ESSAY Project Plan 2
Introduction
The topic of our research is about the interference of the first language (L1) to the second language acquisition (SLA). This research looks into the L1 learners’ production of phonemes in their second language (L2), English. The topic is relevant to SLA as speaking is one of the fundamental skills in SLA. Pronunciation, in particular, is a very important mechanism for a fluent communication. In fact, pronunciation is believed to be involved in the learners’ phonological loop. According to Nation and Newton (2009), phonological loop is “the brain saying a word or phrase over and over to itself in order to keep it in the working memory or to help it move into long-term memory” (p.75). This also means that learners who have a stable and good pronunciation could store the words in the long-term memory because they can hold the words in the phonological loop (Ellis & Beaton, 1993). A good pronunciation comes from the correct production of phoneme sounds. Also, learners from different linguistics background exhibit different ways of pronouncing the English words. Therefore, this research addresses two questions by taking into account the influence of the learners’ first language on their pronunciation:
1. Does a learner’s L1 influence the pronunciation (phonemes) of his or her L2 (English)?
2. Does the pronunciation differ between the languages?
Literature review A research conducted by James (2007) examined the relationship between learner’s interlanguage (IL) and transfer of learning. From this research has come an understanding that different constraints act on learning transfer. The research found out three main points; Firstly, IL performance were learning transfer; secondly, IL performance may occur because of the constraints on learning transfer and the final finding was that research transfer and theory should accommodate the research and theory on IL variation. The theory of interlanguage was supported by Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
The topic of our research is about the interference of the first language (L1) to the second language acquisition (SLA). This research looks into the L1 learners’ production of phonemes in their second language (L2), English. The topic is relevant to SLA as speaking is one of the fundamental skills in SLA. Pronunciation, in particular, is a very important mechanism for a fluent communication. In fact, pronunciation is believed to be involved in the learners’ phonological loop. According to Nation and Newton (2009), phonological loop is “the brain saying a word or phrase over and over to itself in order to keep it in the working memory or to help it move into long-term memory” (p.75). This also means that learners who have a stable and good pronunciation could store the words in the long-term memory because they can hold the words in the phonological loop (Ellis & Beaton, 1993). A good pronunciation comes from the correct production of phoneme sounds. Also, learners from different linguistics background exhibit different ways of pronouncing the English words. Therefore, this research addresses two questions by taking into account the influence of the learners’ first language on their pronunciation:
1. Does a learner’s L1 influence the pronunciation (phonemes) of his or her L2 (English)?
2. Does the pronunciation differ between the languages?
Literature review A research conducted by James (2007) examined the relationship between learner’s interlanguage (IL) and transfer of learning. From this research has come an understanding that different constraints act on learning transfer. The research found out three main points; Firstly, IL performance were learning transfer; secondly, IL performance may occur because of the constraints on learning transfer and the final finding was that research transfer and theory should accommodate the research and theory on IL variation. The theory of interlanguage was supported by Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis