Second Language Acquisition and Anglo-Saxon Bilingualism: Negative Transfer and Avoidance in Ælfric Bata's Latin Colloquia, ca. A.D.1000

Abstract

"Second Language Acquisition and Anglo-Saxon Bilingualism: Negative Transfer and Avoidance in Ælfric Bata's Latin Colloquia, ca. A.D. 1000." The Anglo-Saxon Ælfric Bata authored a series of Latin colloquies around the year 1000 that arguably represent the sole evidence of spoken Latin from the pre-Conquest period. Certain idiosyncratic features of these dialogues almost certainly derive from Old English influence and can be explained by theories and observation of cross-linguistic interference found in second language acquisition research. Thus, "language transfer" explains unusual Latin constructions modeled (deliberately or not) on Old English: the use of adverb foras, double negation, and semantic shifts, among others. Furthermore, the communicative strategy of "avoidance" describes the preponderance of Latin preterit periphrastic forms with masculine or feminine direct objects. This phenomenon is likewise traceable to Old English practice. The article offers a completely new model for describing Anglo-Saxon bilingualism from the perspective of second language acquisition, closely examines the idiom of spoken Anglo-Latin, and concludes that Bata's Latin reflects a national substrate.