Mother Tongue Interference Research Articles

A Study of Selected Igbo Television Presenters’ Pronunciation of English Speech Sounds

The English language is used to solve the problem of language variation or problems emanating from language variation in Nigeria. Mass media plays a major role in conveying information to the general public. The conveyance of information is possible and easy when appropriate linguistic tools as well as the correct pronunciation of words are employed. However, there is always the implication of wrong pronunciation on the listeners whenever television presenters do not articulate words correctly. Some television presenters are faced with the problem of mother tongue interference which may lead to the incorrect articulation of English speech sounds. This is responsible for the phonological errors that are evident in the speeches of many television presenters, especially from the Igbo speech communities with significant implications on the educational performance of Nigerian youths who see them as stars and also imitate their phonological errors. The study, therefore, investigates the pronunciation of English speech sounds of selected Igbo television presenters. Data for the study were gathered from four (4) randomly selected television stations and one (1) purposively selected television station. These stations were selected because they are widely watched and some of them are award-winning television stations. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentage frequency. The result of the study reveals that the presenters in this study substitute /t/ for // and /d/ for /ð/; /Ɔ/ and /Ɔ:/ for //; /Ɔ:/, /a/, or /e/ for /ɜ:/ and /i/, /a/ or /e/ for /ǝ/. The reason for this is the fact that the central Igbo consonantal inventory has no dental fricatives // and /ð/ and at the vowel level, it has no central vowels //, /ɜ:/ and /ǝ/. So, interference occurs in the pronunciation of these sounds. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the phonological aspect of the English language should be handled by specialists; Nigerians should be sensitized on the need for proficiency in oral English hence, it should be one of the criteria for selection of television presenters.

Mother Tongue Interference In Teaching English

Mother Tongue Interference In Teaching English

A Linguistics Investigation of Grammatical Errors by Maithili ESL Learners Through Error Analysis

The purpose of the paper is to present how the interference of an individual's mother tongue hinders in acquiring a second language, which leads to Interlingual errors. It is an observation that the speakers also commit those errors which have no influence of the mother tongue but are a result of the target language which are called Intralingual errors. This paper particularly focuses on how the Maithili language (LI) acts as a hindrance for the Maithili ESL learners to acquire the target language, that is, the English language (L2). The survey also displays the traces of Intralingual errors in the responses of the speakers, who are committing grammatical errors in speaking the English language (L2). The analysis and evaluation of the results that have been procured through the digital questionnaire survey conducted has been displayed in this paper. The general survey shows that people admitted making grammatical errors while speaking both native and second language and it can be inferred from the specific survey that the same respondents have committed errors in more than half of the questions given to them. The objective of the paper is not only to show the various reasons which lead the Maithili ESL speakers to commit errors while speaking or writing the English language but also to profuse remedies to overcome these barriers. It can be concluded from the entire research that the hypothesis is justified and there is a scope for remedial measures to correct the situation.

Typology of Speech Disfluency of Grade Ten Students of Samal National High School

This research aimed to determine the common speech disfluencies of the Grade Ten students of Samal National High School. Specifically, this study aimed to discover and describe the typology of speech disfluencies of the tenth graders. The participants of this study are grade ten students from Samal National High School. Among the 100 extemporaneous speeches of the respondents, there were 25 purposively selected speeches which were subjected to analysis. The analysis revealed ten typologies of speech disfluencies committed in speeches. These are prolongation, blocks, interjection, repetition of words, repetition of a phrase, repetition of a syllable, restart, false start, code-switching, and stuttering. The possible causes of these disfluencies are mother tongue interference, lack of knowledge of the target language, hesitation, and low vocabulary. With these, language teachers should continuously find strategies to help the students overcome or at least lessen the identified speech disfluencies in discourse and language learning.

Exploring Mother Tongue Interference Issues in Saudi University Students' Pronunciation of English Consonant Sounds Introduction.

Exploring Mother Tongue Interference Issues in Saudi University Students' Pronunciation of English Consonant Sounds Introduction.

Common Errors of Level Three Students' Writing at the English Department, Faculty of Education, Sana’a University

This research aimed to find out the common errors in third level writing at the English Department, Faculty of Education, Sana’a University during the academic year 2019-2020. It also aimed to highlight the causes of such errors. This research was quantitative research in which its results were calculated quantitatively. For the purpose of achieving the aims of the research, two data collection tools were used (an evaluation sheet for analyzing the test papers and a close ended questionnaire to highlight the errors behind the students' errors in writing. The sample of this research was %29 of the whole population (137 participants) selected randomly to do the questionnaire (40 participants) and 20 essays booklets from the final exam papers of Advanced Writing were chosen also randomly to be as the sample of error analysis. The results showed that errors in capitalization, S-V agreement and spelling were not common because the percentage of errors was not higher than %25 The results also showed that some reasons of making errors in writing as mother tongue interference, lack of vocabulary and the traditional methods of teaching writing.

