Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning (Second Language Acquisition)

153 Pages·2006·1.39 MB·English

by  Hakan Ringbom

Cross-linguistic Similarity
in Foreign Language Learning
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Series Editor:Professor David SingletonTrinity College, Dublin, Ireland
This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of language
acquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than the
native language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadest
possible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, on
the one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, some
degree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoretical
stance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic,
psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readership
of the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second language
acquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisition
research, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests include a second
language acquisition component.
Other Books in the Series
Age, Accent and Experience in Second Language Acquisition
Alene Moyer
Studying Speaking to Inform Second Language Learning
Diana Boxer and Andrew D. Cohen (eds)
Language Acquisition: The Age Factor (2nd edn)
David Singleton and Lisa Ryan
Focus on French as a Foreign Language: Multidisciplinary Approaches
Jean-Marc Dewaele (ed.)
Second Language Writing Systems
Vivian Cook and Benedetta Bassetti (eds)
Third Language Learners: Pragmatic Production and Awareness
Maria Pilar Safont Jordà
Artificial Intelligence in Second Language Learning: Raising Error Awareness
Marina Dodigovic
Studies of Fossilization in Second Language Acquisition
ZhaoHong Han and Terence Odlin (eds)
Language Learners in Study Abroad Contexts
Margaret A. DuFon and Eton Churchill (eds)
Early Trilingualism: A Focus on Questions
Julia D. Barnes
Cross-linguistic Influences in the Second Language Lexicon
Janusz Arabski (ed.)
Motivation, Language Attitudes and Globalisation: A Hungarian Perspective
Zoltán Dörnyei, Kata Csizér and Nóra Németh
Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning
Carmen Muñoz (ed.)
Investigating Tasks in Formal Language Learning
María del Pilar García Mayo (ed.)
Input for Instructed L2 Learners: The Relevance of Relevance
Anna Nizegorodcew
For more details of these or any other of our publications, please contact:
Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall,
Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, England
http://www.multilingual-matters.com
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 21
Series Editor: David Singleton, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Cross-linguistic Similarity in
Foreign Language Learning
Håkan Ringbom
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD
Clevedon • Buffalo (cid:127) Toronto
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ringbom, Håkan.
Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning/Hakan Ringbom.
Second Language Acquisition: 21
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Language and languages–Study and teaching. 2. Similarity (Language learning)
I. Title.
P53.777.R56 2007
418.001'9–dc22 2006022410
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-85359-935-4 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-85359-934-7 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters Ltd
UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH.
USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA.
Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada.
Copyright © 2007 Håkan Ringbom.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any
means without permission in writing from the publisher.
The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that
are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in
sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support
our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody
accreditation. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full
accreditation has been granted to the printer concerned.
Typeset by Wordworks Ltd.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd.
Color profile: Disabled
Composite Default screen
Contents
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Different Types of Cross-linguistic Similarities. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Similarity, Contrast and Zero Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Perceived and ‘Objective’ Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Formal and Functional/Semantic Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Learner Expectations, On-line Comprehension and Receptive
Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Understanding an Unfamiliar Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
TheComprehensionofCloselyRelatedLanguages: Scandinavia 12
On-line Comprehension and Receptive Learning. . . . . . . . . 14
4 Cross-linguistic Similarities in Comprehension and Production:
The Mental Lexicon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
L1 Comprehension and L1 Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
L2 Comprehension and L2 Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Perceived and Assumed Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Cross-linguistic Similarity and the Mental Lexicon. . . . . . . . 26
5 Transfer:TheUseofCross-linguisticSimilarities.TheFinnishScene 30
Transfer Studies: History and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Language Scene in Finland: Characteristics of Finnish and
Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6 Tests of English Comparing Finnish and Swedish Speakers in
Finland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Primary Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Comprehensive Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Commercial Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Matriculation Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
University Entrance Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
v
1
MLM Ringbom Proof 2d
19 October 2006 12:35:17
Color profile: Disabled
Composite Default screen
vi Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning
University Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
International Evaluations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Studies by Non-Finnish Researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Differences between Finnish and Swedish Learners of English . 51
7 Levels of Transfer: Items and Procedures (Systems) . . . . . . . . . 54
Item Transfer, Procedural Transfer and Overall Transfer . . . . 54
Similarities in Reading vs. Similarities in Listening. . . . . . . . 58
8 Item Transfer in Production: Areas of Language . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Phonology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Discourse and Rhetoric: Pragmatic Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Grammar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Lexis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Non-native Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9 Skill Theory, Automaticity and Foreign Language Learning . . . . 89
The Use of Cross-linguistic Similarities at Different Stages
of Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Bilingual vs. Monolingual Language Learners. . . . . . . . . . . 94
10 Development of Foreign Language Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Item Learning for Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Item Learning for Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
System Learning for Comprehension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
System Learning for Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Near-native Proficiency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11 Consequences for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
The EuroCom Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Teaching the Use of Learning Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
The Relevance of Cross-linguistic Similarities for Teaching
English to Finnish and Finland-Swedish Learners . . . . . . . 107
12 Further Research Needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Development from Receptive to Productive Competence . . . 115
Cross-linguistic vs. Intralinguistic Similarities . . . . . . . . . . 116
Longitudinal Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
13 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
2
MLM Ringbom Proof 2d
19 October 2006 12:35:17
Color profile: Disabled
Composite Default screen
Contents vii
Appendix 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Appendix 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3
MLM Ringbom Proof 2d
19 October 2006 12:35:17
Color profile: Disabled
Composite Default screen
Acknowledgements
Scott Jarvis has provided helpful comments on this manuscript. Some
sections have been read and commented on by Frank Daulton, Britta
Hufeisen and Kalevi Pohjala. I am very grateful for all this help.
Forfinancialassistancewithtravelgrants,IthankTheFinnishSociety
for Sciences and Letters and the H.W. Donner Trust (Åbo Akademi
Foundation).
viii
4
MLM Ringbom Proof 2d
19 October 2006 12:35:17
Color profile: Disabled
Composite Default screen
Chapter 1
Introduction
Learning,includinglanguagelearning,isbasedonpriorknowledge.When
youlearnsomethingnew,suchasaforeignlanguage,youtrytoconnectthe
newelementstowhateverlinguisticandotherknowledgeyoumayhave.
Both intralinguistic and cross-linguistic knowledge are relevant to the
learner of another language. The relevance of intralinguistic TL (target
language)knowledgelargelydependsonthestageoflearning:itincreases
as learning progresses. How relevant prior cross-linguistic knowledge is
primarilydependsontherelationshipsthatcanbeestablishedbetweenthe
TLandL1(firstlanguage).Ifyoulearnalanguagecloselyrelatedtoyour
L1, prior knowledge will be consistently useful, but if the languages are
very distant, not much prior knowledge is relevant. What matters to the
language learner is language proximity, i.e. similarities, not its negative
counterpart, language distance, i.e. differences. Presence or absence of
cross-linguisticsimilaritiesaccountsforthedifferencesineffortandtime
existingbetweenlearningalanguageclosetotheL1andlearningatotally
unrelated language.
Whilelanguagelearnersareprimarilyconcernedwithwhatsimilarities
theycanestablishbetweenTLandL1oranyotherlanguagetheyalready
know, linguists have tended to focus on analysing differences between
languages and uses of language. Variability is a key concept in various
linguisticcontexts,asdeSaussurealreadynotedinhisstatement‘Dansla
langueiln’yaquedesdifferences’.Itiscertainlytruethat‘thestudyofSLA
requiresanunderstandingofvariationandthenatureoftheconstraintson
variable systems over time’ (Romaine, 2003: 431). When research has
focuseduponsimilaritiesacrosslanguages,theideahasmoreoftenthan
notbeentopavethewayforatotallydifferentareaoftheoreticallinguistic
studies,thatoflanguageuniversals.Butthelearner’spointofviewdiffers
from that of the researcher. Learners, consciously or not, do not look for
differences,theylookforsimilaritieswherevertheycanfindthem.Intheir
search for ways of facilitating their learning task they make use of intra-
lingual similarities, which are perceived from what they have already
learnedoftheTL.Atearlystagesoflearning,whentheTLknowledgeis
insignificant,L1isthemainsourceforperceivinglinguisticsimilarities,but
languages other than the L1 may also play an important part. Many
1
5
MLM Ringbom Proof 2d
19 October 2006 12:35:17