Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Series Editor:Professor David SingletonTrinity College, Dublin, Ireland This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of language acquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than the native language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadest possible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, on the one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, some degree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoretical stance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readership of the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second language acquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisition research, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests include a second language acquisition component. Other Books in the Series Age, Accent and Experience in Second Language Acquisition Alene Moyer Studying Speaking to Inform Second Language Learning Diana Boxer and Andrew D. Cohen (eds) Language Acquisition: The Age Factor (2nd edn) David Singleton and Lisa Ryan Focus on French as a Foreign Language: Multidisciplinary Approaches Jean-Marc Dewaele (ed.) Second Language Writing Systems Vivian Cook and Benedetta Bassetti (eds) Third Language Learners: Pragmatic Production and Awareness Maria Pilar Safont Jordà Artificial Intelligence in Second Language Learning: Raising Error Awareness Marina Dodigovic Studies of Fossilization in Second Language Acquisition ZhaoHong Han and Terence Odlin (eds) Language Learners in Study Abroad Contexts Margaret A. DuFon and Eton Churchill (eds) Early Trilingualism: A Focus on Questions Julia D. Barnes Cross-linguistic Influences in the Second Language Lexicon Janusz Arabski (ed.) Motivation, Language Attitudes and Globalisation: A Hungarian Perspective Zoltán Dörnyei, Kata Csizér and Nóra Németh Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning Carmen Muñoz (ed.) Investigating Tasks in Formal Language Learning María del Pilar García Mayo (ed.) Input for Instructed L2 Learners: The Relevance of Relevance Anna Nizegorodcew For more details of these or any other of our publications, please contact: Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, England http://www.multilingual-matters.com SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 21 Series Editor: David Singleton, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning Håkan Ringbom MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD Clevedon • Buffalo (cid:127) Toronto Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ringbom, Håkan. Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning/Hakan Ringbom. Second Language Acquisition: 21 Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Language and languages–Study and teaching. 2. Similarity (Language learning) I. Title. P53.777.R56 2007 418.001'9–dc22 2006022410 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-85359-935-4 (hbk) ISBN-13: 978-1-85359-934-7 (pbk) Multilingual Matters Ltd UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Copyright © 2007 Håkan Ringbom. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody accreditation. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full accreditation has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Wordworks Ltd. Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd. Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Contents Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Different Types of Cross-linguistic Similarities. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Similarity, Contrast and Zero Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Perceived and ‘Objective’ Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Formal and Functional/Semantic Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 Learner Expectations, On-line Comprehension and Receptive Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Understanding an Unfamiliar Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 TheComprehensionofCloselyRelatedLanguages: Scandinavia 12 On-line Comprehension and Receptive Learning. . . . . . . . . 14 4 Cross-linguistic Similarities in Comprehension and Production: The Mental Lexicon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 L1 Comprehension and L1 Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 L2 Comprehension and L2 Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Perceived and Assumed Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Cross-linguistic Similarity and the Mental Lexicon. . . . . . . . 26 5 Transfer:TheUseofCross-linguisticSimilarities.TheFinnishScene 30 Transfer Studies: History and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Language Scene in Finland: Characteristics of Finnish and Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6 Tests of English Comparing Finnish and Swedish Speakers in Finland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Primary Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Comprehensive Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Commercial Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Matriculation Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 University Entrance Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 v 1 MLM Ringbom Proof 2d 19 October 2006 12:35:17 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen vi Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning University Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 International Evaluations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Studies by Non-Finnish Researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Differences between Finnish and Swedish Learners of English . 51 7 Levels of Transfer: Items and Procedures (Systems) . . . . . . . . . 54 Item Transfer, Procedural Transfer and Overall Transfer . . . . 54 Similarities in Reading vs. Similarities in Listening. . . . . . . . 58 8 Item Transfer in Production: Areas of Language . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Phonology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Discourse and Rhetoric: Pragmatic Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Grammar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Lexis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Non-native Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 9 Skill Theory, Automaticity and Foreign Language Learning . . . . 89 The Use of Cross-linguistic Similarities at Different Stages of Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Bilingual vs. Monolingual Language Learners. . . . . . . . . . . 94 10 Development of Foreign Language Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Item Learning for Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Item Learning for Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 System Learning for Comprehension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 System Learning for Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Near-native Proficiency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 11 Consequences for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The EuroCom Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Teaching the Use of Learning Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 The Relevance of Cross-linguistic Similarities for Teaching English to Finnish and Finland-Swedish Learners . . . . . . . 107 12 Further Research Needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Development from Receptive to Productive Competence . . . 115 Cross-linguistic vs. Intralinguistic Similarities . . . . . . . . . . 116 Longitudinal Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 13 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 2 MLM Ringbom Proof 2d 19 October 2006 12:35:17 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Contents vii Appendix 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Appendix 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 3 MLM Ringbom Proof 2d 19 October 2006 12:35:17 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Acknowledgements Scott Jarvis has provided helpful comments on this manuscript. Some sections have been read and commented on by Frank Daulton, Britta Hufeisen and Kalevi Pohjala. I am very grateful for all this help. Forfinancialassistancewithtravelgrants,IthankTheFinnishSociety for Sciences and Letters and the H.W. Donner Trust (Åbo Akademi Foundation). viii 4 MLM Ringbom Proof 2d 19 October 2006 12:35:17 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Chapter 1 Introduction Learning,includinglanguagelearning,isbasedonpriorknowledge.When youlearnsomethingnew,suchasaforeignlanguage,youtrytoconnectthe newelementstowhateverlinguisticandotherknowledgeyoumayhave. Both intralinguistic and cross-linguistic knowledge are relevant to the learner of another language. The relevance of intralinguistic TL (target language)knowledgelargelydependsonthestageoflearning:itincreases as learning progresses. How relevant prior cross-linguistic knowledge is primarilydependsontherelationshipsthatcanbeestablishedbetweenthe TLandL1(firstlanguage).Ifyoulearnalanguagecloselyrelatedtoyour L1, prior knowledge will be consistently useful, but if the languages are very distant, not much prior knowledge is relevant. What matters to the language learner is language proximity, i.e. similarities, not its negative counterpart, language distance, i.e. differences. Presence or absence of cross-linguisticsimilaritiesaccountsforthedifferencesineffortandtime existingbetweenlearningalanguageclosetotheL1andlearningatotally unrelated language. Whilelanguagelearnersareprimarilyconcernedwithwhatsimilarities theycanestablishbetweenTLandL1oranyotherlanguagetheyalready know, linguists have tended to focus on analysing differences between languages and uses of language. Variability is a key concept in various linguisticcontexts,asdeSaussurealreadynotedinhisstatement‘Dansla langueiln’yaquedesdifferences’.Itiscertainlytruethat‘thestudyofSLA requiresanunderstandingofvariationandthenatureoftheconstraintson variable systems over time’ (Romaine, 2003: 431). When research has focuseduponsimilaritiesacrosslanguages,theideahasmoreoftenthan notbeentopavethewayforatotallydifferentareaoftheoreticallinguistic studies,thatoflanguageuniversals.Butthelearner’spointofviewdiffers from that of the researcher. Learners, consciously or not, do not look for differences,theylookforsimilaritieswherevertheycanfindthem.Intheir search for ways of facilitating their learning task they make use of intra- lingual similarities, which are perceived from what they have already learnedoftheTL.Atearlystagesoflearning,whentheTLknowledgeis insignificant,L1isthemainsourceforperceivinglinguisticsimilarities,but languages other than the L1 may also play an important part. Many 1 5 MLM Ringbom Proof 2d 19 October 2006 12:35:17