Appendix C Teacher’S Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

GRAMMAR TRANSFER ISSUES FOR TEN LANGUAGES

The following chart identifies areas in which speakers of various primary languages may have some difficulty in acquiring English grammar (syntax). The type of transfer error and its cause is outlined for each grammatical category.1

NOUNS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Plural forms omission of plural marker -s Cantonese, Nouns do not change I have 5 book. Haitian Creole, form to show the plural in Hmong, Khmer, the primary language. Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese

Possessive avoidance of ’s to Haitian Creole, Hmong, The use of a prepositional forms describe possession Khmer, Spanish, phrase to express 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. the children of my sister Tagalog, Vietnamese possession reflects the instead of my sister’s only structure or a more children common structure in the primary language.

no marker for Haitian Creole, A noun’s owner comes possessive forms Khmer, Vietnamese after the object in the house my friend instead primary language. of my friend’s house

Count versus use of plural forms for Haitian Creole, Nouns that are count and noncount nouns English noncount nouns Russian, Spanish, noncount differ between the furnitures, the color Tagalog English and the primary

Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, of her hairs language.

1Charts from “Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners” in the series On Our Way to English, copyright © 2004 Harcourt Achieve, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

ARTICLES

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

omission of article Cantonese, Haitian Articles are either lacking He has job. Creole, Hmong, Khmer, or the distinction between Korean, Russian, a and the is not paralleled His dream is to become Tagalog, Vietnamese in the primary language. lawyer, not teacher. omission of articles in certain Spanish The article is not used in contexts such as to identify Spanish in this context, but a profession it is needed in English. He is teacher.

overuse of articles Arabic, Haitian Creole, The article is used in the The honesty is the best policy. Hmong, Spanish, primary language in Tagalog places where it isn’t used This food is popular in the in English. Japan. I like the cats.

use of one for a/an Haitian Creole, Hmong, Learners sometimes He is one engineer. Vietnamese confuse the articles a/an with one since articles either do not exist in the primary language or serve a different function.

PRONOUNS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Personal use of pronouns with Cantonese, The third person pronoun pronouns, inappropriate gender Haitian Creole, Hmong, in the primary language is gender He is my sister. Khmer, Korean, Tagalog gender free. The same pronoun is used where 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. English uses masculine, feminine, and neuter pronouns, resulting in confusion of pronoun forms in English.

use of pronouns with Spanish In Spanish, subject inappropriate gender pronouns are dropped in He is my sister. everyday speech and the verb conveys third-person agreement, effectively collapsing the two pronouns and causing

Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, transfer difficulty for subject pronouns in English.

use of inappropriate gender, Russian, Spanish Inanimate nouns have particularly with neuter nouns feminine and masculine The house is big. She is gender in the primary beautiful. language, and the gender may be carried over into

PRONOUNS (continued)

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Personal confusion of subject and Cantonese, The same pronoun form is pronoun forms object pronoun forms Hmong, Khmer used for he/him, she/her, Him hit me. and in some primary languages for I/me and I like she. we/us. Let we go.

use of incorrect number Cantonese, Korean There is no number for pronouns agreement in the primary I saw many yellow flowers. language. It was pretty.

omission of subject pronouns Korean, Russian, Subject pronouns may be Michael isn’t here. Is in school. Spanish dropped in the primary language and the verb ending supplies informa- tion on number and/or gender.

omission of object pronouns Korean, Vietnamese Direct objects are That man is very rude, frequently dropped in the so nobody likes. primary language.

omission of pronouns in clauses Cantonese, Vietnamese A subordinate clause at If not have jobs, they will the beginning of a not have food. sentence does not require a subject in the primary language.

use of pronouns with Hmong, Vietnamese This type of redundant subject nouns structure reflects the This car, it runs very fast. popular “topic-comment” approach used in the Your friend, he seems so nice. primary language: The

avoidance of pronouns Korean, Vietnamese It is common in the by repetition of nouns primary language to Sara visits her grandfather repeat nouns rather than every Sunday, and Sara makes to use pronouns. a meal.

Pronoun one omission of the pronoun one Russian, Spanish, Adjectives can be used I saw two nice cars, and Tagalog on their own in the primary I like the small. language, whereas English

Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, often requires a noun or one.

