The study examined whether false-cognates, overlapping in form but not meaning across languages, are easier to learn due to form overlap, or more difficult to learn due to meaning competition, ...compared to unambiguous control and cognate words. Fifty-four native Hebrew speakers learned 14 cognates, 14 false-cognates, and 28 control Arabic words in one session. Cognates were learned better than control items. There was no overall difference in learning false-cognates relative to controls, but individuals with higher phonological short-term memory, or with lower L1 verbal fluency, did exhibit a false-cognate learning-advantage. For these individuals, form overlap was more influential than meaning competition. Lexical decisions to Hebrew words following Arabic learning were slower for false-cognates than controls, indicative of backward influences. The findings reveal the influence of prior knowledge on learning and processing, and highlight the importance of jointly considering item-based and learner-based characteristics during the initial stages of vocabulary learning.
Transfer in related Slavic languages Pančíková, Marta; Horák, Alexander
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Kształcenie Polonistyczne Cudzoziemców,
12/2020, Letnik:
27, Številka:
27
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In the field of teaching Polish as a foreign language, transfer plays a major role. Positive transfer helps the users of closely related Slavic languages learn more quickly, while negative transfer ...should be closely monitored. Intercomprehension is a phenomenon which consists of guessing the meanings of related words and linguistic forms, and the ability to quickly understand languages which are closely related to the mother tongue of learners; in other words, it is a case of positive transfer. Intercomprehension in teaching related languages is directly associated with the phenomenon of language transfer. In the practice of teaching Polish as a non-native language in Slovakia and Czechia, teaching methods related to intercomprehension, including a contrast-based approach, have been applied for a long time. However, more focus has always been placed on negative transfer. In this article we provide examples of the impact of transfer, usually negative, at several linguistic planes in learning Polish by Slovaks and Slovak by Poles. The first author indicates two planes, those of inflection and syntax, using examples from the works of Polish students; the second author discusses the problems associated with lexis and indicates three planes: those of word formation, lexis, and style. Their discussions indicate that similarities help master a language more quickly and how important highlighting the differences for learners is.
During intercultural communication, it is crucial to interpret correctly and to use appropriately foreign idioms which are culturally marked and reflect linguistic and cultural identity of a speech ...community. Interlocutors should be aware of the cultural and historical precedents that gave rise to the primary image underlying idiomatic expressions and thus created their unique phraseological worldview. The aim of the research is to find out what is a better predictor of correct idiom interpretation - degree of proficiency in a foreign language or degree of genealogical kinship between the native and foreign languages. The topicality of the research is justified by the need for a deeper understanding of linguistic and cultural identity of native and foreign-language speakers, with a view to facilitate and enhance cross-cultural communication. The working hypothesis is that due to the close genealogical kinship between Russian and Bulgarian and the users advanced level of English, the number of correctly interpreted idioms may vary within a statistically significant medium range. The total sample comprises 5000 idioms (2500 English and 2500 Bulgarian ones). The subsample used in the experiment comprises 60 idioms (30 English and 30 Bulgarian ones) selected from The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms and Nov fraseologichen rechnik na bylgarskiya jezik (Нов фразеологичен речник на българския език) by means of stratified systematic sampling. The main methods used in the research include (1) comparative linguistic and cultural analyses, (2) scientific experimentation, (3) systematic and stratified sampling, and (4) a paired t-test. The experimental research and the paired t-test have proved our hypothesis and demonstrated that Russian participants correctly decode more Bulgarian than English idioms, with intergroup variation being statistically significant. Research findings have implications for cultural linguistics. Since translation loans (calques), isomorphic idioms, and idioms dating back to a common source are interpreted more quickly and more accurately than idioms which contain unique or culturally-loaded elements, such as old-fashioned words or proper names, access to cultural precedents that served as prototypes of set expressions contributes to a more seamless code-switching and enables communicants to penetrate deeper the mentality of a specific linguacultural community and thus become aware of the variability of cultural cognition and conceptualisation.
