Shawn Ford
SLS 302
Summer I, 1999
Note: The following article was written as a project for SLS 302, instructed by Carsten Roever of the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Please pardon any errors or omissions. Refer to the References section for additional information on the topic.
Paper #4: Interlanguage
Observation
In this paper, I will analyze a conversation that I
had with a test subject in order to observe specific characteristics of the
subject's interlanguage. Interlanguage can
be defined as a second-language learner's interpretation of a target language.
Interlanguage is very individualistic and is the result of a person's knowledge
of a target language as it is affected by interference from the person's native
language and certain internal processes involved in forming and making
utterances.
These internal processes include over-generalization
of grammatical forms, simplification of sentence structures, fossilization,
backsliding, and code switching. Fossilization is the state in which a learners
does not seem to progress in development of the target language; the learner
appears "stuck" at a certain level. Backsliding refers to temporary
regression to a previous interlanguage. This occurs when the second-language
learner's monitor is down due to either stress or relaxation and usually lasts
for very brief periods of time. Code switching usually refers to the use of
both a native language and a second language in an utterance or conversation.
It has been found that second-language learners pass
through a series of developmental stages on their way towards language acquisition.
These developmental stages seem to be systematic and predictable and are
similar among learners from different language backgrounds. Developmental
stages are concerned mainly with grammatical rules such as grammatical
morphemes, and the formation of negative sentences, questions, and relative
clauses. By observing a language learner's interlanguage and determining the
internal processes involved in its formation, it is possible to place the
language learner at specific levels of development (Lightbown &
Spada,1993).
For my interlanguage observation, I interviewed an
associate, Rie. She is Japanese who speaks English as her second language. She
studied English in middle school and high school in Japan and has studied
English intermittently for several years at various language schools here in
Honolulu; however, I believe that most of her language skills have been
acquired in the natural environment. After analyzing our conversation, I
noticed several interesting features of Rie's interlanguage: simplification of
structures, interference from her native language, phonology, code switching,
and fossilization.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Rie's
interlanguage can be found in her simplification of structures. Most of her
simplifications involve dropping grammatical morphemes, such as the articles
'the' and 'a' and the auxiliaries 'be' and 'to'. Throughout the entire
conversation, Rie is very consistent in dropping her articles. In fact, she
deletes them completely. The only time that the article 'the' is used, it is
used incorrectly (line 18.) However, her use of auxiliary verbs is somewhat
inconsistent. She uses 'is' correctly in line 69:
Yeah, but "cohee" is-eh Engrish, but Okaa-san
(Mother) tole
me de "koohi" (coffee) is cohee.
then partially correctly in lines 83-84:
Mamiko wa-is liÕl blat when eh-she prlegnant.
then finally in line 88, Rie deletes 'is' completely:
She buh-horle sometime.
In line 23, Rie drops the auxiliary 'to', the article
'the', and the adjective 'this' in the same sentence:
... Yoko-san reekested (to) take (the)
day off (this) Sataday and-a
Sunday. Definitely, it can be observed in
this short conversation that Rie's interlanguage is characterized by a good
deal of simplification; however, the cause is somewhat difficult to generalize.
Some of her simplification could be due to the lack of certain structures in
her native language while other simplification could result from developmental
sequences.
The next area of Rie's interlanguage that is
noticeable seems to be the result of interference from her native language. In
Japanese, a speaker typically uses the cause-result structure for forming
sentences: because something has happened, something else will happen (ex: Atsui
kara, oyogimasu- Because it's hot, I will
swim.) On the other hand, in English, the common structure is the result-cause:
something will happen because something else has happened (ex: I will swim
because it's hot.) Rie seems to use this Japanese structure three separate
times: in lines 8, 10-11, and 88. In line 8, the utterance:
... but it's slow I think...
seems to be the cause, followed by the result:
... they give me day off tomorlow.
This is in keeping with the Japanese cause-result
structure. A more direct response would be, "Not s'posed to, but I think
they give me day off tomorlow because it's slow." Her next utterance seems
to follow the same pattern. Her utterance in line 11:
so that's why they like me.
seems to be the result of her going to work on Sundays
when they ask her to (ex: They like me because I go to work Sundays when they
ask me.") Finally, line 88 seems to be two separate ideas:
She buh-horle sometime.
followed by:
But, I cannot see her.
