Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied LinguisticsVol. 81/82 (1988) ► pp.73–111
Vol. 81/82 (1988) ► pp.73–111
Interference in Second Language Learning
The Acquisition of English and Tamil Phonemes by the Native Speakers of Tamil and English
This study deals with the acquisition of English and Tamil as a second language and to explain the errors found in the speech of L2 learners caused by the interference from the first language within the frame of reference of the phonological system of the target language (L2) as perceived and produced by the native speaker of the first language (L1). The overall systems are compared so as to highlight the most genera] similarities and differences. The comparison also focuses on the similarities and contrasts between the phonetic manifestations of each phonological unit of L1 and its counterpart in L2. The data from the actual speech of English and Tamil by the L2 speakers are used to bring out the contrast between the two languages and the L1 interference on L2.
References (23)
Agard, F.B. and Di Pietro R. (1965) : The Sounds of English and Italian. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press.
Alatis, James E. (ed.) (1968) : Contrastive Linguistics and Its Pedagogical Implications. Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, No. 21, Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press.
Azevedo, Milton M. (1981) : A Contrastive Phonology of Portuguese and English. Washington D.C. Georgetown University Press.
Carroll, John B. (1968) : "Contrastive Linguistics and Interference Theory". In Alatis, 113–122.
Chomsky, N. and Halle, M. (1968) : The Sound Pattern of English. New York : Harper & Row.
Firth, J.R. (1934) : "Tamil phonetics". Appendix to A Progressive Grammar of Common Tamil by A.H. Arden. 4th ed. Madras : The Christian Literature Society.
Ganesan, S.N. (1975) : A Contrastive Grammar of Hindi and Tamil. Madras : University of Madras.
Ganesaxi, S.N. (1975) : "Word-final -u in Dravidian languages", All India Conference of Dravidian Linguists. Trivandrum : University of Kerala, 161:9–24.
Gimson, A. C. (1962) : An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London : Edward Arnold Ltd.
Jakobovits, Leon A. (1969) : "Second language learning and transfer theory." Language Learning. 191:55–86. 
Jones, D. (1967) : The Phoneme. 3rd ed. Cambridge : W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
(1971) : English Pronouncing Dictionary. 13th ed. London : The English Language Book Society.
(1972) : Outline of English Phonetics. 9th ed. Cambridge : W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
Ladefoged, Peter (1975) : A Course iu Phonetics. New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Lisker, Leigh (1958) : "The Tamil occlusives : short vs. long or voiced vs. voiceless?". Indian Linguistics. 191:294–301.
. (1972) : "On Stops and Gemination in Tamil". In Proceedings of the First All India Conference of Dravidian Linguists. Trivandrum : Dept. of Linguistics, University of Kerala. 174–181.
Moulton, William G. (1962) : The Sounds of English and German. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
Nickel, Gerhard (ed.) (1971b) : Papers from the International Symposium on Applied Contrastive Linguistics. Stuttgart. Bielfield : Cornnelsen-Vellagen and Klasing.
Pillai, Shanmugam (1966) : Spoken Tamil. Annamalai Nagar : Annamalai University Press.
Schiffman, Harold F., and Eastman, Carol M. (eds.) (1975) : Dravidian Phonological Systems. Seattle : University of Washington Press.
Stockwell Robert P., and Bowen, Donald J. (1965) : The Sounds of English and Spanish. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
Svarny, O. and Zvelebil, K. (1955) : "Some remarks on the articulation of the 'cerebral' consonants in Indian Languages, especially in Tamil". Archiv Oriental. 231:374–434.
Weinreich, Uriel (1953) : Languages in Contact : Findings and Problems. New York : Linguistic Circle of New York.