Skip to content
The lingwist

The lingwist

The Lingwist is the home for everyone who is passionate about language and linguistics. Feel free to share, discuss, and comment. The Lingwist's motto is " Learn & have fun"

  • Home
  • Discourse Analysis
  • Linguistics
    • Applied Linguistics
    • Core Linguistics
  • Composition
  • English
    • Grammar
    • Vocabulary
    • Functions
      • Previous National exams
  • Privacy Policy!
  • About us
  • Contact Us!
  • Toggle search form
istockphoto 1269920752 170667a

The moderate Version of Contrastive analysis Hypotheses

Posted on August 28, 2020November 18, 2021 By The Lingwist No Comments on The moderate Version of Contrastive analysis Hypotheses
The 2BModate 2BVersion 2Bof 2BCAH

The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) is a major field in comparative linguistics and it is based on the behaviorist theory and was initially proposed by Lado (1957). CAH aims at identifying and analyzing the differences and similarities between two or more languages or dialects in a systematic way. Generally speaking, there are three versions of CAH: the strong and weak versions of Wardhaugh (1970) and the moderate version of Oller and Ziahosseiny (1970). The strong version predicts areas of difficulty through a systematic and scientific analysis of the learners’ L1 and L2 errors. the weak version of CAH, on the other hand, started with observing and identifying the errors, then seeks to contrast the structural language items between the two languages for the sake of finally getting an explanation of the occurred errors

To compensate for the limitations of both the weak and the strong version, Oller and Ziahosseiny (1970) Suggested an alternative version which is ‘the moderate version.’ For them, the strong version was too strong and the weak version too weak. So, they proposed a moderate version of the hypothesis. This article will deeply deal with it since there is little research done in this area of study.

The moderate version hypothesis was a result of a study conducted on English spelling errors using the UCLA placement test. The findings of the study showed that wherever the patterns of two language systems are minimally distinct, learners face some problems in second language learning. Similar to their study, Brown (1987) stated that inference causes some more problems on the basis of learning when two items are similar while a little interference happens when there are two distinct items to be learned. The more fascinating fact about the moderate version that the others lack was when Ziahosseiny (1999) claimed that it can explain both interlingual errors which are related to the native language and intralingual errors dealing with target language. Moreover, some errors which are due to overgeneralization can be interpreted and predicted on the basis of moderate version.

After discussing the three versions of the CAH, it is noteworthy to list some of the remarkable attributions of the hypothesis in the field of language teaching and learning. First, Lado (1957) believed syllabus producers and textbook designers benefited from steps procedures of contrastive analysis hypothesis to prepare effective teaching materials taking into consideration students’ difficulties. Second, contrastive analysis helps teachers locate the main difficulties in learning a foreign language. It can be more applicable in action research to look for a remedy. Third, Mackey (1965) claimed that thanks to CAH, teachers, and learners become aware that errors are necessary and a compulsory stage. Thus, many contrastive analysts tried to predict errors and strategies to overcome them. Finally, since CAH was based on the behaviorist theory, all students’ behavior in the target language learning and teaching is based on habit formation and is shaped by the stimulus-response pattern ( Lado, 1957).

New

It is worth mentioning that CA covers also the lexical area. Contrastive lexicology is carried out between the vocabulary system(s) of two languages. It is concerned with the way lexical items in one language are expressed in another language. This can be done by identifying both the semantic fields and the semantic properties in order to specify the divisions and sub-divisions of the lexicon. Lexical CA may result from the incomplete, partial, or null equivalence between languages.

All in all, Lado (1957) admitted that the analysis has important limitations when he said that “contrastive analysis must be considered a list of hypothetical problems until final validation is achieved by checking it against the actual speech of students” (p. 72). As he stated, the contrastive analysis focuses merely on languages themselves and tends to ignore the actual language that learners use. Therefore, the results from the contrastive analysis are often too general and theoretical to apply to authentic L2 learning and teaching. To add, the notion of ‘language transfer’ is correlated to the contrastive analysis and generally to the behaviorist theory. Asa result of the emergence of new paradigms and theories like cognitivism and social constructivism, language transfer has gone also through many changes since then and has been challenged by a number of researchers, such as Chomsky (1959).

Additionally, predictions based on the comparison between L1 and L2 linguistics structures were not able to account for learners’ difficulties and errors. As a result, Error Analysis appeared as an alternative to the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. James (1988) believed that Error Analysis’ aim was mainly to describe the learners’ interlanguage (Selinker, 1972) and the target language and then to compare them, but without any reference to the L1.

If you think these tips are useful, please “SHARE AND CARE”

 

Discourse Analysis

Post navigation

Previous Post: What is semantics?
Next Post: Critical Discourse Analysis and Ideology 1

Related Posts

  • discourse empty
    Language and Discourse Discourse Analysis
  • discourse 1570887140HRFywX
    Fairclough’s Framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Discourse Analysis
  • istockphoto 1290904409 170667a
    Media Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis Discourse Analysis
  • Language and Discourse
    Anything you Need to Know about Language and Discourse Analysis Discourse Analysis
  • istockphoto 1353298003 170667a
    Critical Discourse Analysis and Ideology 1 Discourse Analysis
  • face 205563 960 720
    Van Dijk’s Framework of Critical Discourse Analysis Discourse Analysis

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • Applied Linguistics
  • Composition
  • Core Linguistics
  • Discourse Analysis
  • English
  • Functions
  • Grammar
  • Uncategorized
  • Vocabulary
  • From Twttr to TikTok: A Comical Look at How Social Media Platforms Got Their Names
  • Say What? The Amazing Story of How Your Brain Select words to Communicate Effectively
  • Don’t Let These 12 Expressions Ruin Your Blind Date: How to Win Over Your Blind Date?
  • The Sound of Personality: How Your Name Can Reflect Who You Are
  • What is Conlang? How Constructed Languages are Changing the Way We Communicate
  • noname
    Malapropism and Mondegreens: Definition and examples Applied Linguistics
  • Facts about language 1
    Mind-Blowing Facts About Languages you may have never heard of Applied Linguistics
  • businessman holding hands up stop avoid getty.jpg
    4 mistakes to avoid while learning a new language Applied Linguistics
  • istockphoto 1254994312 170667a e1637102253133
    4 Golden Steps to Easily Learn Any Language Through Music Applied Linguistics
  • Long
    Top 10 Longest Words in English You should know Applied Linguistics
  • istockphoto 811503094 170667a
    Language and culture: Languages can really reflect and promote cultural awareness Applied Linguistics
  • Language
    Our Languages are Dying: 1,500 Languages Could Die out by the End of the Century, a New Study Reveals Applied Linguistics
  • Meta and Deaf 2
    People with hearing problems can easily communicate on Meta and it is hilarious! Uncategorized

Copyright © 2023 The lingwist.

Powered by PressBook News WordPress theme