A Critical Analysis of the Dilemmas Encountered By Learners of English as a Foreign Language in Speaking Skill at Intermediate Level

This study aims at highlighting the difficulties encountered by learners of English as a foreign language in speaking skill at intermediate level. The nature of this very research is qualitative. As an illustration, fifty students of both first and second year were chosen as participants at Govt. Degree College Peshawar as population for data collection. The data were collected by two tools namely; questionnaire and observation. The participants were given at first stage questionnaires and then followed by observation technique by giving them a topic in class about which they used to present a presentation where vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and enunciation all were closely observed. The result shows that the learners stop speaking because they suffer from various problems like as inhibition, mother tongue interference, attitude and lack of proper approach which play a decisive role adversely affecting the speaking ability to learn the speaking skill. In a nutshell, a number of recommendations have been suggested on the basis of results obtained from questionnaire and observation. Key Words: Speaking proficiency, EFL/ESL learners, target language environment, fluency, accuracy

Non English Language Teachers’ Perspectives on EMI: A Narrative Inquiry

Increasingly, non-English speaking countries in the colossal world use English as the medium of instruction (EMI) to teach academic subjects. English as medium of Instruction (EMI) has been a great issue of discussion in today’s pedagogical field among the concerned stake-holders. This qualitative research aimed to investigate on – English teachers’ perspectives on language shifting in classroom teaching practice (from Nepali to English and again from English to Nepali in 12 years’ time span) in terms of their practice, motivation, challenges and results of the shifting in a secondary school located in a rural setting of Gulmi. For this, three secondary level English teachers were selected purposively and data were collected using in-depth interviews. The results of the study revealed that teachers of the public schools were found aware of the basic concept of the notion of English as a medium of instruction. They were found positive in implementing EMI in conducting their daily teaching and learning activities. The study also showed that teachers of secondary level have been facing different challenges in adopting EMI in the classroom like students’ weak exposure to English, mother tongue interference, unresourceful schools and government policy interference. The study recommended that there should be a favourable and encouraging environment in the public schools for the teachers for adopting EMI in the class. In spite of some challenges of the medium of instruction, they were found to be in favour of the continuation of EMI.

Teaching and Learning Phonetics Obstacles in EFL Classrooms

This study aims at finding out the main obstacles lecturers face in teaching pronunciation. It also sheds light on the stumbling blocks in pronunciation faced by EFL freshmen students at the departments of English and Translation, faculty of Arts and Letters, Cihan University-Erbil. The students at both departments study Phonetics at first stage over two semesters, so they have encountered different problems. Besides, this study tries to shed light on the main reasons lead to. The instruments used to accomplish this study are mainly two; observation and examining students on the transcription of monosyllabic and multisyllabic words. The freshmen are examined verbally and non-verbally on the consonants, short and long vowels, diphthongs, and triphthongs. Their answers have been analyzed following Sbss. The outcomes of this study reveal that some sounds are difficult to be taught due to their absence in the native language and the difficulty to deliver them to students. Moreover, it figures out which sounds are difficult for students to learn. In addition, this study also tends to pinpoint the reasons behind mispronunciation. The causes include mother tongue interference, demotivation, decontextualization, less trained lecturers, and others.

Mother Tongue Interference Towards Students’ English Pronunciation: A Case Study of Fatoni University Students in English for Communication Course

Mother Tongue Interference Towards Students’ English Pronunciation: A Case Study of Fatoni University Students in English for Communication Course

Using “SuPerMan GAMLET Kit” to Improve Malaysian Primary ESL Learners’ Mastery of Simple Present Tense

Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) is significant in English to construct error-free sentences. However, most of ESL learners find it difficult to learn, particularly simple present tense. The integration of mastery learning and gamification in a flipped ESL classroom has proven effective in constructing grammatical knowledge. Thus, this action research was done to overcome their problems in mastering SVA due to their mother tongue interference, resulting in their sense of inferiority and reluctance in learning English. This action research used pre-test and post-test, questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to measure their differences in scores and attitude towards learning English respectively. Five pupils who had problems in mastering SVA were chosen as research participants via convenience sampling. They were involved in using ‘SuPerMan GAMLET Kit’ that encompassed both in-class and at-home activities with self-composed song, digital storybooks and online games to consolidate their SVA mastery. The results depicted that they demonstrated improvement on their SVA competency after the intervention. Thus, it was evidenced that ‘SuPerMan GAMLET Kit’ successfully developed their SVA competence. The findings of questionnaire and semi-structured interviews also portrayed positive perceptions towards learning English amongst them. Further studies can explore the effects of ‘SuPerMan GAMLET Kit’ in acquiring other English grammatical items.

