Language TransferUnderstanding how the structures of a student’s native language (L1) are different from the student’s second language (L2) will help teachers understand and foresee which aspects of English will be difficult for the English learner to acquire.
Positive transfer is when students apply the structure knowledge of L1 to L2 because of the similarities between the two languages and no error is made. Spanish cognates would be an example of this. Negative transfer is when students transfer structures from L1 to L2 that are not the same. This negative transfer results in communication errors. An example of this would be Hmong students dropping the plural endings on words when speaking, reading, or writing in English. |
The Hmong LanguageThe Hmong language is spoken by about 4 million people in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, USA, and French Guiana. There are two different dialects in America: White Hmong and Green/Blue Hmong, with the latter being much less common. These two dialects get their names from the traditional colors worn by different clans. The difference between the two dialects are comparable to that of British English and American English.
During the 1950’s, American missionary linguists in Laos created a written version of the Hmong language using the Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA). There are three other written forms of the language, but the RPA is what is used in the United States. One should also note that the written form is based on the white dialect. The language has fourteen vowel sounds, fifty-seven consonant sounds, and seven tones. In written Hmong, the tone is indicated by the consonant(s) at the end of each word. Click below to learn more about some of the common features of the Hmong language that students often transfer to English in error. |
Translators & InterpretersIt’s important for teachers to remember that the Hmong vocabulary is relatively limited. Because of this, technical and academic vocabulary are very difficult to translate and interpret. A word as common to English speakers as "science," for example, is not found in the Hmong language. As a result, Interpreters and translators are left with the difficult task of describing terms the best they can rather than simply substituting one word for another.
Click below to learn about best practices for utilizing bilingual assistants in the classroom and for communicating with Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parents. |