Possessive confusion of possessive forms Cantonese, Hmong, Cantonese and Hmong forms The book is my. Vietnamese speakers tend to omit final n, creating confusion between my and mine. © 2011. Pearson. For C-4 Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

ADJECTIVES

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

position of adjectives after Haitian Creole, Adjectives commonly nouns Hmong, Khmer, come after nouns in the I read a book interesting. Spanish, primary language. Vietnamese

position of adjectives Cantonese, Korean Adjectives always come before certain pronouns before words they modify This is interesting something. in the primary language.

Comparison omission of markers for Khmer Since there are no comparison suffixes or inflections in She is smart than me. Khmer, the tendency is to omit them in English.

avoidance of -er and -est Hmong, Khmer, Comparative and superla- endings Korean, Spanish tive are usually formed I am more old than my brother. with separate words in the primary language, the equivalent of more and most in English.

Confusion of -ing confusion of -ing and -ed forms Cantonese, Khmer, The adjective forms in the and -ed forms The movie was bored. Korean, Spanish primary language that correspond to the ones in I am very interesting in sports. English do not have active and passive meanings. In Korean, for many adjectives, the same form is used for both active and passive meanings boring versus bored.

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Present tense Omission of s in present Cantonese, Haitian There is no verb tense, third person Creole, Hmong, agreement in the primary agreement Khmer, Korean, language. She go to school every day. Tagalog, Vietnamese

problems with irregular Cantonese, Hmong, Verbs forms do not subject-verb agreement Khmer, Korean, change to indicate the Sue and Ed has a new house. Tagalog number of the subject in

Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, the primary language.

Past tense omission of tense markers Cantonese, Haitian Verbs in the primary I study English yesterday. Creole, Hmong, language do not change Khmer, Korean, form to express tense. I give it to him yesterday. Tagalog, Vietnamese © 2011. Pearson. For Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners C-5

VERBS (continued)

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

confusion of present form Cantonese, Spanish Speakers of the primary and simple past of regular verbs language have difficulty I give it to him yesterday. recognizing that merely a vowel shift in the middle of the verb, rather than a change in the ending of the verb, is sufficient to produce a change of tense in irregular verbs.

incorrect use of present Cantonese, Korean The primary language for the future allows the use of present I come tomorrow. tense for the future.

In negative omission of helping verbs Cantonese, Korean, Helping verbs are not statements in negative statements Russian, Spanish, used in negative I no understand. Tagalog statements in the primary language. I not get in university.

Perfect tenses avoidance of present perfect Haitian Creole, Russian, The verb form either where it should be used Tagalog, Vietnamese doesn’t exist in the I live here for two years. primary language or has a different function.

use of present perfect where Khmer, Korean In the primary language, past perfect should be used a past marker, e.g., Yesterday I have done that. yesterday, is inserted to indicate a completed action and no other change is necessary. In English, when a past marker is used, the verb form must change to past perfect instead of 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. present perfect.

Past continuous use of past continuous for Korean, Spanish, In the primary language, recurring action in the past Tagalog the past continuous form When I was young, can be used in contexts I was studying a lot. in which English uses the expression used to or the simple past.

Main verb omission of main verb Cantonese Unlike English, Cantonese Criticize people not good. does not require an infinitive marker when using a verb as a noun. Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, use of two or more main Hmong In Hmong, verbs can be verbs in one clause without connected without and or any connectors any other conjunction I took a book went studied (serial verbs). at the library. (continued ) © 2011. Pearson. For C-6 Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

VERBS (Continued)

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Linking verbs omission of linking verb Cantonese, Haitian The verb be is not He hungry. Creole, Hmong, required in all sentences. Khmer, Russian, In some primary Vietnamese languages, it is implied in the adjective form. In others, the concept is expressed as a verb.

Passive voice Omission of helping verb Cantonese, Vietnamese Passive voice in the be in passive voice primary language does The food finished. not require a helping verb. avoidance of passive Haitian Creole Passive constructions do constructions not exist in Haitian Creole. They speak Creole here. One speaks Creole here. avoiding the alternate Creole is spoken here.

Transitive verbs confusion of transitive and Cantonese, Korean, Verbs that do and do not versus intransitive verbs Russian, Spanish, take a direct object differ intransitive verbs He married with a nice girl. Tagalog between English and the primary language.

