CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces and gives a brief summary of the work. The topic under research seeks to investigate interference in digital communication that is how a first language obstructs or helps to learn a second language.

1.0 Background to the Study

Language interference is one of the current problems in foreign language learning and teaching. It is an actual response to the applied results of the structural methods also known as audio-visual, audio-oral and structural global.

With the above methods, the learning of a second language becomes a process realized through imitation and mechanical reaction to the language stimuli.

Thus, the educational materials developed in accordance with these methods stated above suppose that the teaching of a second language should be done in one and the same way with students from different nationalities regardless of any difficulties deriving from the native language other factors.

It is only when it becomes evident that the results from the application of such methods are not the expected ones that a step can be undertaken towards a discussion of language interference and its influence of foreign language learning and teaching.

The theoretical grounding for interference is explained through the theory of contacts and the theory of bilingualism which means having a command of more than one language; native or foreign. Communication between the two language systems is the reason for interference which is the object of psycholinguistic and linguistic research.

From the point of view of psycholinguistics, it is a negative transfer of language habits and skills from the mother tongue or from a foreign language to another. From a linguistic point of view, interference is an interaction or a change in linguistic structures and structural elements Dechert, (1983) and Ellis,(1997).

It appears to be a deviation from linguistic norms in the spoken and written language. Correlative bilingualism involves a situation where both language systems exist in the individual’s mind and are independent of one another.

And if the individual has a good mastery of the two languages there is no interference. In the case of subordinate bilingualism, the second language is not mastered to the degree of the first language, here the mother tongue dominates and influences the second language leading to interference.

In learning French, for example, the most common mistakes occur in inter-language interference (Ruzhekova-Rogozherova 2009). In this case, mistakes appear because of the negative transfer of habits from the native language.

Suppose the statement; ‘jesuis 20 ans’ instead of ‘j’ai 20 ans’ because of the statement in English ‘I am 20 years that is direct transfer of norms from English to French which causes interference and misunderstanding. Intra-language interference occurs when learners make mistakes under the influence of the already acquired language knowledge and established habits in the foreign language.

Example ‘j’ai allé a la faculté’, instead of ‘je suis allé a la faculté’, ‘elle a tombé dans la rue’ instead of ‘elle est tombé dans la rue’. All these mistakes result from the passé composé of the verb ‘avoir’. Interference becomes explicit in cases where learners make mistakes in oral and written foreign language expressions transferring language habits from the native to the foreign language thus, they ignore the norms of foreign speech.

With implicit interference, learners do not make mistakes because they avoid using grammatical and lexical difficulty constructing phrases without it. In this case, there are no mistakes but the speech becomes simpler and poorer and it loses its expressive and idiomatic aspect.

Many have said something about interference, Dulay (1982) for example defines it as ‘the automatic transfer due to habits of the surface structure of the first language to the surface of the target language’.

Lott (1983:256) defines interference as “errors in the learner’s use of the foreign language that can be traced back to the mother tongue”. Ellis (1997:51) adds that “it is a transfer” which he says is the influence that the learner’s first language exerts over the acquisition of a second language.

Mackey(1982) sees interference as instances of deviation which occur in the speech of the bilingual as a result of their familiarity with more than one language in contact. E-mails, SMS are some of the places where interference can be found in digital communication, given that many people use them daily.

Digital communication is the ability to create persuasive communications in different media, be it websites videos, or audios. It is also information transmitted electronically and is encoded digitally.

It is stored by computers, it can also be defined as the electronic way to exchange information. More still, digital communication can be seen as communication performed with and by digital technology (Jukes and Anita 2004).

1.1 Statement Of The Problem

Students actually misuse language out of the classroom and this can be seen in the way they write text messages, e-mails, and the way they write messages on Facebook.

This is a major problem that calls for quick attention and solution.  Teachers have to take into consideration the fact that students use these websites when teaching a second language. That is, teachers should consider that the language students use in the classroom is different from that used out of the classroom.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The research aims at bringing out interference in the digital domain. Its main aim is to prove that when students use their second language in writing messages on Facebook, they bring in some norms of their first language which then obstructs the second language and brings about the misunderstanding. So these aspects should be pointed out and solutions attached to them in this research.

1.3 Research Questions

1. Does a first language influence a second language learning? If so, is it positively or negatively?
2. What language do students use in the classroom?
3. What language do students use out of the classroom?
4. What language do students use for digital communication?

1.4 Statement of Hypothesis

1. First language influences second language learning positively and negatively
2. Students use a particular language in the classroom
3. Students use a particular language out of the classroom
4. Students use a particular type of language for digital communication