U ovome radu promatrane su apozicijske rečenice u hrvatskome i
appositive clauses
u engleskome kako bi se utvrdilo jesu li ta dva gramatička naziva istovrijednice. Pregledom hrvatskih gramatika ...uočava se da među kroatistima nema suglasnosti oko statusa apozicijske rečenice. U onim radovima u kojima je taj pojam obrađen (npr. Hudeček i Mihaljević 2017, Silić i Pranjković 2007), apozicijska rečenica definirana je kao zavisnosložena rečenica u kojoj se zavisna odnosna surečenica veže na imenicu ili imensku riječ kako bi dopunila njezino značenje. Naziv
appositive clause
koristi se pak u gramatikama engleskoga jezika dvoznačno. Quirk i dr. (1997) njime označavaju surečenicu koja je vezana na apstraktnu imenicu kako bi je preciznije odredila. Strukturno
appositive clauses
imenske su finitne ili nefinitne surečenice te mogu biti restriktivne i nerestriktivne. Drugi gramatičari, poput Aurana i Loocka (2011) ili de Vriesa (2006), naziv appositive relative clause upotrebljavaju za nerestriktivnu odnosnu surečenicu koja se veže na imenicu ili cijelu surečenicu kako bi prenijela dodatne obavijesti o njoj. Usporedbom rad dolazi do zaključka da apozicijska rečenica i
appositive clause
nisu istovrijednice, prvenstveno zbog toga što
appositive clause
nije vrsta rečenice, već surečenice. No, ne može se tvrditi ni da su apozicijska surečenicai
appositive clause
istovrijedne: apozicijske surečenice imaju širi raspon antecedenata od
appositive clauses
i isključivo su odnosne i nerestriktivne. Appositive relative clauses strukturno su i sadržajno bliže apozicijskim surečenicama te bi stoga taj naziv bio prihvatljiviji kao istovrijednica. Predlaže se da se u terminološke radove i baze uvrste natuknice za vrste surečenica u hrvatskome te da u natuknici za apozicijsku surečenicu kao engleska istovrijednica bude navedeno
appositive relative clause
. Zasebne natuknice za tipove surečenica omogućile bi ujedno točnije sparivanje hrvatskih i engleskih istovrijednica.
This paper examines
apozicijske rečenice
in Croatian and appositive clauses in English so as to determine whether those two grammatical terms are equivalents. An overview of Croatian grammars shows that there is no agreement regarding the status of
apozicijska rečenica
. In those grammars which contain the term (e.g. Hudeček and Mihaljević 2017, Silić and Pranjković 2007),
apozicijska rečenica
is defined as a complex sentence in which a subordinate relative clause is linked to a noun from the base clause so as to supplement its meaning. The term appositive clause is used amphibolously in English grammars. Quirk et al (1997) use it to describe a subordinate clause which is attached to an abstract noun to pinpoint its meaning. Structurally, appositive clauses are nominal finite or non-finite clauses and can be restrictive or non-restrictive. Other grammarians, such as Auran and Loock (2011) or de Vries (2006), use the term appositive relative clause to denote a non-restrictive relative clause which is linked to a noun or a whole clause in order to convey additional information about it. Through comparison, it is concluded that
apozicijska rečenica
and appositive clause are not equivalents, since an appositive clause is not a type of sentence, but a type of clause. However, it cannot be claimed that
apozicijska surečenica
and appositive clause are equivalents, either:
apozicijska surečenica
has a wider range of antecedents than an appositive clause and is exclusively relative and non-restrictive. Appositive relative clauses are closer to
apozicijske surečenice
in structure and content, therefore that term would be more acceptable as an equivalent. It is suggested that entries for clause types in Croatian be included into terminological works and bases, and that the term appositive relative clause be listed as the English equivalent in the entry for
apozicijska surečenica
. Separate entries for clause types would allow a more precise matching of Croatian and English clause type equivalents.
Teaching and learning Shakespeare takes place across the world. Pedagogical matters have been the subject of much discussion in the last few decades. This article begins by reviewing that discussion, ...showing how different approaches – textual, contextual and active (or performance) – connect with the language of the plays. No study, it is pointed out, has conducted an empirical investigation as to what exactly students find problematic when they read the language of Shakespeare’s plays, an obvious first step, one might think, in designing an approach. The main aim of this article was to describe a study designed to do exactly this. It was conducted with two groups of Shakespeare students, one with English as a first language and one with English as an additional language. Participants were asked to identify difficulties in extracts from plays, rate specific linguistic forms according to difficulty and discuss what they think of Shakespeare’s language. Common areas of difficulty included archaic words, borrowings from other languages, coinages and false friends. With these findings in mind, the article briefly reflects on pedagogical solutions that are corpus-related, arguing that these address some of the problems associated with traditional textual approaches by requiring the active involvement of learners, treating language in a contextualised fashion and focussing on the language itself.