Phrasal verbs confusion of related Korean, Russian, Phrasal verbs do not phrasal verbs Spanish exist in the primary I look after the word in language. There is often the dictionary. confusion over their meaning in English. instead of I look up the word in the dictionary.

have versus be use of have instead of be Spanish Some Spanish

ADVERBS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

use of adjective form where Haitian Creole, Hmong, There are no suffix- adverb form is needed Khmer derived adverb forms in Walk quiet. the primary language, and the adjective form is used after the verb. Reading Diagnosis and Improvement,

placement of adverbs Cantonese, Korean Adverbs usually come before verbs before verbs in the At ten o’clock this morning primary language, and my plane landed. this tendency is carried over into English. avoiding the alternate, My plane landed at ten o’clock this morning. © 2011. Pearson. For Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners C-7

PREPOSITIONS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

omission of prepositions Cantonese There are no exact Money does not grow equivalents of English trees. prepositions in Cantonese although there are words to mark location and movement.

COMPLEX SENTENCES

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

Relative clauses Omission of relative Vietnamese Relative pronouns are pronouns not required in My grandfather was a Vietnamese. generous man helped everyone. incorrect pronoun used to Hmong Hmong uses the same introduce a relative clause forms of relative pronouns the house who is big for both personal and inanimate antecedents.

Adverbial clauses inclusion of additional Cantonese, Korean, The primary language connecting word Vietnamese sometimes uses a Because he was reckless, so “balancing word” in the he caused an accident. main clause. Although my parents are poor, but they are very generous.

use of incorrect tenses in Cantonese, Hmong, The primary language time clauses Tagalog, Vietnamese lacks tense markers so

6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. She speaks French before she that matching the tenses studied English. of two verbs in one sentence correctly can After she comes home, be difficult. Learners may it was raining. also try to analyze the We will go to the beach if the tense needed in English weather will be nice. according to meaning, which in some cases can result in the use of an incorrect tense.

If versus when Confusion of if and when Korean, Tagalog The primary language if you get there, call me! has one expression that covers the use of English instead of When you get Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, if and when for the future. there, call me! © 2011. Pearson. For C-8 Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

use of present tense verbs Haitian, Creole, Khmer, Either the -ing form does in places where gerunds Korean not exist in the primary or infinitives are used in English language, or learners Stop walk. tend to use present tense verbs instead of gerunds I want go there. even if they do exist [Haitian Creole].

use of for in infinitive Spanish Spanish uses a phrases prepositional form in They went for to see similar constructions, the movie. which is carried over into English and translated as for.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

omission of object Korean Korean tends to omit He dyed [his hair]. objects and noun phrases after verbs. Yes, I want [some].

lack of variety in the position Korean Since main clauses of clauses always come last in Because you weren’t at home Korean, there is a and I couldn’t find [you], I left. tendency to put the main clause last in English. avoiding the alternate, I left This is not an error in because you weren’t at home English, but it leads to a and I couldn’t find [you]. lack of sentence variety. 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. clauses that describe earlier Cantonese, Korean The pattern in the primary actions come first language is to describe After I finish my homework, what happens first while I will watch TV. later occurrences follow. This is not an error in avoiding the alternate, I will English, but it leads to a watch TV after I finish lack of sentence variety. my homework.

placement of phrase with the Spanish The phrase with the indirect object before the indirect object can come direct object before the direct object in They gave to the girl the book. Spanish. Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, placement of modifiers between Korean, Spanish Word order, including the verb and direct object placement of adverbials, She speaks very well English. is freer in the primary language than in English. © 2011. Pearson. For Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners C-9

SENTENCE STRUCTURE (Continued)

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

use of double negatives Spanish Spanish requires double I no see nobody. negatives in many sentence structures.

use of clauses for other Russian, Spanish Verbs that take direct structures objects versus those that I want that you help me. require clauses differ in the primary language and English.

QUESTIONS

Grammar Type of Transfer Language Cause of Transfer Point Error in English Background Difficulty

avoidance of English Cantonese, Haitian The primary language inverted question forms in Creole, Khmer, doesn’t use subject-verb yes/no questions in favor of Korean, Russian, inversion in questions. tag questions or intonation Tagalog, Vietnamese You come tomorrow, OK? He goes to school with you?

lack of subject-verb Cantonese, Hmong, In the primary language, inversion in questions Russian, Tagalog word order is the same in with helping verbs some questions and When she will be home? statements, depending on the context. Where you are going?

omission of do or did Haitian Creole, In the primary language, in questions Hmong, Khmer, there is no exact Where you went? Korean, Russian, counterpart to the do/did Spanish, Tagalog verb in questions. 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved.

