LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE

Done by: Berdimuratova Sevara

 Plan for the presentation:

1. Definition
2. Types of Interference
3. Ways of avoiding Interference
 DEFINITION of INTERFERENCE

 In research on second language acquisition and 

language contact, the term interference refers to the
influence of one language (or variety) on another in the
speech of bilinguals who use both languages.
 "Those instances of deviation from the norms of either
language which occur in the speech of bilinguals as a result of
their familiarity with more than one language, i.e. as a result of
language contact, will be referred to as INTERFERENCE
phenomena." (Weinreich 1953:1)Interference can take place at
all levels of the linguistic system, i.e. in phonology, 
morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and the lexicon.
 TYPES OF INTERFERENCE
Phonological interference
Phonological interference is more frequently manifested in word stress,
intonation, or speechsounds that are typical of a native language and
that are influencing the acquisition of FL. For example, the phonological

process of aspiration is non-existent in Russian, hence many learners of

Russian tend to aspirate voiceless stops at the beginning of words (tiger
– тигр). Another vivid example is different types of rhotic consonants in
Russian and English (retroflex approximant in English vs trill or rolled ‘r’
in Russian). It becomes problematic for students who are not used to
the phonological system of another language; hence, they make
phonological errors that might complicate their comprehension.
 Grammatic interference

Grammatical interference influences FL in terms of

tense categories, mood, sentence structure, word
order, use of pronouns and determiners, etc. Since
in Russian word order is not fixed, many Russian
learners of English alter the sequence of subject,
predicate and object, which inevitably leads to
interference. Weinrich (1953) distinguishes three
types of grammatical interference: 1) the transfer of
morphemes from the source language to the
recipient language (s- ending in the English third
person singular forms); 2) grammatical relations in
a particular word order; 3) functions or meaning of
grammatical forms (singular-plural agreement)
 Lexical interference
 Lexical interference is typical of spoken and written speech
when language learners translate word-for-word some of the
vocabulary items thatmake perfect sense in their
native language, but for FL do not seem to be the best choice
due todifferences in collocability, the polysemous character
of words, false friends, literal translation, etc. A very common
example might be the Russian phrase Прости(те) / Извини(те),
which is typically translated in English as I’m sorry. However,
its English counterpart has another meaning that comes into
action when people wish not only to express gratitude
but also to express sympathy. Unfortunately, many learners of Russian neglect this
peculiarity of the use, hence while speaking Russian
they say Прости(те) / Извини(те) in order to be sympathetic,
which by Russian standards is considered as an erroneous
utterance.
 WAYS OF AVOIDING INTERFERENCE
1. Learning to Pronounce Sounds in Isolation
 One of the ways to establish correct pronunciation is to train pronouncing
sounds in isolation, as separate entities, thus eliminating interference from
preceding and following sounds in speech.
2. Mute Period
One of the methods of establishing right pronunciation right off the bat
involves the use of a mute period – i.e., a period during which students are
exposed to huge amounts of auditory materials in the language they study
without trying to repeat what they hear. When students are later asked to
produce the sounds of the new language, they sound much closer to
native pronunciation than those who spend the same time actively
practicing.
 3. Using Writing Samples
 Even reasonably advanced learners of English will often
unconsciously fall back to formal grammar and syntax patterns from
their first language
 One way to avoid it is hiring professional ENL writers to 
prepare great essays on the same topics the student has to write
about. By comparing how he and they express the same ideas, the
student will be able to notice the difference and compare patterns
and structure used by native speakers with those he applies himself.
 4. Full Immersion
 One of the ways to quickly decrease the influence of mother tongue
is a full immersion into the linguistic and cultural environment of the
target language. If it isn’t possible, students should be exposed to as
much content in the target language as possible (books, movies,
music, etc.). The important thing here is that it doesn’t mean doing
more language exercises or studying more textbooks – immersion
presupposes interaction with the language in a natural environment,
while textbooks and other learning materials are by definition
unnatural and are built to teach particular rules.