However, this utterance probably means, "I cannot see
her because she is a butt hole sometimes."
In addition, lines 17-18 have a very interesting
structure that seem to be interference as well. The utterance:
... can you go come to work the on uhm next Sunday?
contains two seemingly opposite English verbs used
together: go and come. What makes it all
the more interesting is the fact that Rie had talked to me a few days before
this interview about the difficulty of knowing when to use these two words. In
Japanese, the equivalents for go (iku) and come (kuru) are used
very differently than in English. The English utterance, "Please come to
work," would be, "Kaishya e itte kudasai (literally, Please go to work)." Kuru (come) is used in utterances such as, "Doko
kara kimashita ka (Where do you come
from)." It is very interesting that she first says the wrong word, go, then immediately changes it to come, perhaps due to
her active monitor. Each of these examples from our conversation seems to show
evidence of cause-result structure interference from Rie's native language.
Another area of Rie's interlanguage that could also
be linked to transfer from her native language is phonology. Many Japanese who
learn English as a second language seem to have difficulty pronouncing the
English ÔrÕ. The Japanese language has an 'r' sound, but it is somewhat of a
mix between the English 'r' and 'l' sounds. Thus, quite often Rie pronounces
'r' like 'rl' as in "tomorlow", "grleen", and
"prlegnant". At other times, Rie drops the 'r' completely as in
"Sataday", "paat-time", "Stah",
"pooah", and "moning". Even so, there are a few instances
where Rie utters the 'r' clearly as in "work", "grand", and
"later". Although she regularly pronounces a word the same way
throughout the conversation, Rie's use of the 'r' sound is very inconsistent,
as shown in this example in line 47:
No hunn-ed (hundred)
pasent (percent). Uhm,
maybe Stah (Star) doesn't sell da poke gran, grand (ground) poke (pork).
therefore, it is difficult to find a pattern.
Another interesting phonological construction that Rie
frequently uses, and seems to be common among many Japanese speakers of
English, is an 'a' sound as a prefix or a suffix; sometimes the 'a' sounds like
'eh'. In line 65, she utters this sound two times as a suffix:
It's-a difrent, Shone. It's-a hakusai is
hakusai.
In line 86, she utters the sound as a prefix:
Yeah. She has a-moning sick a lot.
In line 5 1, the added prefix sounds like 'eh':
Nira. Uhh ... looks like eh-grleen onion? Yeah.
These extra prefix and suffix sounds are most likely not
meant to be articles. It seems that this is also transfer from Japanese. All
Japanese syllables are composed of either a vowel or a consonant and a vowel.
In addition, Japanese does not have full glottal stops that are found in
English. On the contrary, words tend to get stretched and accentuated on the
last vowel sound. It is possible that extra prefixes and suffixes are used to
aid in the formation of English words.
The last phonological characteristic of Rie's
interlanguage to mention comes from line 26:
That's why. A ... if we beezy, it depends of fhu's
gonna, fhu can work.
In this utterance, she means to say, ÒÉwho's gonna, who
can work." However, the English 'hu' sound comes out as the Japanese 'fu'.
This is probably due to the fact that in the Japanese language, 'fu' is the
closest sound to the English 'hu'. Each of these phonological characteristics
of Rie's interlanguage could be explained as the result of interference from her
native language.
Another area of Rie's interlanguage that deserves
some attention is code switching. In this brief conversation, Rie code switches
between English and Japanese 19 times. Of these language shifts, 16 of them are
one-word changes, and only three of them are phrases. She appears to code
switch for three separate reasons: automaticity, cannot find the English
equivalent, and the Japanese word fits the situation better.
Some of Rie's code switches are probably due to the
high frequency that certain words are used in everyday Japanese interaction.
The most important of these is the honorific suffix 'san', used when speaking
to or about people of higher status than the speaker. In line 23, when talking
about her work, Rie refers to her supervisor as 'Yoko-san', which is proper
Japanese form. Later in the conversation, Rie refers to her mother as 'okaa-san',
which is also proper Japanese.
