LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS PBL 1

LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS PBL

Mara Jess Betanzo, Mara Jos Cano, Daniel Gonzlez, Adrin Rivera

Universidad de Santiago de Chile

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Introduction

English Language Learning has become a need for certain occupations. English has

become a lingua franca for most countries, for specific purposes such as: education, culture

and business. The aim of this study is to analyze different aspects of a persons discourse,

particularly, syntax, morphology, lexis/semantics and phonetics/phonology, to identify the

learners interlanguage. This was done in order to suggest possible ways to improve the

learners performance in an integrated skills class.

Concerning the stages in the studys methodology, we present the analysis divided

into four categories: first we made a syntactic analysis, then, a morphological analysis,

third, we did a lexical-semantic analysis, and finally a phonetical-phonological analysis was

done. All in all, we expect to contribute with significant data so as to facilitate English

Teaching as a Foreign Languge.

Students Biography

Sthefanie Taborda Ribas is 26 years old. Shes a Brazilian journalist. Currently, she is

living in Santiago, Chile. She has been living in this country for almost a year. She studied

journalism in Barcelona, Spain. She lived there during 4 years. She has made some trips to

English speaking countries as United Kingdom and India.

She studied English as a subject at school when she was a teenager. After that she

recovered some knowledge at University, but she recognizes she has never been really

interested in English language. Now, she is taking English lessons at a private institution

because she feels it is necessary and important for her professional life.
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Syntactic Analysis

The interviewees English level was very basic, which caused many specific

phenomena at a syntactic level, most of them related to lack of a proper EN lexicon and

knowledge of specific verbal structures and tenses, which led the interviewee to transfer

Spanish words and phrases, and some sentences also evidenced lack of completeness; there

were alsomany verbal structures from her native Portuguesetransferred into her speech in

English, especially those related to transitive verbs,which need a direct object placed at the

end of the verbal phrase in English (to like/ to need, in this case). It is possible to say that

due to the latter our interviewee did not know enough rules on how words are properly

combined and form groups in an English sentence, or even how they are hierarchically

arranged with respect to one another, which caused structural ambiguity and in some cases,

semantic problems. In spite of the mentioned above, there were several sentences in which

an appropriate order was accomplished, which were usually related to structures regarding

giving information about familiar and known contexts.

Our interviewee referred that she had visited English speaking countries and that she

was taught English while she was in high school, even though shementioned that English

used at her school was not a real English and that she never paid enough attention to

lessons at school. Nowadays, she refers that has been studying English for a year and a half,

so it is possible to say that her interlanguagehas experiencedfossilization because, and as

mentioned before, there were many elemental errorsregarding the proper use of verbal

tenses andbasic prepositions. Interviewees lack of vocabulary, together with ES+PT

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interference created some moments of complete verb and it elision, especially when the

interviewee answered using is.

Below there is a list of some of the identified phenomena:

Weak EN lexiconcausing lexical transfer from ES.

e.g.: Im live in Chile hace nine months.

I read this estetema, no s.

The country is very comoamigable? Como

Lack of knowledge of most of verb tenses (to be and other verbs), but with the

presence of some adequate or near-to-adequate verbtenses (lost / toked).

e.g.: but in Barcelona I tok a more people because is more cosmopolitan.

(Talking about past experiences) but I dont have the fight an EN and I

have very problems in London.

(Talking about her at high school) because is very young

Elision of verbs in some structures.

e.g: And now I need to English for my job.

*When have you been to those places?

En England en 2012, and North Ireland, 2011 and India, 2000 third, is

third? S.

Errors in progressive structures (past and present).Overgeneralization of IM

+ infinitive structure, that was used for purposes as diverse as present

continuous or replacement for past tenses.

e.g: And Im go to Barcelona, the University, Im studying ES, PT.

And a England Im go, yes, the tourist.

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Im live in Chilehace nine months.

Use of IS for any situation, with no presence of ARE in the speech.

e.g: My parents from Brazil.

A lot of verbs isdifferent.

Lack of indefinite article when mentioning her profession (ES + PT transfer)

e.g: Im journalist.

Error in adjective phrase order (ES + PT transfer)

e.g: En Im study digital content and marketing digital?

