CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS LING 308 FIRST SEMESTER131 YANBU UNIVERSITY

CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS LING 308 FIRST SEMESTER-131 YANBU UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Ms. Sahar Deknash

HYPOTHESIS OF CA (CAH We have three versions of the CAH: A. Strong Version B. Weak Version

The strong version of the contrastive analysis hypothesis is associated with Charles Fries and Robert Lado. It predicts that second language learners will have difficulty with aspects (structures, or vocabulary) which differ from their first language, and conversely no problems with aspects which are similar in their first language.

The strong version asserts that…. . The change that has to take place in the language behavior of a foreign language student can be equated to the differences between the structure of the students native language and culture and that of the target language and culture.

Predicting areas of difficulty will allow teachers to facilitate second language learning through informed attention to materials, tests, classroom activities and so on.

The weak version of the CA studies is that linguistic difficulties are explained after learning instead of being predicted in advance. This is important to understand the source of errors by utilizing and contrasting a general knowledge of L 1 & L 2.

The Weak Version clearly states that all languages errors are contributed to interference.

Basic CA Hypothesis(Assumptions): (CAH) Classical CA is based on the following hypothesis: 1. The main barrier to second language acquisition is the interference of the first language system with the second language system. ( Brown: 1980) 2. Second language learning basically involves the overcoming of the differences between the two linguistic systems- the native and target languages. ( Brown: 1980) 3. We can predict and describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning, and those that will not cause difficulty by comparing systematically the language and the culture to be learned with the native language and culture of the student. ( Lado : 1957)

4. The students who come in contact with a foreign language will find some features of it quite easy and others extremely difficult. Those elements that are similar to his native language will be simple for him, and those elements that are different will be difficult. ( Lado: 1981) 5. Teaching materials can make use of CA to reduce effect of the interference. 6. Not all areas of similarity between L 1 and L 2 lead to immediate positive transfer. ( Towel and Hawkins: 1994) 7. The major impact the first language has on second language acquisition may have to do with accent, not with grammar or syntax. ( Dulay, Burt, krashen: 1982)

Contrastive Analysis Procedures (Based on the strong version) 1. Description: The two languages are formally described. 2. Selection: Certain items or areas are selected for comparison. 3. Contrast: Finding similar and different items. 4. Prediction: In which areas the errors will most probably occur.

Borrowing: Linguistics borrowing is a sociolinguistic phenomenon and a form of language interference which appears among bilingual speakers. It is very common in multilingual societies all over the world. Most commonly borrowed words are the cultural concepts that are new to the borrowing group or notions that are particularly important in a given contact situation.

Borrowing: Words that are borrowed into a language usually preserve their general sound pattern, but they also modify it according to the phonetic and phonological system of the borrowing language. After that, the words are incorporated into the grammar of the borrowing language ( they are given articles, inflections… etc)

CODE SWITCHING: It is an active, creative process of incorporating material from both of a bilingual's languages into communicative acts. (Dulay: 1982). Code-switching is characterized by rapid switches from one language into the other. It takes the form of inserting words or short phrases from one language into single sentences in another language (OR) altering the languages in terms of entire phrases or clauses.

CODE SWITCHING: There is a widespread opinion that codeswitching is an evidence of a lack of proficiency, fluency or control over the language system on the part of the speaker. (DO YOU AGREE? ) It is not true because code-switching is most frequent among proficient bilingual and is governed by strict structural and grammatical rules of both the languages involved.

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