Lec . 5

1. Lec. 5 Contrastive Analysis

2. Introduction • Learners’ performance (linguistic behavior)is the actual utterances that the learner produces • Learners’ performance= correct vs. errors • Errors: significant determinants of SLA process

3. The characteristics of learners’ performance? • Are the errors that are committed by L2 learners, & what are their characteristics? • What are the causes of these errors? • What is the role of these errors in learning & teaching L2?

4. Learners’ performance = linguistic behavior • Contrastive analysis (CA) • Error analysis (EA) • Interlanguage (IL)

5. Contrastive Analysis (CA) • The term CA was introduced by behaviorists in order to explain how L1 habits interfere with / or affect L2 learning process • The study of 2 languages in contrast • An extension to he behavioristic & structuralist approaches of the day (1960s & 1970s)

6. Contrastive Analysis (CA) • The goal of CA was to identify & catalogue the structural similarities, & differences between languages. • Similar structures or patterns (i.e. rules or concepts) between L1 & L2 are predicted to aid the L2 acquisition process, while different ones are predicted to impede such process. • CA & linguistic research in 1960s

7. Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis / CAH • The theoretical foundations for CAH were formulated in Lado’sLinguistics Across Cultures (1957) • In his book,Lado claimed that “those elements which are similar [to the learner’s] native language will be simple for him, and those elements that are different will be difficult”

8. CAH claims that… • “the plan of the book rests on the assumption that we can predict & describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning, & those that will cause difficulty, by comparing systematically the language & the culture to be learned with the native language & culture of the student” • Form Linguistics across Cultures by Lado (1957: vii)

9. CHA claims that… “The principal barrier to SLA is the interference of the first language system with the second language system, & that a scientific, structural analysis of the two languages in question would yield a taxonomy of linguistic contrast between them which in turn would enable the linguist to predict the difficulties a learner would encounter” Douglas Brown (2000: 208)

10. CAH & Prediction • Such claims were supported by what some researchers claimed to be an empirical method of prediction

11. 1. The rationale of CA Practical Experience of L2 Learners The Theory of Transfer • Arab learners of English & /b/ phoneme • Spanish learners of English & /h/ • English learners of Arabic & // • Positive transfer (similarities) facilitates learning • Negative transfer (differences) impedes learning

12. Types of Transfer

13. Examples of negative transfer • Native speakers of English can recognize the distinctive accent of Arabs, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, etc. • Examples • Third-person singular • Past simples more than present perfect • Pronunciation (Foreign accent)

14. 2. Negative Transfer Factors • Limited quantity of L2 input (L2 is learned in L1 environment) • Age (adults vs. children) • Linguistic distance between L1 & L2 (English vs. Arabic) • Focus (correct grammar vs. successful communication)

15. Assumptions for CA • According to Lee: • L2 difficulties are wholly due to the differences between the 2 contrasted languages • The greater these differences are, the more acute the learning difficulties will be

16. Assumptions for CA • The results of comparison between the 2 languages are needed to predict the difficulties & errors which may occur in learning the L2 • What there is to teach can best be found by comparing the 2 languages & subtracting what is common to them (similarities). Then, the student has to learn the sum of differences established by the CA