Yes/no questions incorrect answer form for Cantonese, Hmong, In the primary language, yes/no questions Khmer, Korean, learners tend to answer A: Do you want more food? Russian yes by repeating the verb in the question. They tend B: I want. to say no by using not A: Do you have a pen? and repeating the verb. B: I not have.

positive answer to negative Cantonese, Korean, The appropriate response question Russian pattern differs between A: Aren’t you going? the primary language and English. B: Yes. when the person Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, is not going

Tag questions incorrect tag questions Cantonese, Khmer, The primary language has You want to go home, are you? Korean, Vietnamese no exact counterpart to a tag question, forms them differently, or does not add do/did to questions. © 2011. Pearson. For C-10 Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

PHONICS TRANSFER ISSUES FOR SEVEN LANGUAGES

Sound Transfer (Phonology) The symbol • identifies areas in which these primary language speakers may have some difficulty pronouncing and perceiving spoken English. The sound may not exist in the primary language, may exist but be pronounced somewhat differently, or may be confused with another sound. Sound production and perception issues affect phonics instruction.

CONSONANTS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

/b/ as in bat • • • /k/ as in cat and kite • /d/ as in dog • • /f/ as in fan • /g/ as in goat • • • • /h/ as in hen • /j/ as in jacket • • • • • /l/ as in lemon • /m/ as in money /n/ as in nail /p/ as in pig • /r/ as in rabbit • • • • • /s/ as in sun • /t/ as in teen • • /v/ as in video • • • • /w/ as in wagon • • • /y/ as in yo-yo /z/ as in zebra • • • • • /kw/ as in queen •

SHORT VOWELS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

short a as in hat•• • • short e as in set• •••• short i as in sit•••••• Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, short o as in hot• • • short u as in cup• • ••• © 2011. Pearson. For Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners C-11

LONG VOWELS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

long a as in date • • long e as in be •• long i as in ice • long o as in road•• long u as in true ••

VOWEL PATTERNS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

oo as in book••• ••• aw as in saw ••

DIPHTHONGS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

oy as in boy • ow as in how •

R-CONTROLLED VOWELS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

ir as in bird•••••••

CONSONANT DIGRAPHS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

sh as in shoe • • • •

Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, ch as in chain • • th as in think • • • • • • • ng as in sing ••• © 2011. Pearson. For C-12 Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners

CONSONANT BLENDS

Haitian Sound Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Cantonese Creole Korean Khmer

bl, tr, dr, etc. (start of words) • • • • • as in black, tree, dress ld, nt, rt, etc. (end of words) as in cold, tent, start ••••••

SOUND-SYMBOL TRANSFER (PHONICS)

The following chart identifies sound-symbol transfer issues for four languages that use the roman alphabet. (The remaining three do not.) The symbol • identifies symbols which do not represent the corresponding sound in the writing system of the primary language.

CONSONANTS

Sound-Symbols Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Haitian Creole

b as in bat • c as in cat • • • as in cent • • d as in dog f as in fish g as in goat • as in giant • • h as in hen • j as in jacket • • •

6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. k as in kite • l as in lemon m as in moon n as in nice p as in pig qu as in queen • • • r as in rabbit • • s as in sun • t as in teen • v as in video • w as in wagon • • Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, x as in Xray • • • y as in yo-yo z as in zebra • • • © 2011. Pearson. For Appendix C Teacher’s Resource Guide of Language Transfer Issues for English Language Learners C-13

CONSONANT DIGRAPHS

Sound-Symbols Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Haitian Creole

sh as in shoe • ch as in chair • th as in think • • as in that

VOWELS AND VOWEL PATTERNS

Sound-Symbols Spanish Vietnamese Hmong Haitian Creole

a as in bat• • aCe as in date • • ai as in rain • • • • ay as in day• • • au as in author • • • • aw as in saw ••• • e as in bet• • • ee as in seed• • • • ea as in tea ••• • ew as in few ••• • i as in sit• •• iCe as in pipe • • • • o as in hot• • • o as in rode • • • • oo as in moon• • • • oo as in book• • • oa as in boat• • • • 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved. ow as in row ••• • ow as in how ••• • ou as in sound • • • • oi as in boil•• oy as in boy •• • u as in cup••• • uCe as in June • • ui as in suit• •• • ue as in blue ••• • y as in try ••• •