Explorations Of Language Transfer

Explorations of Language Transfer

When learners of a new language draw on their native language (or on any other that they may know), this earlier acquired linguistic knowledge may influence their success. Such cross-linguistic influence, also known as language transfer, has long raised questions about what linguists can predict about success in the new language and about what processes are involved in using prior knowledge. This book lucidly brings together many insights on transfer: e.g. on the relation between translation and transfer, the relation between comprehension and production, and the problem of how complete any predictions of difficulty may ever be. The discussions also explore implications for future research and for classroom practice. The book will thus serve as a reliable guide for teachers, researchers, translators, interpreters, and students curious about language contact.

Spanish as a second and third language

Spoken as a foreign language by around 24 million people worldwide, Spanish can be the second language (L2) of monolingually raised learners who acquire it in school. Ever more often it is also the third or a further language (L3) of learners who have previously studied another foreign language (for example Spanish after English in Germany) or who acquired more than one language during early childhood, as is the case with heritage speakers. This book explores the intersections between linguistics and language pedagogy related to the acquisition of L2 and L3 Spanish in various contexts worldwide. Fostering the interdisciplinary dialogue, it combines contributions by linguists and specialists in didactics, which not only examine the interface between basic linguistic and applied research but also develop proposals and materials for concrete teaching situations.

Language Transfer in Two Ways