LINGUIST List 33.3165
Tue Oct 18 2022
Review: Language: Explorations of Language Transfer, Odlin (2022)
Editor for this issue: Maria Lucero Guillen Puon <luceroguillenlinguistlist.org>
Date: 08-Aug-2022
From: Ellie Passmore <elliejpassmore
gmail.com>
Subject: Explorations of Language Transfer: Odlin
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AUTHOR: Terence Odlin
TITLE: Explorations of Language Transfer
SERIES TITLE: Second Language Acquisition
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2022
REVIEWER: Ellie Passmore, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
SUMMARY
“Explorations of Language Transfer,” by Terence Odlin, is an engaging monograph belonging to the series “Second Language Acquisition” published by Multilingual Matters. This series aims to discuss language acquisition and processing in contexts where a second (or more) language is also present. Each book in the series is meant to be suitable for early-career academics (i.e., late undergraduates and postgraduates in second language acquisition), as well as people who may have an interest in second language acquisition (SLA) without a deep background in it.
The book is divided into eight chapters, including an Introduction and Conclusion, and split into two parts, each with a brief introduction. Part 1 (Chapters 2-4) deals with theories in SLA, with an emphasis on the contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH) and the predictions and constraints that can be produced from those hypotheses. Part 2 (Chapters 5-7) focuses on aspects of language transfer and processing, covering comprehension and production, constructions, and translation.
In the Introduction, Odlin sets a working definition of ‘transfer’ in linguistics and describes cases in which the acquisition of a second language (L2) interferes with production of the speaker’s first language (L1). He goes on to provide a brief overview of the history of the use of ‘transfer’ in linguistics, where he suggests ‘übertragen’ and ‘hinübertragen’ from von Humboldt’s (1836 as cited in Odlin 2022) treatise on language and cognition as the origin of the mainstream SLA use of ‘transfer’ (p. 4). The rest of the introductory chapter provides summaries of the two sections of this volume.
Chapters 2 and 3 are dedicated almost solely to the CAH. Chapter 2 deals with the history and ambiguousness of the CAH as well as the nebulous use of behaviorist psychology terms (i.e., habits) in early-20th century SLA scholarship. Odlin chooses to answer the chapter’s title question (Was There Really Ever a Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis?) in the affirmative, though cautions that ‘hypothesis’ might be too strong a word to use for CAH and that, while useful to the development of SLA and transfer theory and literature, the hypothesis has its problems. Chapter 3 headlines a new question about CAH: Could a Contrastive Analysis Ever be Complete? To answer this question, Odlin first offers an overview of the difficulties of contrastive predictions before delving into constraints as predictions and transferability, leading to two proofs, one about viable theories of transferability and one about accounting for relevant affective factors. He goes on to examine both proofs in the context of the CAH and suggests that complete “contrastive analysis would have to come in pairs of descriptions” (p. 43). The chapter concludes with a reaffirmation that the CAH can be considered complete since it meets both proofs mentioned earlier in the chapter.
Chapter 4 closes out Part 1 by discussing the cross-linguistic transfer of word order, metalinguistic awareness, and constraints on Foreign Language Learning (FLL). The author first addresses universalist positions of word transfer, namely that negative transfer of basic word order does not occur. From there, he explores the patterns seen in basic word-order transfer across languages and goes on to provide specific examples of substratum transfer in Hawaiian Pidgin English, Bamboo English, Andean Spanish, and Pidgin Fijian. These examples serve as an opening to analyze language-neutral discourse strategies and crosslinguistic word-order transfer, with the author favoring the latter. Odlin closes out the chapter by addressing the criticism that crosslinguistic basic word-order transfer is infrequently observed, suggesting that since it is more common in less proficient speakers, either a misattribution of proficiency or a shyness on behalf of a speaker (particularly adult L2 learners) leads to a dearth of observational opportunities. He also suggests that metalinguistic awareness may lessen instances of such transfer, especially for those learning a language in an FLL setting and for speakers where social context may play a role in speech behavior.
