Full name: V Th Mai Phng

Class: K23D English

DOB: 20/09/1988
Student code: 14045092

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Question 1: What is Constrastive Linguistics? Is it the same as Comparative

Linguistics? How are they different? What is the biggest difference between "to
contrast" and "to compare" in Constrastive Analysis?
Answer:
Contrastive linguistics was first developed in the 1950s. It was based on the
ideas of linguistic structuralism and was initially aimed not at linguistic studies, but
at helping foreign language teachers. This aim was intended to make it easier to
understand learning a second language and how to teach it most effectively.
Contrastive linguistics led to large-scale linguistic projects across Europe in the
1970s before moving into academia.
The study of contrastive linguistics follows four basic procedures. The first is
to identify the two languages being studied. The second requires a full description
of the characteristics of each language. Third, the scholar looks for juxtaposition;
bonds between the two languages. In the fourth, the scholar compares the two
languages to see how they correspond with one another.
Both comparative and contrastive linguistics look at similar areas of a
language. This includes the vocabulary or words used by the language and how those
words are affected when they are pluralized or inflected. They also examine how a
language uses syntax to form sentences, grammar to organize words and
sentences, phonology and also how culture creates idioms.
 Eventhough, they have some differences as following. Contrastive
linguistics is a practice-oriented linguistic approach that seeks to describe the
differences and similarities between a pair of languages (hence it is occasionally
called "differential linguistics"). Contrastive linguistics is part of applied
linguistics and seeks to establish the similarities and differences between a language
learner's first language and the target language (= the one being learned) in order to
attempt to predict where learners will have difficult and make mistakes. For
example, languages like Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin do not have articles ('the'
and 'a'). We can predict, then, that speakers of these languages will have difficulty
learning articles when they learn English. Such is the case. Note, however, that
contrastive linguistics is not as straightforward in its ability to predict mistakes as
the example I've given. It is most powerful when predicting difficulties in
pronunciation, but many types of grammar errors in second language learning occur
in areas that contrastive linguistics cannot explain. For example, Spanish speakers
have personal endings on verbs (e.g. duerm-o 'I sleep' and duerm-a 'she sleeps'), but
they frequently omit the -s in English present tense forms like 'eats' or 'sleeps.'
Contrastive analysis would not predict this problem since the -s in English parallels
Spanish inflection.
Meanwhile, comparative linguistics is part of historical linguistics and
refers to the process of establishing family relationships and reconstructing proto-
languages (= ancestral languages). For example, if we compare English, Dutch, and
German, we can find a number of cognates, that is, words that are similar in phonetic
form and in meaning such as English 'book' Dutch 'boek' and German 'Buch.' If we
compare the equivalent words in French 'livre' Spanish 'libro' and Italian 'libro,' it's
clear that English, Dutch, and German are similar to each other and that French,
Spanish, and Italian are similar to each other. This suggests that English, Dutch and
German belong to a language family distinct from that which French, Spanish, and
Italian belong to. The former is called proto-Germanic; the latter is known to have
been Latin. In another word, comparative linguistics (originally comparative
philology) is a branch of linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to
establish their historical relatedness. To maintain a clear distinction between attested
and reconstructed forms, comparative linguists prefix an asterisk to any form that is
not found in surviving texts. A number of methods for carrying out language
classification have been developed, ranging from simple inspection to computerised
hypothesis testing. Such methods have gone through a long process of development.
Therefore, comparative linguistics is that branch of one, which deals with the study
of languages in terms of their history, relatedness, families and construct new forms.
It can be seen that contrastive linguistics seeks to study and explain any two
languages. This includes listing the differences and similarities between them.
Contrastive linguistics has also been called differential linguistics and is a sub-
section of comparative linguistics that is separated by its studying of only two
languages at any one time. This area studies languages in order to discern how they
developed as they did and what other languages they are historically related to. For
example, comparative linguistic studies of Hungarian show its earliest links to
Chinese and Korean, then how it was influenced by Mongolian, Turkish and other
languages as the Magyars moved west across Siberia and eventually into Europe.
Such studies have also shown how and when Hungarian split from its closest
language partner, Finno-Estonian.
There are many subdivisions of comparative linguistics and, therefore, also of
contrastive linguistics as they use similar techniques. The discipline is traditionally
broken down into two main groups: general comparative linguistics and specialized
comparative linguistics. General comparative linguistics is broken down into
descriptive, typological and historical linguistics, while specialized comparative
linguistics is broken down into generic comparative, the theory of linguistic contact
and areal linguistics.
The theory of linguistic contact becomes more important during contrastive
linguistic studies. It looks at the relationship of two languages. Not all languages
studied in contrastive linguistics are related or have had contact with one another,
but it allows the linguist to look at possible changes one language has influenced in
another such as transfers and interference. This is known as the theory of
bilingualism and includes the creation of creoles and translation.
In contrastive analysis, there are the terms to compare and to contrast.
These two terms sometimes confused as all comparison process. However, they
quite differ and the most different point of both can be recognized as followed. To
compare is like a clarifying process whose objects are comparative. In this process,
we try to find out the similarities and differences of the two. In another way,
contrasting process seeks for the differences or unlikeness, the opposite natures of
the studied objects on comparison. In another words, to contrast means to
distinguish. As a matter of fact, the range of things to compare is much larger than
to contrast. We can compare lots of things, norms, people, objects, etc. However,
fewer situations are contrastable. In contrastive linguistics, we can contrast two
languages or even make a contrast in different components within a language. Take
the example of phonology with two phonemes \p\ and \b\ in English. They a re even
contrastive in the two words big and pig.
Question 2: To the best of your knowledge and experiences, can you give examples
for illustration for the question mentioned above to show how you can apply it/them
in your teaching institution?
Answer:
Contrastive analysis includes all fields of linguistics such as phonology,
semantics, syntax, morphology and pragmatics. It even seems that contrastive
studies should rather be regarded as an approach, not as a branch of general
linguistics. Most authors tend to distinguish between the so-called micro-
linguistic and macro-linguistic features, the former comprising mainly the
grammatical level and thus treating the sentence as the largest analysable unit, and
the latter studying language in situation and context with emphasis on the
communicative function. Throughout the history of contrastive studies great
attention was paid to grammar and lexicon, whereas, the cultural aspects were
largely neglected.
