The Problem of Interference in Beginning Portuguese

Abstract

THERE appears to be little doubt either among learning theorists or among linguists that interference is an important factor in second language learning. It is a real problem for the language teacher to structure the learning situation in such a manner as to minimize interference of the student's well-established speech patterns in his native tongue upon the patterns to be mastered in the target language. The problem of interference is particularly evident when a written stimulus is used to evoke a verbal response-that is when the student attempts to pronounce a word or phrase in the target language while seeing or visualizing the word or phrase in its printed form. The situation in most foreign language classrooms in the United States is one of literate English speaking students attempting to learn a language which utilizes an orthographic system quite similar to that of English. The student is presented with certain combinations of letters as stimuli for the utterance of certain sound patterns in the target language. Previous exposure to these same letter combinations as stimuli for the utterance of sound patterns in English will frequently produce interference. This interference results in a response to the stimulus in the target language utilizing the sound patterns of Eng sh or a response utilizing sound patterns whi h are not ordinarily cued by the written stimu us, either in the target language or in English. An even more difficult problem is presented when the native speaker of English who has learned to respond orally with relative accuracy to written stimuli in a second language, whose orthography is similar to that of English, attempts to learn a third language with an orthographic system similar to both English and the other language. Even though the problem of interference in the learning of the sound patterns of a foreign language caused by the tendency to respond with previously learned sound patterns when confronted by familiar written stimuli is generally accepted, the question of how to minimize the effects of this interference is a controversial one. One main issue is between (1) those who would withhold from the students contact with the written word in the foreign language for varying lengths of time or until varying degrees of oral proficiency have been reached and (2) those who would immediately, or almost immediately, allow the students access to the 201