tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1132547320196715283.post3930282499717991309..comments2023-04-21T15:19:04.905+08:00Comments on Being Multilingual: People see, people doMadalena Cruz-Ferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14782492322928803326noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1132547320196715283.post-48825735653338980772011-08-09T20:50:00.759+08:002011-08-09T20:50:00.759+08:00amyzc (Amy, I presume? Sorry if not!), there have ...amyzc (Amy, I presume? Sorry if not!), there have indeed been attempts at explaining language learners’ errors through ‘interference’ from their native languages. This is what Contrastive Analysis (CA) was all about, starting in the 1950’s. What native languages had, or didn’t have, in contrast to school-acquired languages, was said to be the key to what learners added to, or omitted from, their new languages.<br><br />Other examples, since you ask, are Portuguese speakers’ substitution of the “lispy” TH-sounds of English by [s] and [d] e.g. in <i>thin</i> and <i>this</i>, respectively (lisps are speech defects to Portuguese ears.....), or English speakers’ pronunciation of Portuguese words like <i>gato</i> (‘cat’) with vowels that sound something like French <i>gâteau</i>.<br><br />The Singapore English examples that I give here have also been analysed in CA ways, invoking influence from e.g. Malay and Chinese languages, where verbs are uninflected. The trouble is that English is currently a native language for many Singaporeans, and Singapore English goes on sounding like Singapore English. Plus the fact that learners’ new languages have different varieties, and what is considered an ‘error’ in one variety may be the ‘standard’ in another. And so on. CA didn’t survive long, in other words.<br><br />The matter of strictness or leniency that you mention must, I believe, be decided according to the goals of both teaching and learning. We can all learn to sound ‘correct’ in many different ways, according to different standards of native or other correctness – if we so wish.<br> <br />Great comment, you really got me going here....! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!!<br> <br />MadalenaMadalena Cruz-Ferreirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782492322928803326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1132547320196715283.post-71506129868924936652011-08-08T13:36:46.074+08:002011-08-08T13:36:46.074+08:00Just discovered your blog by chance tonight, and e...Just discovered your blog by chance tonight, and even though (or perhaps because) I've grown up surrounded by multilingualism, everything I've read so far is so relevant and intriguing; thank you!<br /><br />I spent a while the past few months teaching English to Swahili-speaking teens in Tanzania, and after a while you notice all the repeated grammatical mistakes. Your Singapore example reminded me of one that had to do with the ends of words: final s's were often left out, and words ending in -t or -d often had an ee sound added at the end (e.g. cooked = cook-dee). We surmised it might be because Swahili words all end in vowels. (Any similar comparison for your example?) But then there's also other "mistakes" (e.g. in word order) that we can't really find analogs for in Swahili. Can such "mistakes" often be attributed to features of the speakers' native languages, or...?<br />Also, I was always unsure of how strict or lenient to be about grammar or word usage when teaching English because after all, that's just how people speak English there: whoever said American/British English is the correct English?Amy Chenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05118110400355821677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1132547320196715283.post-87572909653964725992011-07-26T15:28:05.831+08:002011-07-26T15:28:05.831+08:00‘Anonymous’: I agree that life would be much easie...‘Anonymous’: I agree that life would be much easier for all of us if we started asking ourselves why people use their languages the way they do. Everyone uses them in specific ways, ‘models’ included. Thank you for your comment – and sorry I was so late out responding!<br><br />MadalenaMadalena Cruz-Ferreirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782492322928803326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1132547320196715283.post-34843576644502852372011-06-24T19:07:00.564+08:002011-06-24T19:07:00.564+08:00Brilliant post. I just wish educators (especially ...Brilliant post. I just wish educators (especially in "standard English"-obsessed Singapore can read AND appreciate this!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com