ERIC ED456639: Teaching English Language Arts to Francophone Students, Grades 3 to 9: A Guide to Transfers and Interference.

56 Pages·2001·0.64 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
FL 026 849
ED 456 639
Teaching English Language Arts to Francophone Students,
TITLE
Grades 3 to 9: A Guide to Transfers and Interference.
Alberta Learning, Edmonton. Direction de l'education
INSTITUTION
francaise.
ISBN-0-7785-1300-9
ISBN
2001-00-00
PUB DATE
NOTE
55p.
Alberta Learning, French Language Services Branch, 11160
AVAILABLE FROM
Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5K 0L2. Tel:
780-427-2940; Fax: [phone].
Non-Classroom (055)
Guides
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Bilingual Education Programs; Code Switching (Language);
DESCRIPTORS
Elementary Secondary Education; *English (Second Language);
*Error Analysis (Language); Error Correction; Foreign
Countries; *French; French Canadians; Grammar; *Interference
(Language); *Language Arts; Language Attitudes; Language
Maintenance; Second Language Instruction; Second Language
Learning; Structural Analysis (Linguistics); *Transfer of
Training
Alberta; Canada; *French Speaking
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This guide provides an extensive but not conclusive list of
points of transfer and interference between the French and English languages.
It is designed to help English language arts teachers of Francophone students
understand that French language skills can be usefully transferred to
English. Apart from a brief introduction, this document consists of a chart,
providing a fairly detailed list of points of interference and transfer
between French and English and appendices on strategies. The first column of
this chart identifies the language concept that may result in interference.
The second column presents three types of information: the problem, which
offers an explanation of what the student is doing incorrectly; the source,
which offers an explanation of how the students' knowledge of French causes
this error; and the strategy, which suggests how to correct the problem. The
chart has sections on consonants, vowels, controlled vowels, diphthongs,
long-vowel letter combinations, digraphs, blends, word endings, contractions,
possessive nouns, punctuation, double letters, figures of speech, and parts
of speech. There are also four appendices: "Tag Word Strategy"; "Silent 'e'
Lesson"; "Spelling Strategy"; and "Proofreading Strategy." (KFT)
be made
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can
from the ori inal document.
ft-
Teaching English Language Arts to Francophone Students
Grades 3 to 9
A Guide to
Transfers and Interference
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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Office of Educational Research and Improvement
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This docum ent has been reproduced as
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originating it.
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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Points of view or opinions stated in this
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
1
Aura
LEARNING
BEST COPY AVAIABLE
Direction de l'éducation française
2
ALBERTA LEARNING CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Alberta. Alberta Learning. French Language Services Branch.
Teaching English language arts to francophone students, grades 3 to 9 :
a guide to transfers and interference.
0-7785-1300-9
ISBN
1. English language -- Study and teaching
Alberta
Foreign speakers.
2. English language -- Study and teaching as a second language
-- Alberta
Foreign speakers.
I. Titre.
PE1128.A2.A333 2001
372.6521
This publication is for:
Students
I
Teachers
Administrators (principals,
superintendents)
Parents
General Public
Others
Copyright @ 2001, the Crown in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Learning. Alberta Learning,
French Language Services Branch, 11160 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5K 012 (Phone: [780] 427-
2940; Fax: [780] 422-1947). All rights reserved. Additional copies may be obtained from the Learning Resources
Centre, 12360 - 142 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5L 4X9 (Phone: [780] 427-2767; Fax: [780] 422-9750).
Permission is given by the copyright owner to reproduce this document for educational purposes and
on a non-profit
basis.
3
Contents
Introduction
1
Purpose of Document
1
Areas of Transfer and Interference
1
Organization of Document
2
List of Points of Interference and Transfer Between French and English
3
Appendices
45
Appendix A Tag Word Strategies
46
Silent "e" Lesson
Appendix B
47
Appendix C
Spelling Strategy
51
Appendix D
Proofreading Strategy
52
4
iii
Introduction
A Guide to Tranfers and Interference is the second in a three-part collection entitled Teaching English
Language Arts to Francophone Students (Grades 3 to 9) that consists of the following:
Bridging the Francais and English Language Arts (ELA) Programs of Study;
A Guide to Tranfers and Interference; and
Teaching English to Francophone Students: Pedagogical Considerations.