A CURIOUS CASE OF /t/ and /d/ SPIRANTIZATION IN SERBIAN-ENGLISH INTERPHONOLOGY

The paper explores a subtype of the phonological process of lenition, more precisely, the phe- nomenon of spirantization in the Serbian-English interlanguage system. During the process of spirantization, plosive sounds transform into fricatives and the factors causing altered realiza- tions may stem from various sources, the most prominent being mother tongue interference. For example, due to the specific pronunciation of alveolar stops and fricatives in L1, Spanish learners of English as a foreign language tend to transfer the feature into their L2, causing thus all voiced plosives, regardless of the place of articulation, to transform into fricatives (Zampini 2008). However, the phonological system of Serbian is not characterized by the same processes, hence, the occasional spirantization in the interlanguage system, we argue, cannot be derived from mother tongue interference, yet may be the result of other factors, such as, qualitative hypercorrection. The analyzed corpus was obtained from the recordings of a spontaneous speech by 15 Serbian English-major students at the tertiary level of education. We investigated the instances of spirantization using the methods of acoustic analysis and spectrographic illustra- tions via Praat, version 6.2.04. The findings indicated that only alveolar plosives (both voiced and voiceless) were spirantized, most frequently in accented position. Regarding the phonetic environment, the word-initial pre-vocalic position, as well as the word-final post-vocalic and post-consonantal position, triggered the highest frequency of spirantization occurrence. Acous- tic measurements confirm the initial assumptions regarding the specific nature of spirantized variants [dz], [ts], [ð] and [θ]. The results have important pedagogical implications and provide insights into the complexity of cross-linguistic influence.

Mother Tongue Interference on Students’ Acquiring English Pronunciation

Mother Tongue Interference on Students’ Acquiring English Pronunciation

Mother Tongue Interference in EFL Students’ Writing

Understanding the similarities and differences between English, as the target language, and Indonesian, as the native language, is an essential thing for students to know if they want to master English. One problem as the most challenging thing for students is to express themselves in English appropriately, orally or written. The student’s original language, Indonesian, interferes with their ability to compose English sentences correctly, especially in writing. It is essential to find and identify errors made by students of English, in this case, the interference of Indonesian in writing. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the interference of Indonesian in students English writing. This study provides an analysis of the interference of Indonesian on English writing made by EFL students. The data for the study is collected from essay writing on a descriptive text by 32 university students in the fourth semester majoring in English and whose native language is Indonesian. Those 32 students were purposively chosen as samples since they sit in one class and had the Essay writing Course. The students then asked to write about two pages of descriptive essays on specific exciting topics for them. It is found that there are a total of 359 Indonesian interferences on the students’ English writing. The findings suggest valuable strategies to aid students in developing their writing skills, such as viewing English-language movies, reading English books or articles, and listening to English news and music.

“I WENT TO VENICE AND WAS VERY WORRIED.” – DIFFERENTIAL SUBSTITUTION OF THE /V/-/W/ CONTRAST IN SERBIAN-ENGLISH INTERPHONOLOGY

Previous findings of SLA research underlined the significance of differential substitution as one of the most common strategies for overcoming difficulties in pronouncing English consonants. The acquisi- tion of /v/-/w/ contrast seems particularly demanding for Serbian EFL learners, due to diverse factors, the dominant one being mother tongue interference and the resulting perceptual assimilation. Having the previously stated in mind, as well as the scarcity of research in the Serbian scientific context, the present study aimed at investigating instances of differential substitution of the English labiodental fricative and the labial-velar approximant in relation to the phonetic context and the formality of task type. Both the perception and production of a total of 72 English-major students were tested using different instruments, including phonemic discrimination task, wordlist as well as paragraph reading, and the interview. The obtained data were quantitatively ana- lyzed and supported by spectrogram illustrations of both native and non-native speakers of English. The results indicate a greater frequency of /v/-substitution ([w] being the main substitute) with phonetic con- text and task type playing a statistically significant role in differential substitution. Instances of substitution of the labial-velar approximant were not as frequent and are said to be characteristic of a specific group of learners (Serbian labiodental sonorant [ʋ] being the main sub- stitute). The results underscore the variability and complexity of the interlangauge system and the importance of valuing the process, and not merely the outcomes of L2 sound acquisition.

