The Road to Fluency

[Adam Schembri]

Recent comments about the length of time it takes to learn a second language
ought to be seen in the context of the following quote (from Lightbown &
Spada, 1993: 113), written in response to the question 'Are most of the
mistakes which second language learners make due to interference from their
first language?'

"There are many causes for errors in learner language. The transfer of
patterns from the native language is one cause, but more significant is
overgeneralisation of the target language rules. Learners from different
language backgrounds make the same errors when learning a particular second
language"

"...aspects of the second language which are different from the first
language will not necessarily be acquired later or with more difficulty than
aspects which are similar"

"On the other hand, when errors are caused by the overextension of some
partial similarity between the first and second languages, the errors may be
especially hard to overcome--particularly if learners are frequently in
contact with other learners who make the same errors"

Reference
Lightbown, P.M. & Spada, N. (1993). How languages are learned. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.


_____________________________________________________________

Adam Schembri
Renwick College
Private Bag 29
Parramatta NSW
2124 AUSTRALIA
Ph (voice/TTY): (61 2) 9872 0303
Fax: (61 2) 9873 1614

>From: "Greftegreff, Irene" <irene.greftegreff at KS-MOLLER.NO>
>Reply-To: "For the discussion of linguistics and signed languages."
>      <SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA>
>To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
>Subject: Re: The Road to Fluency
>Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 10:01:37 +0200
>
> > Dan Parvaz wrote:
> >
> > Rhonda Jacobs did a paper back when she was in the W. Maryland TIP/TAP
> > program on the status of ASL as a "truly foreign language", meaning that
> > ASL is somewhere near the cat-4 level.  I'm not sure of Ms. Jacobs is
> > affiliated with an institution, but she can be reached via the RID.
> >
>---
>
>You'll find that paper (The Case for ASL as a Truly Foreign Language) in:
>
>Multicultural aspects of sociolinguistics in deaf community / Ceil Lucas,
>editor.  Washington, D.C. : Gallaudet University Press, 1996.   The
>  sociolinguistics in deaf communities series ; vol. 2
>  ISBN:  1-563-68046-7  ISSN:    1080-5494
>
>Interesting enough, if you ask me.
>
>Irene





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