تُمثِّل النظائر المخادعة الجزئية، أو أزواج الكلمات التي تتشابه كتابيًا أو صوتيًا بين لغتين لكنها تختلف في بعض معانيها بين اللغتين، قسمًا من ظاهرة النظائر المخادعة التي تشكّل صعوبة في الدراسات البين ...لغويّة؛ مثل تعلم اللغات الأجنبية وتعليمها، والترجمة. ورغم أنّ دراسة النظائر المخادعة قد حظيت بدراسات مستفيضة في اللغات الأجنبية؛ إلّا أنها ما تزال شحيحة فيما يخص اللغة العربية، وهذا ما دفعنا لاختيار دراسة النظائر المخادعة بين العربية والتركية؛ لكثرة الكلمات العربية المقترضة في اللغة التركية من جهة، ولتزايد الاهتمام بتعليم اللغتين في الفترة الأخيرة. وقد حصر البحث أزواج الكلمات تلك، ثم حاول تحديد التغيرات الدلالية التي شهدتها الكلمات العربية المقترضة في اللغة التركية وأدت إلى تمايز دلالاتها جزئيًا مع دلالاتها الأصلية المستعملة في اللغة العربية. وقد خَلُص البحث إلى جملة من النتائج؛ منها: أن هناك عددًا لا بأس به من النظائر المخادعة الجزئية في اللغتين العربية والتركية. أيضًا احتفظت هذه الكلمات في اللغة التركية بمعنى أصلي واحد على الأقل من معانيها المستخدمة في اللغة العربية، لكنها طوّرت في اللغة التركية معنىً، أو معانيَ إضافية مختلفة غير مستخدمة في دلالات الكلمة الأصلية في اللغة العربية. كما سلكت هذه الكلمات في تطويرها للمعاني الجديدة طرقًا عديدة من التغير الدلالي كتعميم الدلالة، وتخصيص الدلالة، والنقل الدلالي. ويُنتظَر من هذا البحث أن يسدّ فراغًا في حقل الدراسات البين لغوية، وفي حقل التحليل التقابلي للغة العربية، وأن يساهم في تسهيل مهمة وضع مناهج تعليم اللغة العربية للأتراك، ومناهج تعليم اللغة التركية للعرب. وسيشكل هذا البحث مُنطلَقًا وأساسًا لبحوث أخرى توسع دائرة البحث في التحليل التقابلي للغتين العربية والتركية على مستويات اللغة كافة.
Construction employees are required to have good knowledge of foreign language professional terms. The survey of higher school students revealed the fact of their being reluctant to the issues of ...good knowledge of terminology and safety in future professional activities. They should be able to cope with homonyms that may cause confusion. Therefore, the research considers 'false friends of a translator' taking account of their similarities or differences in the pronunciation, meaning and spelling in English and Russian. To realize this aim the authors empirically surveyed two groups of a higher school final-year students to contribute to their language development through good knowledge of terms. The research was conducted on the base of comparison, observation and empirical methods and the teaching-practicing-controlling approach. The results obtained show that proper educating the future specialists to the use of the lexical units under consideration correctly can improve their professional growth and safety. The results can be used in language teaching practice, in making dictionaries for special purposes, as well as for making some possible contribution to terminology science.
► Child classroom second language learners activate word candidates in both of their languages (language-nonselective access). ► These children respond differently to cognates in the presence or ...absence of false friends in the stimulus list. ► The presence of a cognate effect in the child classroom learners’ second language but not in their first language is in line with research in adult bilinguals.
We studied how Dutch children learned English as a second language (L2) in the classroom. Learners at different levels of L2 proficiency recognized words under different task conditions. Beginning learners in primary school (fifth and sixth grades) and more advanced learners in secondary school (seventh and ninth grades) made lexical decisions on words that are similar for English and Dutch in both meaning and form (“cognates”) or only in form (“false friends”). Cognates were processed faster than matched control words by all participant groups in an English lexical decision task (Experiment 1) but not in a Dutch lexical decision task (Experiment 2). An English lexical decision task that mixed cognates and false friends (Experiment 3) led to consistently longer reaction times for both item types relative to controls. Thus, children in the early stages of learning an L2 already activate word candidates in both of their languages (language-nonselective access) and respond differently to cognates in the presence or absence of false friends in the stimulus list.
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