Методика обучения русскому ударению в польской аудитории – история и перспективы

The article focuses on two main methods of teaching word stress to Polish students: imitation and the grammar method. Imitation, based on repeating words, phrases and sentences with correct word stress, is the dominant method of teaching Polish students. However, this method does not seem to be effective in acquiring orthoepic habits since it is not based on characteristic features of the Russian accentual system. The research indicated that it is necessary to compare and analyse Russian and Polish accentual systems to eliminate mother tongue interference to master correct Russian pronunciation. Therefore, using the grammar method in teaching Russian word stress is a necessity. This method allows for teaching rules of stress in Russian because it uses word formation characteristics and the morphemic structure of words. It is the only effective way of learning accentual patterns as it can develop the habit of conscious accentuation based on structured rules and regularities, and improve and correct Russian pronunciation in general.

Learning English Language in Nepal in the Narrative of Kewat Learners

Learning a second language seems problematic especially for those who have to learn one additional language except their mother tongue as a bridge in order to reach over the target one. With this mindset, this paper was written with the purpose of exploring the problems of learning English language along the Kewat learners of English in general and their accent problems in particular. For this, the notion of narrative approach was employed for collecting the stories of four Kewat learners of English language from the Mahottari district as data. From the stories, three major themes viz Learning Experience of Kewat and Accent Problem in Learning English were generated under the lens of cognitive theory of language learning where Narrative Inquiry is taken as a methodological standpoint. Finally, the conclusion indicated that the learners of Kewat community have many difficulties in learning the English language especially the accent related difficulties in which they have been facing the problem of uttering the English sounds like: /l/, /r/, /t∫/, and /∫/ because of their mother tongue interference based on Krashen theory of learning second language (1982).

ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE WRITING ERRORS OF ISIZULU-SPEAKING LEARNERS IN FET WRITING CLASSES IN KWAZULU-NATAL

Error analysis presupposes a distinction between two languages. This distinction was primarily concerned with how the two languages facilitated or hindered learning of the target language. In its original premise, the juxtaposed languages were considered facilitative if they were similar but restrictive if they were different. This gave rise to the notion of transference where it was viewed either negatively when it hindered acquisition of certain structures or positively if it facilitated acquisition. This approach developed into a new focus of studying errors and analysing them. At first such an analysis focused on mother tongue interference but later developed into interlanguage where errors were viewed as a natural phenomenon that demonstrates the progress of learning. This paper is therefore grounded on error analysis where errors in writing of high school learners are analysed in order to interrogate where second language learners are in internalisation of English structures. The analysis covers grammatical aspects such as morphology, syntax and semantics. The findings indicate that learners’ errors range from word and phrase level to sentence level. At word level errors of morphological constructions and spelling were committed and at phrase level, errors were caused by the complexity of the noun and verb phrases. At sentence level, there were errors in sentence construction. The study has implications for the teaching of writing.

Syntactic Errors Made by English Department Students in Writing Undergraduate Thesis Abstract

This study aims at identifying the types of syntactic errors committed in the undergraduate thesis abstracts as well as the factors contributing to the errors. This study applied a descriptive-qualitative approach with observation, documentation method and note-taking technique. The data source was 30 abstracts written by English Department students of Udayana University who graduated in the 2021 period. In identifying the type of errors, this study employed the surface strategy taxonomy theory proposed by Dulay, Burt, and Krashen. Moreover, in identifying the factor of errors, this study applies Brown’s theory, supported by a theory about the intralingual error by Richards. The finding shows that 467 errors are found in the students’ abstracts. Errors in all syntactic categories were found. However, six out of eight types of error based on surface strategy taxonomy were found. In terms of factor, all factors of error contributing to the errors. According to the discussion, it can be concluded that the major issue in writing abstracts is the student's inability to avoid mother tongue interference as an ESL learner. As a result, the point from the source language had been ambiguously transferred into the target language.

Standard Errors in Jumlah Ismīyah Phrases: Analysis of Arabic Thesis on Indonesian Undergraduate Students | Al-Akhthā Al-Syāi’ah fī Tarkīb Al-Jumlah Al-Ismīyah: Tahlīl fī Al-Buhūts Al-I’lmīyah Al-‘Arābīyah lil-Thullāb bi-Indūnīsīyā

In learning Arabic, students often make language errors influenced by their first language interference in learning the target language. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze language errors to minimize students' language errors and to know the material that needs in-depth study. This research talks about the common errors in the nominal sentence structure in scientific research. This research aims to know the types of common linguistic errors in the formation of sentence structure patterns in nominal sentence among students of the Arabic Language Education Department. The research method used is library research, meaning that the data collection derives from a summary of scientific research, and the technique used to analyze data is error analysis. The research results show that the common mistakes in sentence structure patterns were found in several student thesis abstracts, including the suitability of mubtada+khabar in its type, the interference of mother tongue in learning the target language, and the specificity of mubtada'. The results of this study serve as reflection and reference for teachers to explain the jumlah ismiyah material.