Question

Which learner-related challenge involves students translating directly from their first language into English, resulting in errors?

• A. Anxiety and Fear of Mistakes
• B. Learning Disabilities
• C. Mother Tongue Interference
• D. Lack of Motivation

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Mother Tongue Interference

• Mother Tongue Interference, also known as first language (L1) interference or transfer, is a significant challenge in second language acquisition (SLA), particularly when learning English.
• This phenomenon occurs when the linguistic features of a learner's native language (L1) are unconsciously applied to the target language (L2), English.
• These transfers can manifest in various linguistic domains, including phonology (pronunciation), syntax (grammar), semantics (meaning), and lexicon (vocabulary).
• For example, a Spanish speaker might pronounce the English 'th' sound like 's' or 't' due to the absence of this sound in Spanish. Similarly, a French speaker might incorrectly place adjectives after nouns, mirroring French sentence structure.
• Common areas of interference in English learning include:
  • Pronunciation: Differences in vowel and consonant sounds, intonation patterns, and stress.
  • Grammar: Incorrect verb tenses, subject-verb agreement issues, article usage (a, an, the), and sentence construction.
  • Vocabulary: Using cognates incorrectly (false friends) or literal translations of idiomatic expressions.
  • Spelling: Applying L1 spelling rules to English words.
• Understanding mother tongue interference is crucial for educators and learners as it helps in identifying common error patterns and developing targeted teaching strategies and corrective feedback.
• In competitive exams, questions related to language acquisition often focus on identifying and differentiating between various learner-related challenges, making the concept of mother tongue interference a frequently tested topic.
• It is important for learners to be aware of potential interference from their native language to actively work on overcoming these challenges and improve their English proficiency.
• Contrastively, language transfer can also be positive (positive transfer), where L1 features that are similar to L2 can aid learning. However, interference specifically refers to the negative impact of L1 on L2.