INFLUENCE OF GUJARI ON LEARNING OF ENGLISH LEXEMES: THE SEMANTIC AND CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not Gujari learners tend to make a connection between L2 forms and their L1 equivalents. They accomplish this by transmitting all semantic and conceptual knowledge from L1 to L2. This trend can be observed even when L2 lexemes share a single L1 translation. Consequently, second language learners may demonstrate usages distinct from those of native speakers and/or be less capable of discerning the nuances of word pairs that share the same L1 translation. For example, the word pairs ‘give’ and ‘donation’ are translated into deo (دیو) in Gujari and the Gujari learners are liable to commit an error and use the word pairs interchangeably. The present study investigates the influence of Gujari on learning English lexemes by using group-guided conversation. Five-word pairs are used in the context of education to know the semantic and conceptual influence of an already learned language. The results which were validated by the retrospective process show that Gujari learners have a poor understanding of English word pairs and they were found using them interchangeably and mapping the already learned concepts in their native Gujari equivalent(s). They tend to transfer the already learned concepts in a single lexeme into English word pairs that have distinctive concepts and different nuances of meanings for the native speakers as in the aforementioned example of ‘give’ and ‘donation’ both having one Gujari equivalent which is ‘deo’ (دیو) and this word ‘deo’ was found encompassing two distinctive concepts of English word pairs ‘give’ and 'donation’. Keywords: Gujari, Lexical influence, Conceptual restructuring, Word pairs, Lexemes, Gujari