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This is a hypothesis that was advanced by Robert Lado (1957) in his publication entitled “Linguistics Across Cultures”. The hypothesis claimed that where there were similarities between L1 and L2, acquisition would be easier compared with situations in which there were differences between L1 and L2.
At the formulation of contrastive analysis approach, the prevalent theories were the behaviorist theories according to which language learning was a question of habit formation and this could be reinforced or impeded by existing habits. Therefore the difficult in mastering certain structures in second language (L2) depended on the difference between the learners’ mother tongue and the target language. Given this position, the native language of the learners of a second language became a crucial factor because it was seen to be a main cause of success or lack of it. As a result, a new framework the contrastive analysis emerged.
Contrastive analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages with the purpose of identifying their structural similarities or differences. In the analysis of the languages, their phonological, morphological, syntactic and cultural systems are investigated with the ultimate goal of predicting difficult for learners; (Lado 1957).
Proponents of this approach assume that the errors and difficulties that occur in learning L2 are caused by the interference of learners’ first languages so when the structure of the first language differs from that of the target language, learners will expect difficulties and errors will occur. On the other hand where the structures of TL and L1 are similar no difficulties will occur and it will therefore be pointless to teach these structures. It therefore follows that the difficulties learners will experience will vary depending on the relationship between their LI and L2.
According to the contrastive analysis, the notion of transfer is very prominent. It is assumed that when an individual begins to learn a second language, he already has a first language and it is this which he attempts to transfer. The main cause for difficulty and error in language is therefore to be found in L1 – L2 differences. In other words the real and only problem in acquisition is transfer. There are two types of transfers: negative transfer and positive transfer. Positive transfer occurs when the learner’s LI structure that is being transferred is similar to that of the target language and negative transfer will occur if it is different.
francis1897 answered the question on March 8, 2023 at 12:04
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