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Lec . 5. Contrastive Analysis. Introduction . Learners’ performance (linguistic behavior) is the actual utterances that the learner produces Learners’ performance = correct vs. errors Errors: significant determinants of SLA process. The characteristics of learners’ performance?.
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Lec. 5 Contrastive Analysis
Introduction • Learners’ performance (linguistic behavior)is the actual utterances that the learner produces • Learners’ performance= correct vs. errors • Errors: significant determinants of SLA process
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?
Learners’ performance = linguistic behavior • Contrastive analysis (CA) • Error analysis (EA) • Interlanguage (IL)
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)
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
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”
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)
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)
CAH & Prediction • Such claims were supported by what some researchers claimed to be an empirical method of prediction
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
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)
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)
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
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