Use of PT structure for verbs to like and to need when giving short answers,

without placing any direct object at the end.

e.g: I like Chile, I like Santiago, yes. I like my life here (hiar) . The country is

very como amigable? Como

*Friendly.

Friendly, yes. I like.

*You want to, you really want to (learn EN)

Yes. I need.

Absence of parts of the speech (mainly prepositions), and replacement for

prepositions from ES, especially when theyre similar in EN and ES. (IN / EN)

e.g: *When did you start learning English?

En Brasil, but I.. En high school.

And my free time I read this.

Use of very instead of many when using uncountable nouns.

e.g: I have very problems in London.

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A book and a movies, very much, very moves (movies).

In the following sample it is possible to identify several of the situations mentioned

above:

Ok. And how was your experience as a tourist in EN speaking countries?

Oh, I like, but I dont have the fight an English and I have very

problems in London, because I lost my fly, and I don, no podaI dont a

fight an toked a airlines in London, a bedexperiensh.

1. I like: use of present tense instead of the past tense. Transfer of PT structure for

verb to like (gostar de), which does not use any direct object after it.

2. I dont have the fight an English (I didnt have to fight in England):she uses

present tense (dont) instead of the past tense. Use of AN instead of IN. Confuses England

with English.

3. I have very problems: Besides of not using the past tense, she is making an error

when using modifier very with countable noun problems.

4.I lost: One of the two past tenses in her speech, maybe used because of a copy-

paste process.

5. No poda: Spanish phrase transfer, because she doesnot know complex structures

or modal verbs (I wasnt able to; I couldnt, for instance).

6. I dont a fight: verb elision and use of present tense with dont.
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7. Toked a airlines: The second past tense in her EN speech, that was

mispronounced. Absence of preposition TO, necessary to indicate indirect object.

Morphological Analysis

It is clearly noticeable that the interviewee has difficulties in communicating and,

perhaps, this is due to the interference of both languages, Portuguese (mother tongue) and

Spanish (second language). In fact, at some points she uses Spanish to express her ideas

and convey meaning. As a result, her interlanguage has elements of these two languages.

These elements, which result in linguistic errors, are evident in syntax, semantics, lexis,

phonology and morphology. From a morphological point of view, the most recurrent error

is the absence of morphemes.

Bound Morphemes

1. Inflectional suffix ed

Owing to the fact that the interviewee has not acquired past forms yet, she does not

add the suffix ed in regular verbs when describing past experiences.

e.g. I study in Barcelona

because I live viva? En Barcelona

Oh, I like, but I dont have the fight in England and I have very problems in

London

2. Inflectional suffix s
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In some parts of the interview, Sthefanie needs to use countable nouns either because

she refers to something in general or because she says many. Yet she does not pronounce

the s suffix. Consequently, this results in a morphological error.

e.g. the real time, the expression, its

but I have so many content in English

And the best content or the best professionals

and native experience, con people native

3. Derivational suffix ern

The interviewee says North Ireland when mentioning the countries she has visited.

In this case, she fails to add the suffix ern to transform the noun into an adjective which

causes her to use the word North instead of Northern.

e.g. England and North Ireland and India.

Free Morphemes

A. Closed class

1. Auxiliary verbs am, are and is.

Sthefanie shows inconsistencies in the use of auxiliary verbs. For example, when she

introduces herself she says, Im from Brasil, but at the moment of talking about her age,

she does not include the word am.

e.g. in Barcelona, and I 26 years old, and Im living

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In this example, although she makes an error by saying, I 26 years old, Sthefanie

corrects herself and adds, Im living Therefore, it can be said that she has partly

acquired this linguistic feature. However, more practice is necessary in order to correct this

error that, perhaps, was committed due to insufficient practice or affective factors affecting

her performance.

Regarding the morpheme are, there is only one instance in which she has to use it,

yet again she does not.

e.g. My parents from Brasil.

Owing to the fact that there is not another clear moment where she uses the word

are because of the lack of mastery of tenses, it is not possible to state whether she has

acquired this morpheme or not.

Similarly, the word is is not present in parts of her discourse. Nevertheless, she does

mention it on other occasions.

e.g. my mum from Curitiba, my dad from Sao Paulo.