Because of its characteristics, contrastive linguistic is considerd as a useful
learning tool for students or even for teachers who seek for better proficiency in
foreign language study. Knowledge and understanding of languages is increasingly
important, and thiscourse focuses on how such knowledge can be applied. It helps
learners knowmore clearly and finding similarities and differences between them,
there by detecting errors, which bilingual learners often make, and how to fix.This
assignment is based on contrastive linguistics. It uses many methods, especially
contrastive method and surveys on grammatical aspect of these words.This study
uses one-way transfer.
We find a lot of two languages differences which may be make errors
in structure and semantics. It is useful for bilingual learners to find mistakes which
they can meet. Contrastive linguistic gives a comparative method to translate a
learners thinking in an informed way. Giving structure to his/her intuitive
relationship to thelanguage. This bilingual approach in cl saves the students infinite
time and labour. It hasbeen proven that students learn faster and more effectively
using it. Since it is ournature to compare, Contrastive Linguistics is the technique
that clarifies ourunderstanding of the language.
For students, similarities between languages cause no difficulties, while
differences cause interference to learning. Through Contrastive Linguistics we
cantarget and resolve the typical difficulties and Common Mistakes of our students.
We can examine aspects that would not normally be noticed without
suchcomparison. Bi-lingual comparative courses overlap in fruitful collaboration
with other approaches. They clear away students deep-rooted mistakes and
empowerteachers with the answers to many of their students' doubts.
Contrastive analysis in the classroom usually implies certain methods and strategies
that are notoriously forbidden, such as the use of the mother tongue and
translation. My view of this approach, and it seems appropriate to call it an approach,
is broader than this: contrastive analysis refers to all previous language experience
of the learner and is a natural process in every learning situation. According to this
view it is not only the native language of the learner that is a very powerful factor in
foreign language learning, but rather all languages and language situations that the
learner has ever encountered. Especially in trying to understand a new grammatical
or lexical element, the learner would scan all his previous knowledge in order to find
similarities (see Skela 1994:78). Try as we would, this habit cannot be eliminated
from the process of learning, so perhaps it is time to find ways of using it to our and
the learners advantage. In other words (Marton 1981:149):
The question then suggests itself whether it isnt better to use this habitual transfer
in some way rather than desperately trying to fight it and eradicate it, or even to deny
its existence. I think that using contrastive analysis in the classroom would go a long
way towards controlling this powerful tendency and making an ally of what has long
been considered our greatest enemy.
If we now agree that contrastive analysis can and should be used in the
classroom, several questions come to mind: When do we choose to compare a certain
language item to the mother tongue or to another foreign language already mastered
by the students? Which segments of language lend themselves to comparison or
contrasting? Should we concentrate on the similarities or the differences? Can this
approach be used in all age groups and levels? What purpose do we have in mind
and what results can we expect from using contrastive analysis?
Perhaps these questions should be dealt with one at a time. As for the general
decision about when to compare or contrast a certain language item, the only
possible answer is: whenever we feel it appropriate. Once again, the teacher should
rely on his/her own resourcefulness and follow the eclectic approach. If we take
Slovene learners of English, there are many grammatical structures and phrases that
are conspicuously different from Slovene, but does that mean that we should point
out all the differences we encounter on the way?
This brings us to the field of error analysis. In the seventies experts believed
to have found the ultimate key to predicting and explaining errors - contrastive
analysis. Still, years of experience have shown that negative transfer is by no means
the only source of errors and that the use of contrastive analysis in the classroom
failed to bring the expected results. So disappointing was this fact that experts
decided to ban contrastive studies from the classroom altogether, which accounts for
their neglected status in the past two decades. Perhaps the best strategy is to wait
for a certain error to occur, and then - if the reason was indeed negative transfer -
point out the difference and illustrate it with examples.
As for the question whether to concentrate on the similarities or differences
between two languages, there is no universal answer. If there is a similarity between
the mother tongue and the foreign language, we usually need not point it out, because
the students will intuitively sense it. What we do need to point out are the cases
where the apparent similarity is misleading, as is the case with false friends:
sympathetic vs. simpatien, local vs. lokal, etc.
The question whether contrastive analysis could or should be used at all levels
and for all age groups remains under-researched. Since I wasnt able to find any clear
guidelines regarding this decision, I can merely state some of my personal
observations from my teaching experience. It seems that both age and level of
language knowledge are very important factors for deciding whether to provide the
learners with some contrastive examples or not. With very young learners the
teacher often uses the mother tongue, provided that he or she speaks it and that it is
a monolingual classroom. Still, any contrasting of grammatical structures would be
out of place, because the learners have not yet reached the level of abstract thinking.
Some simple techniques of translation, and translation is considered to be one of
contrastive techniques, may however be used successfully also at this level, but
moderately.
As soon as the learners have reached the level of abstract thinking and are able
of conscious generalisation of grammatical rules, contrastive analysis may be used
to point out certain conspicuous differences or explain mistakes.
Generally speaking, contrasting grammatical features makes the most sense
with those learners who already have some experience with foreign language
learning and are thus already used to comparing languages and language items. Most
contrastive techniques are not appropriate for very young learners and elementary
stages. The rest is basically a matter of personal taste and experience - if the teacher
believes contrastive analysis to be useful, he or she will undoubtedly find ways of
using it. A detailed study of existing contrastive techniques unfortunately cannot be
included in this paper. Here I briefly mention some: Contrasting grammatical or
lexical items during the presentation, contrasting idioms, proverbs, set phrases etc.,
translation, contrastive pragmatics.
In teaching and learning English as second language, contrastive analysis is
really helpful for both the teachers and the students, because we will know the
differences and similarities between source language (L1) and target language (L2).
Therefore, it is easy for us to learn and adjust to the target language. So that, we do
not incorporate the system of our source language to the target language, because
each language has distinct system. In applying contrastive analysis in the classroom,
the teacher can use linguistics aspects, they are: Phonology, Syntax ( phrase,
sentence, tense, etc)
Take phonology as an example. Phonology is the study of sounds distribution in a
language and the interaction between those different sounds. The aim of contrastive
phonology is to contrast the phonetic sets of both languages and establish the
differences. These may lie in the pronunciation of a phoneme that occurs in both
languages.
Examples:

