Lithuanian grammar, english words : cross-linguistic influence and students’ written errors

LTTarplingvistinę įtaką pajunta visi, kalbantys keliomis kalbomis. Gerai žinomos jų formos - transferencija ir kodų kaita. Nors abi formos gana ilgai tiriamos, vis dar nėra aiškios nei jų priežastys, nei mechanizmai. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamas matricinės kalbos rėmų modelis, sukurtas apibūdinti kodų kaitą. Pagal šį modelį produkavimo kalba veikia kaip matricinė kalba, ir jei vyksta kodų kaita, matricinė kalba reguliuoja, kaip ir kur ji gali pasireikšti. Straipsnyje išanalizavus dalį studentų rašto darbų, nustatyta, kad, rašant anglų kalba, remiamasi lietuvių kalbos gramatine struktūra. Darytina išvada, kad lietuvių kalba veikia kaip matricinė, nors užduotys atliktos anglų kalba (teoriškai būtent anglų kalba turėtų būti matricinė). Kitaip tariant, lietuvių kalbos struktūrų tranferencija į anglų kalbą rodo, kad studentai mąsto lietuviškais konceptais. Teigiama, kad šio proceso mechanizmas yra konceptų blendingas, leidžiantis kalboms veikti vienai kitą. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Konceptų maišinys; Kalbos klaida; Matricinės kalbos struktūros modelis; Conceptual blending; Production error; Matrix language frame model.

ENCross-linguistic influence (CLI) affects all speakers of two or more languages to a greater or lesser extent. In the form most often referred to as transfer, the phenomenon is known as the use of first language (L1) structures when speaking a foreign (FL) or second language (L2). That CLI of this form occurs has been well known for decades; however, no agreement has been reached as to its causes or the mechanism(s) by which it operates. Transfer, however, is not the only form of CLI which students of foreign languages must learn to deal with. Another very common and, perhaps, more visible form is code-switching, in which L1 words, phrases, or whole sentences are inserted into a stream of otherwise FL/L2 discourse. Again, much debate has arisen over the purposes, as well as the rules governing the placement of, code-switches, resulting in the development of several competing models. One of these, the matrix language frame model (MLFM), is examined in this paper. It is suggested that this model provides a convenient perspective on transfer phenomena. According to the MLFM, the language in which one begins speaking (the language of production) acts as a matrix language, into which code-switches from the other, embedded, language are inserted. In this paper, however, it is argued that the overt language of production is not necessarily the matrix language.Evidence is found in the written errors of a group of university students. The students' use of Lithuanian (L1) grammatical structures as a framework for written language production in English (the students' FL) is taken as evidence that Lithuanian, not English, is acting as a matrix language; in other words, that transfer of Lithuanian structures into English reflects the students' conceptual framing of the utterance in Lithuanian. It is suggested that the mechanism underlying this process is conceptual blending; as such, it is a bi-directional process, and transfer of FL structures to L1 can also be expected. In this way, CLI can affect not only individual learners, but whole languages as well. [From the publication]