Alberta Learning has developed this collection specifically for individuals, namely teachers, involved
with English language teaching to francophone students. ELA teachers are the bridge between
francophone students' established French language skills and their formal English language learning
experiences. It follows that francophone students' growth as English language learners is greatly influ-
enced by the pedagogical decisions of the ELA teacher. ELA teachers must ensure that francophone
students build upon their established French language skills when learning English. The documents in
this collection are designed to support teachers in doing this by:
showing the strong correlation that exists between learning outcomes outlined in the Français and ELA
programs of study;
presenting ways to help students make the most of the opportunities to transfer their skills, while mini-
mizing the interference that is bound to occur; and
providing a new perspective on teaching English language arts, a perspective that takes into account the
aspirations of the language community of francophone students and current knowledge regarding how
language is learned in an environment where English is the dominant language.
Purpose of Document
A Guide to Transfers and Interference provides an extensive but not conclusive list of points of transfer
and interference between the French and English languages. It is designed for ELA teachers of
francophone students to:
understand that in some cases, French language skills can be usefully transferred to English but in
others, they result in interference errors;
identify where French language skills can be usefully transferred to learning English, and where gene-
ralizing French language skills to English interferes with proper English usage;
identify occurrences of transfer and interference typical of a francophone student learning English; and
provide strategies to help students minimize interference errors and maximize appropriate transfer of
French language skills to English language learning.
Areas of Transfer and Interference
As students are required to explore, construct and communicate in English, they rely on their wealth of
knowledge about language and language learning gleaned from their formal and informal experiences in
French. Students filter their language needs in English, for example, writing a word or understanding
narrative structure, through their bank of established French language skills, transferring that knowledge
A Guide to Transfers and Interference
1
5
from French to English to successfully complete the task at hand. Due to the high degree of similarity of
the French and English languages, much of francophone students' knowledge, skills and attitudes transfer
directly from French to English. It is not unusual for some students who start reading and writing in
English before formal ELA instruction to begin transferring skills spontaneously. Other students do
so
more gradually with the encouragement and expertise of the ELA teacher. This transfer of corresponding
French language skills eases English language learning and forms an important component of English
language instruction in the francophone program.
But some elements of French and English are language specific. For example, apostrophes designate
possessive nouns only in English. As a result, francophone students are likely to make such errors
as
omitting the apostrophe in a possessive noun or designating possession within the structure of a sentence
(e.g. "The bicycle of my sister is red."). Like transfers, these errors reflect the students' attempts to filter
English tasks through their bank of knowledge and skills in French. In these cases though, they incor-
rectly apply French construction to English learning. However, interference errors are predictable and
occur where there is inconsistency between the French and English languages. Making students aware of
the possibility of interference, the source or sources of specific errors, and strategies to correct them will
help reduce interference errors. While using specific points of interference as the foundation for isolated
drills may be tempting, applying language-appropriate structures is generally best accomplished by pro-
viding students with context-embedded language learning activities. Eventually, students will use lan-
guage-appropriate structures in both English and French.
Organization of Document
Apart from this brief introduction, this document consists of a chart, providing a fairly detailed list of
points of interference and transfer between French and English and appendices on strategies. The chart,
in turn, consists of two columns:
1. The first colunm identifies the language concept that may result in interference, e.g. "Q". It also illus-
trates how the interference may show itself in the student's language skills, e.g. quit --> kwit (S). The
symbols used in this column are (P) for "pronunciation," (S) for "sound," and --) for "written as"
or
"pronounced as."
2. The second column presents three types of information:
The Problem offers an explanation of what the student is doing incorrectly (e.g. students write "kw"
instead of "qu").
