A teacher's guide to interference and other problems

The writing of second language learners of English often presents problems that are different from those found in the writing of native English speaking students. These include culturally conditioned rhetorical patterns that sound ‘strange’ to the native speaker ear as well as unfamiliar

  

)  ! 

 ! " * !&     * &+ "*  "  "&

= 4 @27 88?:? 7 +0

= 4 @27 44423 F  C!" D

-dock + dog leaf + leave "

®le + vile% sue + zoo% `mesher' + measure

*"appletart+apple"tart )"#"appeltaart1

and

Dutch speakers

>

Juncture and assimilation

Dad comes " `Dat comess'

if it is Tom " `iv id iss Tom'

this is Kate " `thiz iss Kate'

back door " `bag door'

sharp pins " `sharpins'

hard times " `hartimes'

Punctuation

$8

CThe concern they show, is by no means exaggerated

CThis is somewhat surprising, as they are forbidden in Dutchtoo, they nevertheless occur regularly

C I am thirsty,'' he said

*marathonrunner *satellitechannel

Dutch speakers

General

Interrogative and negative structures

niet )GCWhat mean you?

CThank you, I smoke not

CI have her yesterday not seen

CWhere are you thinking of? )+ What are you thinking of?1CWhere do you need that for?

Tags,short answers and reply questions

Dutch speakers

,

CShe is your best friend, eh? / or not? )+ She is your best friend,isn't she?1

`Are you coming with us?' `Yes.' )+ `Yes, I am.'1

`Your glass is empty.' `Oh, yes.' )+ `So it is.'1

`They never listen to good advice.' `No.' )+ `No, they don't.' 

`No, they don't, do they?'1

`You can't speak without a regional accent.' `Yes!' )+ `Yes, Ican.'  `But I can.'1

Auxiliaries

hebben

blijven )G

CHe is been here, but he isn't stayed long

CHe is left ten minutes ago

CI have seen him yesterday

CAll my nineteenth-century ancestors have lived here

Dutch speakers

?

CSince I made my report last year, there was a steady ment in the company's trading position.

improve-CI know him for ®ve years

CI live in Amsterdam since I was a child

CI promise I give it to him tomorrow

CIn 2015 I will work here for 17 years

CTomorrow I work here for ®ve years already

CHe'll be an old man when he'll get out of jail


 

CI lived in London at that point in my life

CI have a lot of trouble with John at the moment

CWhat were you busy with yesterday? )+ What were you doingyesterday?1

CYou've worked on this non-stop this last week, eh?

CThe house is belonging to my father

Conditionals

Dutch speakers

@

CIf I shall see him, I shall tell him.

CIf you would know him, you wouldn't )  didn't1 say suchthings

CIf he would have worked harder, he had succeeded

dan )GH

CIf you see him tomorrow, will you then tell him I won't be athome next week?

H

CHad I known in time, then I would have come along

Modal verbs

moeten )Gmust have to be

CWhen must you take up your new appointment? )+ When areyou to ?1

CIn Venice people must go everywhere by boat )+ have to .1

moest niet should not ought not to8CYou mustn't smoke too much, if I may say so

moest)Ghad to  was to1

CI must go to London yesterday

CThe wedding must have taken place yesterday, but it waspostponed

=  # "# moet niet

#+ "! $$ ++ +!must not8

CParking here is free today so you mustn't pay

> "#kan)0kunnen

CIt can rain tonight: don't forget your umbrella

CI can have told you already

kunnen kon konden ) $1 /#

CYesterday he could just catch the 7 o'clock train )+ wasable to catch   1

Dutch speakers

A

Non-finite forms

CHe wants that I go

CI've always gladly gone there  CI have always been glad to gothere )+ I've always loved going there1

CThis entails that the whole con®guration changes

CI don't mind to do it

CIf you can't avoid to go, you risk to upset your dad

CI suggest to go to the pictures instead

CIt's no use to ask her

CI am used to do this

CI look forward to hear from you

""" +

they laughed

CI hear my name call

CI like that it is done quickly

CTry to make yourself understandable

Dutch speakers

-(

CHe works sometimes on Sundays

CI must at once my sister see

CThey were of everything robbed

CI hear every day the bells ring from my bedroom

CBill loved passionately his wife

CShe kept fortunately her mouth shut

CTomorrow shall I see him

CIncredible is that!

CThis have we already examined

CShe has already been living for two years in London

CHe got quickly up

Dutch speakers

CThe by the Senate with unanimity voted down proposal

CHe is a hard to convince man

CWe told the Smiths Also they were shocked )+ They too wereshocked1

CAlready in 1992 I went there

CHe asked whether we John had seen )  * seen had1

Constructions with it and there

het # "#it  het

CIt are the Joneses

CIt were the soldiers that shot ®rst

many mistakes made1

CThere happened a lot of accidents that night

CThere is said in the paper that the government will not survive

Articles

Dutch speakers

-'

CThe wages have been rising recently

Cthe life in modern Britain

CShe is professor, Buddhist and Swede She's also widow

CAs basketball player he is hopeless; as friend he's wonderfulCShe came to the party without friend

bed, church, prison1 /#"#

$ naar bed/school gaan )G

Cto go to the church )+ to go to church1

Cbe sent to the prison

CLet's talk about that during the lunch

C

Adjectives and adverbs

CShe drives very careful

CYou speak English very good

Can economic weak theory

Quantifiers and determiners

persons )+ few persons1

Dutch speakers

-=

C too expensive to buy some

CCan I have any more cake?