Lines 18 and 76 contain the Japanese utterances 'ara'
and 'ari', both equivalent to English 'well' or 'oh'. In line
18, 'ara' is found embedded in
the utterance, while in line 76, 'ari' ends the utterance. In addition, from line 72:
doo shio ka na?
is a Japanese phrase of exasperation uttered in response
to a correction. The phrase is directed at oneself and requires no response
from the interlocutor. However, in line 91 Rie asks, "Dooshite (Why)?" when she is in need of clarification of
the previous response.
The most interesting code switch appears in line 78
after Rie sees a hapa Japanese/ Caucasian baby crying with his parents. She
first says, "Oh, pooah ting (poor thing)," then immediately says, "Kawaii-so
heem (He's a poor thing)." It is
possible that this utterance is the result of Rie talking about a Japanese/ Caucasian
family, with each half of the utterance directed at one of the parents.
There are a few occasions in this conversation when Rie
struggles for the right English word to use, then settles for the Japanese
equivalent. Interestingly, both words are food items: 'nira' (chives), and 'hakusai' (Chinese or Napa cabbage). However, there are a few
times that she uses Japanese words for other food items, 'gyoza' and 'koohiÕ,
when the Japanese words fit the situation
better.
The last aspect of Rie's interlanguage to note is her
fossilization. Although it is difficult to find this aspect in a brief
conversation such as this, Rie certainly appears to be fossilized. For several
years, she has been able to converse at a level high enough to make herself
understood in most natural situations with friends, on the street, and at work.
However, deep intellectual or academic conversations in English are just beyond
her grasp. She has progressed very slowly in this area.
Occasionally, Rie will repeat forms that I use
correctly, as in lines 1 and 2:
1 Me So,
you don't have to work tomorrow?
2 Rie No,
I don't have to.
At other times she will not use my form; rather, she will
use the form that she is used to, as in lines 90 and 95:
90 Me You're
lucky.
95 Rie Mmm,
you lucky.
In addition, regardless of the number of times I have told
her that 'nira' are 'chives', she does not seem to be able to remember. These
examples seem to show fossilization in her interlanguage.
In conclusion, characteristics of Rie's interlanguage
are readily observable even from this brief five minute conversation.
Simplification of meaning, transfer from her native Japanese language,
phonology, code switching between English and Japanese, and fossilization can
all be found in her interlanguage. These characteristics seem to be in large
part due to interference from her native language and her current developmental
stages. While it is difficult to place her in a specific category, I would
tentatively define her as an advanced BICS (basic interpersonal communication
skills) with extensive knowledge of the terminology of a specialized field, the
travel industry.
This interlanguage observation assignment has been
very interesting. It helps me understand the amount of time needed and problems
that may arise when conducting this type of research. However, it has only made
me more determined to find my own little niche in this field and make a name
for myself.
Lightbown, P.M., &
Spada, N. (1993). How languages are learned. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.
Transcription
Notes:
* italicized words
are Japanese
* translations appear in parentheses
1 Me So, you don't have to work
tomorrow?
2 Rie No,
I don't have to.
3 Me Why
don't you have to work tomorrow?
4 Rie Cause-a,
dey give me day off tomorlow.
5 Me Why
do you think they give you the day off?
6 Rie Maybe...
7 Me You
were supposed to work tomorrow, right?
8 Rie Not
s'posed to, but it's slow I think that's why they give me day off tomorlow.
9 Me Hmm...
10 Rie 'Cause I work
hard th uhm when they ask me can ...go to works on Sundays I
11 go
to work Sunday, too, so that's why they like me.
12 Me Uhm that's
true.
13 Rie Yeah.
14 Me D'd'you
think there's another reason why you don't have to work tomorrow?
15 Rie Yeah.
16 Me What?
17 Rie Maybe they gonna
ask me next Sunday, "Uhm, Rie, uhm do me favor can you
18 go
come to work the on uhm next Sunday?" Gonna say, "Uhm ara (well)
OK."
19 I
cannot say, "No," because I have to be nice. Humph!
20 Me Yeah, that's
a problem, ne (right)?
21 Rie Yeah.
22 Me Why they
gonna ask you to come to work next Sunday, though?
23 Rie 'Cause, Yoko-san
(honorific suffix for names) Yoko-sa-n reekested take day off
24 Sataday
and-a Sunday.