The Source offers an explanation of how the students' knowledge of French produce this error (e.g. the
letter/sound relationship of "qu" as in "quite" exists in few words in French, quoi, pourquoi). Students
spell words containing "qu" as they sound in English.
The Strategy suggests how to correct the interference (e.g. tell students that the letter combination
"kw" does not exist in English). Use quoi and pourquoi as tag words. See Appendix A for the tag word
strategy.
The second column also provides information on points of transfer (e.g. the letter "b" produces the
same sound in French and English [e.g. bonbon
baby]).
6
Teaching English Language Arts to
2
Francophone Students
Gardes 3 to 9
List of Points of Interference and Transfer
Between French and English
CONSONANTS
i B
Explanation/Strategy
but -4 put (S)
The letter "b" produces the same sound in French and English (e.g.
bonbon, bain, bravo, bebe, belle).
Problem:
Students write "p" instead of "b". (Grade 3)
Source:
The "b" and "p" sounds are similar in both languages.
Students use "b" and "p" interchangeably until they learn to
differentiate between the two.
Strategy:
I. Provide students with opportunities to see English words containing
"b" and "p" in context using story books, recipes, letters from
friends, cereal boxes, flyers, catalogues, etc.
2. Highlight letter-sound relationships by using alliterations with words
beginning with "b" or "p". For example: Peter Piper picked a pack
of pickled peppers. Brad and Beth ate bread and butter for breakfast.
3. Illustrate letter-sound relationships by using familiar words such as
students' names. For example: "B" has the sound as in Bernard.
"P" has the sound as in Paul. Use bebe and papa as tag words (see
Appendix A).
lamb > lam (S)
Problem:
Students omit the silent "b". (Grades 3 to 6)
Source:
At the beginning of formal ELA instruction, students apply
their knowledge of French letter-sound relationships, letter
combinations and word patterns to spelling words in English.
The silent "b" does not exist in French, therefore students are
unfamiliar with the "CVmb" (e.g. comb) and "CCVmb"
(e.g. climb) word patterns. They omit the silent "b" and spell
the word as it sounds.
3
A Guide to Transfers and Interference
7
Strategy:
I. Target words containing a silent "b" as interferences. Provide oppor-
tunities for students to see silent "b" words in context.
2. Familiarize students with the silent "b" word pattern by highlighting
silent "b" words in texts.
3. Provide students with a list of words containing silent "b". Have
students write a paragraph using all the words in the silent "b" word
list, write sentences using as many list words as they can, or if needed
complete cloze activities with these words.
Word List: comb, lamb, dumb, plumber, climb, crumb
I c
The letter "c" produces the hard and soft sound in French as in English
(e.g. hard: couper, cabine, cacher, cadeau, cuisine; soft: ce, cela, céleri,
cerise, cent).
candy
kandy (S)
Problem:
Students write "k" instead of hard "c" or "s" instead of soft
ceiling > seiling (S)
"c". (Grades 3 to 6)
Source:
Soft "c" may be represented by an "s" and hard "c" may be
represented by a "k" in French as well as English.
Strategy:
1. Many words beginning with "c" are directly transferable (e.g. circle,
cable) or partly transferable (e.g. construire
construct) from French.
To help students determine whether a "c/s", or a "c/k" should be used
have students:
a) Write the French translation of the word (e.g. cabane -4 cabin).
(This works especially well with beginning sounds.) If the word is
transferable to English, write the letter used in French (cabane
begins with a "c" so "cabin" is spelled with a
b) If the word is
not transferable (e.g. carpet > tapis,
ceiling > plafond), have students write the word twice using the
letters "c" and "s" to represent soft "c" sound, (e.g. ceiling, seiling)
or "c" and "k" (e.g. carpet, karpet) to represent hard "c" sound.
c) Encourage students to rely on their visual memory to choose the
spelling that "looks" right, then verify the correct spelling with the
teacher or a dictionary. (See Appendix C and Appendix D for
spelling and proofreading strategies.)