English vowels

Vietnamese vowels Long Short

a i: cream, seen bit, silly
i : burn, firm bet, head
: hard, far . cat, dad
e : corn, faun dog,
o rotten
U: boob, glue cut, nut
put, soot about, clever

In linguistics, syntax means the study of the rules that govern the ways in
which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is one of the
major components of grammar. In contrasting the syntactic structures of two
languages as different as Vietnamese and English, the former being case-based and
the latter word-order-based, we inevitably encounter so many differences that an
analysis without our having a particular purpose in mind hardly seems reasonable.
The position of complements in an English sentence is fixed, but not so in
Vietnamese, since grammatical relations can be expressed through the use of
inflections, which accounts for many structural differences between the two
languages.
The comparison in phrases between the two languages as follow:
Vietnamese English
Ngi nh ln Big house
M ti My mother

In English phrases, adjectives precede nouns. Therefore, the law applied is

MD (modifier-determiner). In the phrase big house house is determiner and big is
modifier, while Vietnamese is vice versa, the law applied is DM (determiner-
modifier). In the phrase ngi nh ln the word ln modifies ngi nh.
In general, contrastive analysis is a very broad field, which does not necessarily
include any specific language item, but rather focuses on the basic social and cultural
conventions that rule communication in a certain context or situation. Some very
important skills should be taught in the school also, which often have nothing to do
with language but with non-verbal means of communication. What is the typical
head movement indicating agreement or disagreement? Do we shake hands when
introduced to somebody? Which interjection do we use to express disgust and what
facial expression goes with it?
Of course a foreign language can be taught and learned without referring to
the mother tongue (or L2). But if some of these techniques can facilitate learning or
even make it more interesting, why not use them.
These are but a few aspects of contrastive analysis and its possible uses in the
classroom. The reason why I am in favour of occasional contrasting of languages is
not just the fact that it may help to predict, explain or prevent mistakes, but rather
that it provides a different and long-neglected insight into how languages work and
how we can understand and consequently remember their features better. As Nation
points out (1978:175):
It is worth mentioning two other possible effects. Exclusion of the mother tongue
is often seen by the learners as a criticism of the mother tongue as a language, thus
making it seem like a second-grade language. The effects of this degrading of the
mother tongue are not beneficial to the mother tongue nor to the people who use it.
Secondly, learning a foreign or second language provides an opportunity for learning
about the nature of language, how a language works, how different languages
organise the world and experience in different ways. Comparison between the
mother tongue and the foreign language is a good way of doing this.
 REFERENCES
Lado, Robert. 1968. Linguistic Across Culture: Applied Lingustic for Language
Teacher. An Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Abdi, Nasril. Contrastive Analysis and Error Analysis. Article. Language
Department.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrastive_analysis"