Interlanguage: The Effects of the Second Language on First Language Learning

It is a common notion that learning the second language differs significantly from learning the native language or rather the first language. Even though there are some distinct differences between the processes of teaching the second language and the first there are some similarities as well. These similarities include the fact that if a learner has acquired fluency in the second language, they could have trouble acquiring the first language even though it is their native language. There is the issue of the two languages having different rules of grammar which result in errors dependent on which language the learner has acquired as the first. There are assumptions that native language development is not influenced by the second language but they are inaccurate and below are some of the effects that the L2 has on acquiring the L1.

With every language that a learner acquires, they develop some linguistic rules as some form of the abstract which largely affect how they learn another language even their native language (Venema, 2011). When a student has developed fluency in a second language without having mastered their native language, the grammar rules from L2 determines their comprehension any other language that they might learn along the way. For example, if a student has learned English as the second language there are some grammar rules that they acquire that guide their learning such as tonal variations of some words and the fact that words can end with consonants. However, these same rules when learning a native language can lead to errors for instance when learning the native Thai language which does not have consonants at the end of a word. On that note, it is clear that interlanguage structures and rules are major contributors of how a learner acquires either L1 or L2. The influence of the second language on learning of the native language has been witnessed in many cases in some special situations the impact is too extensive that learners do not fully develop the comprehension of the L1 regarding pronunciation. Such problems are as a result of learners not willing to abandon the grammatical rules learned while studying the second language.

Learning of the second language relies on the literacy skills acquired by learning the native language being transferred during the teaching process, but the process is not as direct when the roles are reversed (Dirix, and Duyck, 2017). When a student has acquired L2 before getting an opportunity to learn L1 they develop some unforeseen difficulties in transferring the skills when learning the native language. For instance, in a situation where some vocabularies from the second language have some similarities with the ones found in the native language, learners might have trouble with pronunciation attributed to prior literacy skills. However, despite the difficulties that might be associated with learning L1 as result of learning L2 first, there are some positive impacts as well. One of the main positive impacts that L2 has on learning the native language is that it offers the skills to understand syntax which results in easier comprehension (Bakker, 2011). Cases of people having fluency in their native language but lacking an understanding of the grammar have been witnessed but having learned a second language can help in developing necessary language skills.

References

Bakker, D. (2011). Language sampling.

Dirix, N., & Duyck, W. (2017). The first-and second-language age of acquisition effect in first-and second-language book reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 97, 103-120.

Venema, P. (2011). Second Language Acquisition: Interlanguage. Prezzi, retrieved on January 13, 2017, from https://prezi.com/co9r3nzinnkm/second-languageacquisition-interlanguage/