching: London; Longman.
Krashen, S.D. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second
Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.Ellis, R(1997) The
Study of Second Language acquisition. Oxford University
Press.
Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistic; P.H. Matthews.
(2011) Oxford University Press.
Selinker, L. (1972) Interlanguage; International Review of
Applied Linguistics;