25 Me Hmm.
26 Rie That's why. A if we beezy, it
depends of fhu's gonna, fhu can work.
27 Me Hmm.
28 Rie Maybe another
paat-time can work new guy can work so I don't have to go so 1
29 don't
know.
30 Me Hmm. So,
what are you gonna do on your day off tomorrow?
31 Rie Mmm making gyoza
(Japanese dumplings).
32 Me You gonna
make gyoza?
33 Rie Yeah.
34 Me Wow, oishii
so (sounds good)!
35 Rie Yeah, gonna make
gyoza and
36 Me You haven't
made gyoza in a long time.
37 Rie Not long time.
Only couple months.
38 Me That's a
long time!
39 Rie No! Hahaha... 'ts
not long time. Long time-ah is six months one yeah
40 Me That's too
long. I can't I can't take it.
41 Rie Yeah, but uhum I
k I gonna make gyoza tomorlow.
42 Me OK.
43 Rie Maybe,
uhm..maybe, ok?
44 Me What do you
mean, maybe?
45 Rie Maybe not. Maybe
means w fifty plasent.
46 Me No, I want gyoza
tomorrow. OK? Make it a hundred
percent, ok?
47 Rie No hunn-ed pasent.
Uhm, maybe Stah doesn't sell da poke gran grand poke.
48 Me That's just
an excuse.
49 Rie Uhm thea I have
to buy, uhm, how say de,
50 Me Nira?
51 Rie Nira. Uhh
... looks like eh-grleen onion? Yeah...
52 Me Oh, chives!
53 Rie Huh?
54 Me Chives.
55 Rie Chives.
56 Me Yeah.
57 Rie Oh, something
like that.
58 Me Yeah, you
have to buy chives. You can get them anywhere, though.
59 Rie Mmm. ... .mmm.
... .mmm dis time-a I try put, uhm ... hakusai.
60 Me Put
hakusai inside?
61 Rie Yeah. Not
cabbage.
62 Me Not cabbage
... Chinese cabbage.
63 Rie Umm, not Chinese
cabbage, hakusai.
64 Me Hakusai is Chinese cabbage.
65 Rie It's-a difrent,
Shone. It's-a hakusai is
hakusai.
66 Me Hakusai
is Chinese.
67 Rie My mom never tell
me never tole me hakusai is Chinese
cabbage.
68 Me I know,
because "Chinese cabbage" is English. "Hakusai" is Japanese.
69 Rie Yeah, but
"cohee" is-eh Engrish, but Okaa-san (Mother) tole me de "koohi"
70 (coffee)
is cohee.
71 Me No, that's Nihongo
(Japanese language).
72 Rie Uhmmm doo shio ka
na (what can I do)?
73 Me What else
are you gonna do tomorrow?
74 Rie Uhm, maybe I
gonna...
75 Me You gonna
make gyoza all day long?
76 Rie Yeah, all day
long. Uhm, ari (well)...
77 *** man walks by
with baby crying...
78 Rie Oh, pooah ting.
Kawaii-so (poor thing) heem.
79 Me Hapa baby.
80 Rie Yeah. Oohh ...
ee-doesn't wanna smirle.
81 Me So, what
else are you gonna do tomorrow?
82 Rie Uhm, mehb I gonna
see Mamiko. Mamiko, Mamiko feeling, uhm, good tomorlow
83 I
can see Mamiko, but Mamiko is a-prlegnant, so, uhm, I donno. Mamiko wa-is
84 li'l
blat when eh-she prlegnant.
85 Me She's a
brat?
86 Rie Yeah. She she has
a-moning sick a lot.
87 Me Oh.
88 Rie She buh-horle
sometime. But, I cannot see her.
89 Me Hahaha. Oh,
she's not a butt hole just because she has morning sickness, Rie!
90 You're
lucky.
91 Rie Uhh? Dooshite (Why)?
92 Me 'Cause you
don't get morning sickness.
93 Rie Mmm, but, it's
gonna be changey, Shone.
94 Me I hope not.
95 Rie Mmm, you lucky.
96 Me Yeah, I am
lucky. I'm lucky that my wife isn't a big ole brat!
contents (c) 2001 Shawn Ford/ Webb-Ed Press
sford@hawaii.edu