An experiment is described that is designed to test for the operation of an input switch mechanism in bilinguals. Their ability to selectively avoid processing words presented in one of their languages while they are attending to words presented in their other language is described. The 20 subjects were all French-English bilinguals. The specific…

In an investigation of language transference vs. language interference, 12 trainable mentally retarded Spanish speakers (5 to 9 years old) were trained to name in English objects previously identified receptively and objects not previously identified receptively in Spanish. Results indicated no significant difference in the number of words learned…

SINCE MANY STUDENTS OF PORTUGUESE HAVE SOME PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF SPANISH, THE TEACHER OF PORTUGUESE SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE EFFECTS CAUSED BY THE CLOSE STRUCTURAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THESE LANGUAGES. THE AUTHOR BELIEVES THAT "FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES, AN AMERICAN ENGLISH SPEAKER WHO HAS A REASONABLE (UNDEFINED) COMMAND OF SPANISH WILL REACT TO…

Two questions might be asked of psychologists by foreign language teachers: (1) What steps can be taken to maximize positive transfer and minimize negative transfer between native and target languages, and to what extent are those steps effective? (2) How can we predict the amount of facilitation or interference that will occur when a student…

In this paper the author examines two kinds of phonological interference observable in the speech of Puerto Rican bilinguals--phonemic and prosodic, and argues that because these two phonological subsystems are structured differently and have different signaling functions, each kind of interference must be treated independently with regard to its…

Investigates the type of errors that can be shown to result from native language interference, specifically the production and perception of word juncture of American English speakers studying the Egyptian dialect of Arabic. Argues that word juncture phenomena are a function of syllable structure and presents other cases illustrating this. (SED)

Examines longitudinal data from two Vietnamese learners of English to investigate syllable structure in their interlanguages. First language transfer emerged as the dominant process influencing syllable structure in interlanguage phonology. Analysis of conversational data at three points over a 10-month period showed first language transfer in…

Indicates features of Black dialect, or Black English vernacular, and discusses relationships between speaking Black English and learning to read and write. Suggestions for teaching speakers of Black English to write are offered. (RH)

Focuses on linguistic interference patterns which impede the progress of Italians learning English as a second language in Canada. (RL)

Research supported by research grants from the Canadian Defense Research Board and the Canada Council. (VM)

Research supported by U.S. Office of Education. Reprints from: Robert M. Gagne, Department of Educational Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306.

Deals with several related problems of language contact, approximative systems, and language learning situations. Proposes the recognition of "fixed approximative languages" in relation to learning situations. (Author)