Part 2 is introduced with a two-page summary of the following chapters. Chapter 5 focuses on language comprehension and production, using Jarvis’s (1998) study on Swedish and Finnish L1 speakers writing narratives in English. In the study, students who were either Finnish or Swedish L1 speakers and Finnish/Swedish and English L2 and L3 speakers watched two silent film clips and wrote narratives on those clips in English after a brief interval. Separate groups of Swedish, Finnish, and English L1 speakers watched those same clips and wrote narratives in their first language. The passages were then analyzed on the production, or rather reproduction, of what occurred in the clips, with particular attention paid to grammatical patterns and to any reproduction of the title of the two scenes. Analysis of the results suggested that the English as a foreign language (EFL) students showed patterns specific to their L1 in their narratives. One particular finding was that knowledge of Swedish buffered against errors in determiner and subordinating conjunction usage in English, even if participants had been learning English for only a relatively short period (as in the F9B group who had studied Swedish for 6 years but English for only 2), suggesting positive transfer from the L1/L2 to the L3 and thus that crosslinguistic similarity does play a role in comprehension and production. Odlin uses this study, among others that are briefly mentioned in the chapter, to support the idea of language-specific processing and its role in comprehension and production. To close out the chapter, Odlin discusses the implications of transfer in comprehension and production, with a particular emphasis on memory.
Chapter 6 opens with a definition of ‘focus,’ with the author going off Carston’s (1996 as cited in Odlin 2022) definition and clarifying that “the use of focus in the chapter will serve as shorthand for Carston’s three-word phrase ‘syntactically marked structures’” (p. 88, emphasis in original). The first half of the chapter focuses on the different forms focus constructs can take, with an emphasis mainly on clefting, word order, and particles. This discussion is followed by a brief analysis of variations in focus construct meanings, such as how emphasis on different words can change the meaning of a sentence in English. Odlin closes out the theoretical discussion of focus constructs by mentioning hypothesized and empirically-supported cognitive effects of such constructs. The second half of the chapter touches on focus constructions in the context of translation and crosslinguistic transfer, including choices made about focus constructions during translation. The chapter finishes with a brief examination of the role of focus constructs, particularly cleft sentences, in ultimate attainment of an L2.
Chapter 7 focuses on translation and language transfer, beginning with a definition of ‘translation’ and presenting Jakobson’s (1958 as cited in Odlin 2022) threefold classification. The author then considers the case of machine translation, again using an example from the Jarvis (1998) study before turning to human translators and cases of L1 to L2/3 transfer, as well as cases of L2 interference in L1-L3 translation. From there, the discussion turns to individual differences in translation, including reconstruals and positive/negative transfers. Odlin ends the chapter with an examination of how translation and cognitive processing are used in language acquisition, focusing mainly on the Processability Theory (PT) and evidence against it.
The Conclusion begins with a brief overview of Parts 1 and 2 and their implications before delving into a deeper discussion on how the findings presented in previous chapters could be used in SLA teaching.
EVALUATION
The purpose of this volume, as set out in the Introduction, is to reconnect aspects of second language acquisition and language contact with a focus on how a learner’s previously acquired language(s) impact the acquisition of a new language while also maintaining a level of readability accessible to linguistics students and non-linguistic professionals interested in SLA. The approach adopted by the author is to provide a theoretical framework for crosslinguistic language transfer in SLA followed by empirical evidence of different types of language transfer.
The book succeeds in providing an accessible, but in-depth overview of language transfer in SLA. The content is presented in a manner of growing complexity, with Odlin presenting relevant background information at the start of each chapter before delving into the more specific, and complex, details of the topic at hand. This enables readers less familiar with formal linguistic approaches to still comprehend the material. Odlin also leaves room for questioning and offers both the implications of the research he presents as well as the gaps still remaining.
I do question the author’s choice to focus almost solely on the contrastive analysis hypothesis in the first half of the book without touching on error analysis or interlanguage theory, which, among others, have played major roles in the development of SLA theory (VanPatten et al., 2020). While error analysis in particular has fallen to the wayside, it seems pertinent to mention other prominent acquisition theories, particularly when aspects of both are used to support Odlin’s claims (notably Chapter 5, though both show up throughout Part 2). However, while an overview including additional theories and hypotheses would be useful to this volume, it is a relatively minor problem, and the overall quality of the text is excellent.
REFERENCES
Jarvis, S. (2022). Language transfer and the link between comprehension and production. In T. Odlin, Explorations of language transfer. Multilingual Matters.
VanPatten, B., Gregory, K. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.). (2020). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. Routledge.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
After earning her bachelor's in 2022 with an honors thesis on commonalities and barriers in Indigenous language revitalization, Ellie Passmore is currently taking a gap year prior to starting a graduate program. Her research interests primarily center around second language acquisition, bilingualism, phonetics, and language revitalization.
Page Updated: 18-Oct-2022