Combining contrastive and interlanguage analysis to apprehend transfer: detection, explanation, evaluation

Abstract

This paper shows how contrastive analysis and interlanguage analysis can be combined into a model which aims to detect phenomena of transfer, explain them and evaluate them in terms of pedagogical relevance. The model, referred to as the Detection-Explanation- Evaluation (DEE) transfer model, relies on Granger’s (1996) Integrated Contrastive Model and Jarvis’s (2000) unified framework for transfer research, and uses corpus data as a basis for a range of comparisons between L1 (mother tongue), L2 (target language) and IL (interlanguage). As an illustration, the use of 'even if' by French-speaking learners is investigated, and the possible influence of L1 is examined in the light of the different comparisons involved in the model. Finally, some limitations of the DEE transfer model are discussed, all of which point to possible developments that could be implemented in the future.