CTake a ball in every hand

Interrogative pronouns

which # &* CWhat is your second language, English or French?

Relative pronouns

*My parents, that were born

which8CJohn went to Brussels, what explains everything

CThis is all what I know

CThe picture what I was drawing

the woman whom I met in Glasgow the other day

the pen with which Jane was writing yesterday

Dutch speakers

->

CThe technology where he had relied on proved to be worthy.

untrust-CThe man whereof I speak is a good friend of mine

Reflexive pronouns

CHe never shaves himself after he has washed himself

The indefinite pronoun one

Countability and number

Con the party

CHe lives on number 9

Cwith/by my aunt )+ at my aunt's1

Cgood in games

Dutch speakers

-,

Con the meadow

Con sea

CThat is typical for him

CThere's no proof for that

Cto discriminate women )+ to discriminate against women1- Sinds

CI've lived here since four years

Some typical mistakes with high-frequency words

*I still must make my homework

*How do you call that?

please

*`Please.'

*Have you ®nished already? )+ Have you

®nished yet?1

*Though, he was still in trouble

Dutch Simple verb Multi-word verb

zoeken seek, search for look for

beschouwen consider look on

verdragen bear put up with

A sample of written Dutch with a word-for-word

translation

Vele malen heb ik al meegemaakt, als in een gezelschap

iemand zo onhandig is te verklappen dat ik taalkundige

ben, dat men reageert met:`Oei, dan mag ik wel op

mijn woorden letten!' Misschien dat een politiecommissaris dat

wel herkent, maar de wijnkoper, de hondenfokker of de

 #

leraar wiskunde heeft zoiets niet Hoe komt het

toch dat de taalkundige of de leraar Nederlands in



hetzelfde schuitje zit als de politiecommissaris? Ik weet

het niet, maar Nederlandstaligen, aan beide zijden van de grens, zijn

als het om hun taal gaat, voÂoÂr alles onzeker, voorzichtig

bang Bang gemaÂaÂkt, lijkt me Terwijl de meesten

Dutch speakers

-A

toch minder reden tot schrik hebben dan in de

nabijheid van de politiecommissaris Vreemd genoeg zijn het

juist de leraren Nederlands en de taalkundigen die

/#

in taalkwesties veelal het meest tolerant zijn Veel

toleranter dan vele anderen buiten hun kring Niet

vreemd wegens hun opleiding, maar wel vreemd

omdat het ijzeren schrikbewind dus uit andere

bron moet voorkomen Lag het aan de

doorsnee-taalgebruiker, men zou onze taal onmiddellijk tot kerntaak

uitroepen van een minister tot Bevordering van de

Speakers of Scandinavian languages:

rabid + rapid% ladder + latter% bigger +bicker

coffee letter cuff

Influence of spelling on pronunciation

I was talking to Mary on Sunday.

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

Orthography and punctuation

front door )ytterdùr

CThat's the way it had to be, he was not ashamed of it

CI think, there has been a mistake

CWhat's the worst thing, that could happen to you in thatmine®eld?

ones/one's%its/it's1

Grammar

Order of constituents

CThat have I not seen

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

',

Position of adverbs

CChildren leave often home nowadays

C that children often will leave home nowadays

*He said that they in the northern part of Jutland speak a specialdialect

Constructions with it and there

det

CIt is somebody at the door

CIt/There was shot a man here yesterday

CIt/There happens something strange here quite often

CIt/There left a lot of tourists because of the epidemic

Nouns: countability and number

Cinformations *an advice *a work )+ a job1 *a progressCHow many money have you got?

The government they

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

'?

Ca pyjama *a scissor *the custom )+ the customs1

Cthe Middle Age )+ the Middle Ages1

CThe police is on its way

CPublic expenditures are too high

CThere were many frictions between them

$8

Cin the 2nd and 3rd chapter

Cin one and a half hour

Articles

CSome people always blame the society for everything

CThe horses were introduced into America by Spanish soldiers

as #

CHe has been teacher for many years

CAs member of the family he wanted to come

Premodification

- #

Cthe car's driver *the water's temperature

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

'@

den i de gamle regler beskrevne maÊde )G the in the old rulesdescribed manner)

CA poor never gets the chance to have a good life

Postmodification

thehouse which was built to accommodate the library  a man who is

the house built to accommodate thelibrary  a man waiting to join1

Cthis sort cheese

Adjective or adverb?

