Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis, and L2 Transfer

Contrastive Analysis (CA) in Language Learning

In the comparison between a native language (L1) and a foreign language (L2) lies the ease or difficulty in foreign language learning. Those elements that are similar to the native language will be simple. Those elements that are different will be difficult. This approach allows for the prediction of errors connected to positive and negative transfer, positioning CA as a teaching methodology contrast.

Two Versions of Contrastive Analysis

• Strong CA: Predicts problems of any learner based purely on L1-L2 differences.
• Weak CA: Explains problems after they occur (L1-L2 differences explain problems identified through subsequent error analysis).

It is important to note that CA does not predict all errors learners make, particularly those not connected to interference.

Error Analysis (EA)

Error Analysis (EA) did not set out to predict errors but rather to discover and describe different kinds of errors with the aim of understanding how learners process L2 data. Interference from the mother tongue is considered a major source of difficulty in Second Language Acquisition (SLA).

Stages of Error Analysis

1. Identification of Errors

   This involves identifying deviation from the norms of the Target Language (TL). Key distinctions are made:

   • Error vs. Mistake
   • Overt Errors vs. Covert Errors
   • Local vs. Global Errors
   • Correctness vs. Appropriateness

2. Description of Errors

   Errors are categorized using linguistic categories (e.g., morphological, syntactic).

3. Explanation and Classification

4. Evaluation

   Errors are analyzed based on their impact on communication.

Cross-Linguistic Influence (CLI) and Transfer

CLI is defined as the influence that a person's knowledge of one language has on that person's recognition, interpretation, processing, storage, and production of words in another language. This is a common phenomenon because learners have already developed conceptual and semantic systems in previously learned languages; they have categorized the world.

Manifestations of CLI

CLI can be seen in:

• Non-Target forms (e.g., false friends)
• Overproduction
• Underproduction
• Frequency use
• Lexical word choice

Types of Transfer

• Transfer of form vs. Transfer of meaning (Formal and Semantic transfer)
• Lexemic vs. Lemmatic transfer (Transfers from the phonological and graphemic structure of the words)

Related Phenomena

These phenomena often involve the mixing or adaptation of linguistic resources:

• Language Switches
• Code-Switching
• Borrowings:
  • Content borrowing: e.g., “There's a woman who saw the all (escena).”
  • Function borrowings
• Editing Terms: e.g., “She ran away but she hmmm bueno she stopped...”
• Meta-Comments: e.g., “A man sees her and she she no sé cómo se dice choca...”
• Lexical Interventions: A non-target word being adapted, e.g., “They are eating a huge piece of meat, a bisteak.”