The methodology its I dont know is si era the best methodology,

because is very young and

The first example shows absence of the auxiliary verb is in two sentences. On the

contrary in the second example, even though it is used incorrectly in terms of tense, is is

present in her discourse.

2. Pronouns she, he, it and they

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These pronouns are mostly absent in her discourse. The morphemes she, he and

they are never used, especially when describing what her teachers were like at school.

e.g. Because is a English teacher lives in

yes. Is a good teacher, but la metodologia

Sthefanie prefers to use nouns at the moment of referring to another person such as,

teacher, dad and mum. This might well be due to the lack of mastery of pronouns.

Concerning the morpheme it, it is present in her discourse. However, there are times

when she skips it.

e.g. Yes. Is a little boring, because is not the real English, because is

The fact that these pronouns are not present could be the result of interference of both

Spanish and Portuguese, since the omission of subject pronouns is very common in these

languages.

e.g. (lla) est bailando Spanish

3. Article a

The interviewee does not include the word a when she talks about her parents jobs.

e.g. Im journalist

This error is probably made due to the fact that neither in Portuguese nor in Spanish

the article a is used before the noun when referring to occupations.

e.g Spanish: Soy periodista.

Portuguese: Sou jornalista .

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English: Im a journalist.

4. Prepositions in and to

Inconsistencies also become evident at the moment of using these to prepositions.

Again, while in some parts she shows knowledge of how to use the preposition in,

particularly in the following example, Yes. Because is a English teacher, lives in US or in

Canada, she does in other sentences.

e.g. And my free time I

In England in 2012, and North Ireland 2011 and India 2000 and third

Im like go to the cinema

In the example above, the morpheme to is not included. Perhaps this error is made

because in Spanish a preposition in that place is not used, Me gusta ir al cine.

B. Open class

With regard to open class morphemes, errors are made mainly because the

interviewee does not know the words she needs in English for example, amigable

(adjective), cerca (adjective), frase (noun), saber (verb) etc.

All in all, it can be said that this persons interlanguage is highly influenced by

Portuguese and Spanish. Clearly, interference is shown through the absence of morphemes.

Nonetheless, other morphological errors are developmental errors, particularly when she

must add the suffix ed in past regular verbs.

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Owing to the lack of vocabulary in terms of content words, it is impossible to

diagnose her knowledge of the usage of derivational prefixes and suffixes (Bound

Morphemes) as well as open class words (Free Morphemes).

Semantic analysis.

During the study, there were moments in which we needed to pay better attention to

what our learner actually wanted to say. Some words were misused, sometimes verbs were

used incorrectly, or sometimes the learner just didnt know how to express her ideas and

ended up using Spanish, to such extent that she even used Chilean collocations as in

nunca me puse las pilas. Basically, her mistakes had to do with lack of vocabulary and a

lack in grammar practice.

D: Ok. And, what about your worst experience?

S: The pronunciation, en the class cuando lo necesito pronunciar, and I

dont I dont say the words

Here we can see a complete Spanish sentence, which simply means she didnt know

which words to put there. It can also be noticed by the amount of hesitations, shown by

ellipses.

D: Why did you go to those countries?

S: Entroist, and a England I go, yes, the tourist, because I live viva? En

Barcelona, en its very near, near? cerca? S? Its very near, but tourist.
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When she says Entorist, we think she meant to say as a tourist. Hence, what she

probably wanted to say was As a tourist, and I went to England too, because I used to live

in Barcelona, and it is nearby. But I only went there as a tourist.

D: Ok. And how was your experience as a tourist in English speaking

countries?

S: Oh, I like, but I dont have the fight in English and I have very problems in

London, because I lost my fly, and I dont no podia I dont a fight an toked a

airlines in London, a bed experience.

In this sample, the main one, we find several errors caused by: language interference,

as in I like from the Portuguese eu gosto; lack of grammar practice, as in I lost my

fly, which doesnt actually refer to insects but to flights, and pronunciation problems, as in

a bed experience.

In the end, what she probably meant to say was the following:

Oh, I liked it, but I couldnt fight in English and had a lot of problems in London

because I lost my flight. I couldnt fight for that in London and had to take another airline.

