HOW BOSNIAN AND TURKISH STUDENTS ACQUIRE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: NEGATIVE TRANSFER IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

HOW BOSNIAN AND TURKISH STUDENTS ACQUIRE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: NEGATIVE TRANSFER IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Jeftic, Alma

According to the language transfer theory, it is assumed that the learner’s native language (NL) will positively or negatively affect his/her learning a foreign language (FL) in second language acquisition (SLA). Therefore, when there are differences between his/her NL and FL, the native language will actively aggravate foreign language learning. In case of similarities between the native language and target language, the transfer functions positively, while in case of differences, it functions negatively. On the basis of the theories of transfer analysis and cognitive theories of second language acquisition, this paper is an attempt to find out the phenomena of native language's negative transfer in English learning by means of Turkish-English translations, as well as Bosnian-English translations, with the purpose of showing how both Turkish and Bosnian learners of English are negatively influenced by their native language knowledge in learning English. It is hypothesised that the negative language transfer in acquiring a foreign language is inevitable, and the differences between the learners’ NL and FL will interfere with the target language learning. 75 Bosnian and 174 Turkish students of the International University of Sarajevo filled in questionnaire specially designed to measure negative transfer from both languages, depending on major differences between Turkish and English, and Bosnian and English language in terms of grammar, reading, writing, and structure of the sentence. The data of Bosnian-English and Turkish-English translations were collected from English Language School students (preparation school), freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior students and the major mistakes were analyzed. It is concluded that the biggest number of mistakes was due to the negative transfer from native languages, and correlates with previously identified differences. At last, suggestions for teachers and learners were proposed according to the mistakes the participants made. Keywords: native language, foreign language, negative transfer, transfer analysis theory, cognitive theories

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2014

3354