CShe spoke to me quite polite

CYou don't sing very good

CSorry, I haven't got some

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

'A

CThat man we're talking about is sitting in the next room.

er/aÈr

CI don't know if she are ready yet

Do

CThey asked why he not came

CHe didn't came

CShe do(es)n't listens

-ingforms

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

=(

Going home that evening, I called at the chemist's for some razorblades1.

C

CInstead of (to) get on with his work he slept all afternoon

Progressive aspect

CThe band plays now

CIn Scandinavia we're putting people in prison if they havestruck another person

Tense

CThe prisoner is escaped

CThey are become famous

CDickens has written many novels

CHe has left school in 1982

/#sedan)Gsince/for18

CI know him since a long time

CShe doesn't come anyway

CI don't tell you You only forget it

CWe talk about it next week

CBy this time tomorrow I've ®nished sorting out the replies

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

=-going-to +!8CJane moves to the States.

CI think I faint

Voice

CIt ®nds not )+ It is not found1

CHe became killed

Modal verbs

- Kan $

CPeter can be in London now

CThe time can come when the educational system is mixed

CYou shall lie down quietly now

said to  is supposed to18

CHe shall be a poor researcher

going to18

CMy daughter shall start school in August

CJohn shall play football tonight

skulle

shouldCShe said she should do it )+ She said she would   1

CShe looks as if she should be ill )+    might    1

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

='

CShe told that she was fed up with her job

CHe explained me what he meant

att/at-CHe convinced me of that he was innocent

CThey insisted on that they knew nothing about it

CThey dreamed of to emigrate

CI long for/after to see the mountains again

af/atCThe bone was eaten of the dog

motion ) G physical exercise1

novel ) G short story1

offer ) G sacri®ce, offering1

overtake ) G take over1

place ) G room, space, square, job1

public ) G audience, spectators1

rent ) G (rate of) interest1

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

=>

see ) G look1

spare ) G save1

sympathetic ) G likeable1

take place ) G sit down1

will, will have ) G want1

Some problems involving grammatical words

-

He did like he had chosen to do

CI teach also/too evening classes

*The man there was present )+    who was present1%

*The place there I was born

+

A sample of written Danish with a word-for-word

translation

Der holdt mindst hundrede taxaer med dùrene paÊ klem

og han havde aldrig set saÊ mange biler paÊ en gang Havde det

staÊet til ham, var han styrtet

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

=

fra den ene vogn til den anden, indtil han havde fundet en

chauffùr med et ansigt, han kunne lide Men hans

far lùftede blot en ®nger, en mand med kasket paÊ hovedet saÊ

det, stùdte ùjeblikkelig i en ¯ùjte og straks blev der

bevñgelse i den yderste bilrñkke

Jeanne Moreau i Middelfart1

Acknowledgements

Speakers of Scandinavian languages

=,

Phonology

General

=?

`beish'+`beige'% etch + edge% rice + rise% leaf + leave% pup + pub% set+said% dock + dog

CI think, that there has been a mistake.

CShe knew exactly, what he meant

CI hope, to see you soon

CHe felt the need, to explain everything

CShe was very anxious, to get there as early as possible

++$8

C,,How can I help you?`` she asked

German speakers

>(

Questions and negatives; auxiliaries

*nicht) G

CWhen started you to play the piano?

CThank you, I smoke not

haben ) G

/#sein) Gbe18

CShe is gone out

CDo you know if Andrew had telephoned yet?

nicht wahr?)GCIt's getting late, no?

German speakers

>-Time,tense and aspect

  

CI realised that somebody came slowly up the stairs

CI'm sorry I'm late Have you waited long?

CI have seen Mary yesterday

CThe German prison system improved a lot in recent years

CI didn't know if she is at home

CWhat do you look at?

(Wenn er mich fragen wuÈrde, wuÈrde ich ihm nichts sagen.)

German speakers

>'

CIf she had more time, she came more often

CIf I had known, I had told you

CTuesday were better for the meeting

CWere I in charge, I had changed the times

CI mustn't show my passport as my identity card is enough

CShe doesn't know what she will

wollte)8

CI told her I would a coffee

soll )G

sollte)GCHe shall be a brilliant musician )+ He is supposed to be   1

CI took my ®rst look at the building which should be my schoolfor seven years

CDo you can swim?

CYou didn't must say that

German speakers

>=

man )G one1COne speaks English here

COne has never beaten his record

There is

es ist it is18CIt is a man in the garden

es

sein)Gbe18CIt were some problems with the ®nancing

CThere happened something very strange

CInstead of ®ght / to ®ght, they decided on talking / to talk

CI want start / starting work at once

CI came here with the hope to ®nd a job

CI really must stop to smoke

CI wanted, that she came to my house

Word order

CI must at once my sister telephone

CHe was in a road accident killed

German speakers

>>

I was talking to Mary on Sunday.

Speakers of Scandinavian languages