Note: Encourage students to rely on their visual memory. Often
students choose the correct spelling of a word from a list but are
unable to produce the correct spelling of the word independently.
8
4
Teaching English Language Arts to
Francophone Students
Gardes 3 to 9
2. Show how the letter "k" is rarely used to represent the hard "c" sound
when followed by an "I", "r" or a "y". E.g. "cl" never "kl" (clown,
cloud, clasp, clip); "cr" never " kr" (cry, crisp, crave, crow).
The letter "c" produces the soft "c" sound only when followed by the
letters "e", "i" and "y" (e.g. centre, cent, certain, ceremony, cereal, circle,
cygnet).
Problem:
music > musique (S)
Students write "ique" instead of "ic". (Grades 3 to 6)
Source:
Students use "ique" because it produces the same sound in
French as "ic" in English (e.g. magique, tragique, histori-
que). Many words ending in "ique" are transferable to
English except that the "ic" ending is used instead of "ique".
Strategy:
Tell students that most words ending in "ique" in French are
transferable to English except that the "ique" ending is
dropped and "ic" is used and the accent is not applied.
Word List: magic, tragic, electric, eccentric, politic, music, dramatic,
energetic
I
D
The letter "d" produces the same sound in French and English (e.g. doux,
danser, donner, debut, demander), however it is not always used in the
same way.
Problem:
Students omit the "d" when spelling words containing the
ledge -4 lege (S)
"dg" letter combination. (Grades 3 to 6)
judge -4 juge (S)
Source:
The "Vdge" letter combination (e.g. edge) does not exist in
French. Students apply the "Vge" letter combination from
French because it produces approximately the same sound as
juge, ledge
léger) and is a more familiar
"Vdge" (judge
word pattern. The silent "e" does not have the same function
in French as in English. Students may not realize that the
"Vowel/Consonant/silent `e" combination (e.g. juge) pro-
duces a long sound in the vowel in English (e.g. huge). See
Appendix B.
Strategy:
1. Familiarize students with the word pattern "dge" by providing them
with opportunities to see and use "dge" words in context.
5
A Guide to Transfers and Interference
9
2. Illustrate the function of the silent "e" in English. Two
consonants
between a vowel and a silent "e" often prevent the vowel from
producing a long vowel sound or "saying its name" (e.g. the "u" in
"judge" is short only if the "d" is present). One consonant between
a
vowel and a silent "e" often produces a long sound
or makes the
vowel "say its name" (e.g. cake, cute, like, bake). Although the "d"
in the "dg" letter combination is silent, it has the important function
of producing the short sound in the vowel before it. The word
"judge", therefore, could not be spelled "juge" in English because the
"u" would produce a long sound as in "huge".
Word List: budge, judge, fudge, ledge, bridge, knowledge, nudge, ridge,
lodge, hodgepodge, pledge, wedge
during * juring (S)
Problem:
Students write "j" instead of "d". (Grade 3)
Source:
In English, a "d" followed by a "u" can be pronounced "dr
(e.g. duo, duplicate). The "j" in English produces
a similar
sound so students write "j".
Strategy:
1. Explain how words can be transferred from French
to English (e.g.
dupe
dupe, duplex
duplex).
2. Introduce the concept of word families and draw comparisons
between word families that appear in both languages. Many French
and English words come from the same word family. Words from the
same word family use similar spelling (e.g. the "d" in the following
pairs: durant
during, doute
dubious, deux
duo). The word
"during" is derived from the same word family
as durant in French,
therefore it begins with a "d".
French Word List: durabilite, durable, dur, durer, durete, endurer,
endurance, duree
English Word List: durability, duration, duress, during, endure,
durable, endurance
IF
The letter "f" produces the same sound in French and English
(e.g. fenetre, faim, faire, famille, fete).
Teaching English Language Arts to
6
1 0
Francophone Students
Gardes 3 to 9