Stephen van Vlack

Sookmyung Women`s University

Division of English Language and Literature

English in the Era of Globalization

Fall 2007

Week 9, Day 1 - Answers

Kecskes and Papp 2000, Chapter 5

1. What is transfer and what kinds of things transfer?

The simple idea underlying transfer is that certain bits of knowledge that have been associated with and used with one linguistic system will be made available for use in another (this occurs on the basis of the links between languages). In its most optimal conditions it is like throwing a ball from one hand to the other. For transfer though the ball may only be sent from one hand to other in bits which arrive separately and may need to be pieced back together again. It may actually work on the basis of lexis in that different bits of systematic information from one language to another are transferred with words With transfer, as with many things, it is generally thought that such phenomenon occurs from a stronger point to a weaker cognitive system (language) and this is generally the case, but it is important to remember that in a bilingual situation the different languages might have different centers of strength. As Kecskes and Papp have gone to huge pains to point out, because of the different acquisition histories and different foci of a first language and a foreign language, students windup having different strengths in each provided both are learned with a high degree of intensity.

For the first language the main strength revolves around its fluency. The first language is always available for use, particularly in its spoken form, and through its multitude of connections is much more affluent and automatic neurologically. It requires little thought to use although it controls our thought.

For the foreign language, as we well know, it is not linked to sound so much as to sign. We don`t actually learn the sounds of foreign language in the same way we learn the sounds of our first language. Our attention is focused on signs/abstract symbols which we used to represent the language. We learn to use our foreign language in an overprocessed way. We don`t and can`t use it fluently because of the paucity of connections between elements in the foreign language and even between elements of the foreign language in the first language. The way we are taught our foreign language forces us to process it in a much more controlled way. In addition to a particular language forms we are exposed to in the foreign language require more specific types of processing strategies. Such processes lead to what we will here call the metas.

Within the metas we have two basic types of interest to our discussion here; metalinguistic awareness and metacognitive awareness. Metalinguistic awareness is being more aware of some particular aspects of language, such as specific elements of word meaning, structural relationships, morphological tendencies and practices, among other things Because of this metalinguistic awareness we are not only better able to control our language, but we are able to create much more complex types of language. Metacognitive awareness involves being aware of cognitive processes. Through metacognitive awareness we have a better understanding of not only what we are thinking but how we are thinking and based on this how we actually go about doing things, such as problem solving. Because language involves cognition both of these skills are necessary for higher types of language use or what we can simply describe as literate language use (written speech).

The main point of what Kecskes and Papp are trying to say, actually in this entire book, is that we learn metacognitive and metalinguistic skills through the acquisition of another language and particularly in a foreign let language acquisition setting. This sets up a perfect scenario for transfer. The thinking skills that one learns from foreign languages helps them in being able to use their native language in a more formal manner while the fluency and productive skills one has in the first language will hopefully be able to transfer onto the foreign language as well. This is our hope anyway.

2. What are some of the variables that affect transfer?

First and foremost it is the level of proficiency in the two languages and obviously particularly in the foreign language which affects a person`s ability to transfer. When the L1 totally eclipses the L2 then the possibility of transfer is small because of the way the L2 has fused onto the L1 forms. Kecskes and Papp mention two types of bilinguality in the book without (annoyingly) stating what those two types are. We will go so far as the say there are, in reverse acquisition order, three types: compound, coordinate and dependent. In the earliest stages of language development it seems most appropriate to define the relationship of the L2 to the L1 as being dependent. The specific forms of the words in the L2 are linked directly to their translation equivalents in the L1. From our earlier discussion we know this is a link only at the lexical level and probably will not lead to transfer because there are no links at the conceptual level all and at this low level of proficiency well-established metacognitive and metalinguistic knowledge and strategies have yet to develop.

When the L2 forms begin to develop their own conceptual bases things change. Translation partners will still be linked at the lexical level but the L2 forms will have their own specific underlying concept to support the form. It is at this point that metalinguistic and metacognitive skills begin to develop. The learner begins to notice strong differences in the different languages that they are now exposed to. By looking at these differences they begin to develop new strategies for analysis. Once more, it does seem in a very general way that human beings are to a certain extent genetically programmed to look first for differences before looking for similarities. Looking back in an evolutionary way we might argue that this is a basic type of survival skill. While we need to look at both we will probably first and foremost look at these differences because that is what will give us more important immediate information on what to do and what not to do. Based on an as it is at this point we can argue that people first form eight coordinate type of organization in relation to forms and their concepts.

With more exposure and more equal exposure to the foreign language it then becomes clear that there are not only differences but also a large amount of similarities between the languages and this is when we start to form a compound type of organization. The neutralization we have talked about earlier in the course kicks in to action and a common underlying conceptual base (CUCB) is formed. It is in this compound type of organization that we expect the most transfer to occur and not only from the L1 to the L2 but also from the L2 to the L1. Transfer can be used to fill certain gaps in skills and knowledge between the two languages. Important to remember, however, is that transfer really can only take place efficiently and bidirectionally when there is this CUCB. Without the common underlying conceptual base, transfer will have difficulty taking place because transfer is based on the awareness of similarity rather than the awareness of differences between languages and the CUCB is essentially a list of conceptual similarities held by all languages present.

3. How might memory and language affect mental operations?

The bottom line is that we have different types of memories. Two of the main types discussed in Kecskes and Papp (2000) are declarative (static) and procedural (dynamic). Of course there are more different types of memory and researchers disagree how many types there are an how they might develop and affect each other but this is a good place to start. These two different types of memories will transfer differently and separately depending on the specific cognitive makeup of the person in question. Someone with a lower level of proficiency in the L2 will transfer declarative knowledge (knowledge about the lexical forms of language) from the L1. A person with a higher proficiency as a result of a more intensive exposure to the L2 (resulting in a CUCB) will show more sophisticated transfer patterns. They will be able to transfer procedural knowledge from one language to the other without necessarily interfering. Again this is a special skill available only to bilinguals and it makes them much more adaptable and suited to different environments. It has also put in to remember that this type of skill can only take place when we are focusing not on differences but on similarities between different languages.