الحوار المتوسطي
Volume 1, Numéro 1, Pages 71-77
2009-03-15

Interlingual Transfer Of Idioms By Algerian Learners Of English.

Authors : Benseddik Belkacem .

Abstract

Interlingual transfer (i.e. transfer from the mother tongue or any other previously learned language) in foreign language learning is a major cognitive strategy that learners fall back on when their linguistic means falls short of achieving their communicative ends. Needless to say, the mother tongue is an additional source for hypothesis formation that the first language learner does not have. The influence of the mother tongue and the pervasiveness of interlingual transfer is indisputable, especially in learning situations where students' exposure to the foreign language is confined to a few hours per week of formal classroom instruction, (for more information see e.g. Mahmoud 2000). Thus, interlingual transfer is a strategy that is readily available to the learners to compensate for the inadequacies when attempting to communicate in the foreign language.

Keywords

Interlingual Transfer -Algerian Learners -English-foreign language