It was a bad experience

It may look a bit redundant, but that would be more or less how she would have said

it provided she had the words and practice needed.

D: Ok. You told us that you were learning English because of your job, right?

How was your experience using English as a professional?

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S: I dont need a English to work, but I have so many contents in English,

because I work in the social red? No?

MJ: Network.

S: Network, como reds sociales? And the best content o the best professionals

working in English, because is I learn I talk English is very important.

Here we could also appreciate a lack of vocabulary and grammar.

D: Ok, and lastly. How often do you speak with native English speakers.

S: I dont understand the question.

D: For example, people that are from the states, people that are from Canada,

from the Great Britain they are native English speakers, how often do you speak with

native English speakers?

S: Dont understand q...

MJ: How often, cun a menudo

S: Ah! How often. Now, not so much, but in Barcelona I talkt a more people

because is more cosmopolitan and in Chili, I dont have a friends Engli, ah, a native in

US or Canada, this, is more Spanish here.

In this part, it was hard for the interviewer to see what she didnt actually understand.

It was likely that she couldnt understand what a native speaker was, but in the end what

she didnt understand was the use of how often.

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Phonetic and Phonological analysis.

The learner presents a high phonetic influence from the other two languages she

performs. We can notice a strong presence of vowel sounds, which comes from Portuguese.

In terms of intonation, interference comes from Spanish, the language she usually

speaks these days in Chile.

The student showed a basic structure composition and she wasnt able to perform

complex utterances in terms of speed, fluency and accuracy. We collected some error

samples to describe the main lacks in her speech.

For study purposes we divide the errors into categories. It is important to mention that

we only consider those errors which represent a real phonetic confusing performance in

terms of allophonic and phonetic misuse.

Sound Replacement

1- Dad = She performed /ded/ instead of /dd/

2- Words = She performed /words/ instead of /w3ds/

3- Class= She performed /kles/ instead of /kls/

4- Travel = She performed /trevl/ instead of /trvl/

5- Have= She performed /hev/ instead of /hv/

6- Tourist= She performed /torist/ instead of /trst/

7- University= She performed /university/ instead of /junv3st/

8- United= She performed /unaited/ instead of /junatd/

9- Pronunciation= She performed /pronunieion/ instead of

/prnnsen/
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10- Television= She performed /televin/ instead of /telvn/

11- Expression= She performed /expren/ instead of /kspren/

Sound Elision

1- Dont = She performed /don/ instead of /dnt/

Stress

1- Fourteen = She performed /ftin/ instead of /ftin/

Addition of sounds

1- All= She performed /owl/ instead of /l/

Mixed Category

1- Structure= She performed /estru ter/ instead of /strkt/

Main sample paragraph

Oh I likebutI dont have the fight el Englishand I have very problems in London
because I lost my flightand I dontno podiadont a fightand talked a airlines en
London A bad experience
/ a lak bt a don hev fat el gl en a hev veri problems
in london bikos a lost mai fla en a don ------------- don fat en toked
erlans en London
bed experien/
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Conclusions

As told before, our learner could give us many examples of the way in which a

language may interfere in the meaning of a statement. However, it is not only that what

interferes with her production. It happens to many language users that they make an error

because of association of meaning, as in I lost my fly which actually meant I lost my

flight, where the word flight is not a verb and fly is in some cases, but not always, and

here it clearly wasnt treated as a verb.

Analyzing the main sample we can find errors, from which it is possible to infer the

students interlanguage is in the middle of a complex process, what could be taken as a

developmental system considering the application of three different languages where the

mixture can be clearly distinguished.

We can find complete Spanish words inside her speech performance (E.g. el), as

well as Portuguese sounds (E.g. /experien/)

. We suggest further research in mixed ability classroom teaching and interlanguage.

In comparison with researchers experience we can discuss the role of pronunciation

during English lessons, the wealth of languages in terms of sound variety and the

importance of practice in a constant work.

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References

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language (9th edition). (117-124). Boston, Mass: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Hall, C.J., & Smith, P.H. (2011).chapter 9 Beyond the sentence: spoken and written

language. In: Mapping Applied Linguistics: a guide for students and practitioners. (p.

121-135).Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.