Modern Standard Arabic interference in Algerian English as a foreign language students’ writing

Chamseddine Lamri,Amira Cherifi

doi:10.18844/gjflt.v10i2.4664

Abstract

Linguistic interference is a phenomenon which occurs when the learner’s knowledge of his/her first language or mother tongue interferes withhis/her knowledge of the language that is being learnt. This problem is recurrent among foreign-language learners. A case in point: in Algeria, Modern Standard Arabic interferes with English in students’ oral and written production. Hence, stylistic errors are reproduced by learners because their knowledge of the foreign language has been established incorrectly. Therefore, this article will explore the types of errors stemming from linguistic interference made in written English by pupils at Bouazza Miloud High School in Tlemcen, Algeria. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of first-year pupils’ written production has revealed various syntactic, lexical and semantic errors. These findings underline the need fora detailed analysis in order to propose pedagogical solutions, such as using authentic materials and a focus on reading, that will enable students to write correctly and coherently. Keywords: Modern standard Arabic, language interference, negative transfer, interlingual errors, writing

Highlights

Developing linguistic and cultural competence in a new language is a different process from firstlanguage acquisition
We have focused on first-year pupils because they have studied English for 4 years in middle school and they are supposed to have reached an intermediate level in the language: i.e. they have acquired the linguistic and strategic knowledge needed to produce correct English without any language interference
Pupils’ papers were carefully analysed to extract the errors committed, which were classified in terms of three levels of analysis: syntactic, lexical and semantic errors

Summary

Introduction

Developing linguistic and cultural competence in a new language is a different process from firstlanguage acquisition. In second- or foreign-language acquisition, the process is more complicated as learners already have knowledge of their first language (Hulya, 2009). This knowledge of their first language interferes with the process of learning another This is referred to as language transfer, which has been defined as the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that the student has previously acquired (Odlin, 1989; Shatz, 2017). On the other hand, describes the use of native language patterns or rules leading to language errors or inappropriate forms in the target language. These errors are studied using the error analysis approach. Intralingual errors occur when the second language is the cause of the difficulty, while interlingual errors occur due to the interference between the first and target languages

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion