Page 46 - Diversity in Action

Marco Magnani, Federica Ricci Garotti, and Katharina Salzmann

internalised the structures of the second language (L2). Frequently, the prin-
ciples underlying this transfer stem from the idea that ‘the initial state of L2
acquisition is the final state of L1 acquisition’ (Schwartz & Sprouse, 1996, p.
40). From this perspective, the phenomenon does not align with the con-
trastive hypothesis. Instead, it occurs at a stage when L1 acquisition has been
completed–resultingin theautomatisation andproceduralisation ofL1–but
before the development of metalinguistic competence. According to Oerter
(2000), this competence typically emerges around the ages of 7–8, meaning
that younger children have not yet reached this stage.
Last but not least, there is also the possibility of a transfer that cannot be
explained by reference to L1. Kellerman (1995) refers to this as ‘transfer from
nowhere:’ transfer often occurs on the basis of the relative transparency
or markedness of linguistic structures. For example, studies on Swedish
learners acquiring German have shown unexpected transfer patterns. Al-
though Swedish and German share the same verb-second word order, learn-
ers sometimes produce structures influenced by English, which follows a
subject-verb-object order, as exemplified in (2):

(2) a. Swedish: Idag äter jag glass.
b. German: Heute esse ich ein Eis.
c. English: *Today eat I icecream.
d. Learner’s production: *Heute ich esse ein Eis.
e. Correct English: Today I eat icecream.

Whether this learner’s production was directly influenced by English re-
mains uncertain – this is one of the hypotheses in multilingual transfer re-
search. However, what is certain is that the analogy between the target lan-
guage (German) and the L1 (Swedish) does not necessarily lead to transfer, as
the contrastive hypothesis would predict. This suggests that other explana-
tory factors are at play. Indeed, multiple typologies of transfer exist, and most
indicate that children have already activated the acquisition process.

How Can We Facilitate L2 Learning Or Acquisition in Case of a Transfer?
How should a teacher respond to L1 transfer to support a child’s interaction
in L2? As we have seen, transfer reveals two key facts:

1. ThechildismotivatedtoproduceoutputinL2withinameaningfulcon-
text –inour case,anauthentic,real-time interactionwithanadult who
speaks a different language.
2. The child lacks certain elements of L2 necessary for full interaction.
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