Language Differences: The Effects of Language Transfer in Interlanguage Pragmatics

Abstract

This research work deals with the effects of the learners’ first language in learning foreign languages. It aims at investigating how far does the native language influence the comprehension, and the production of the English language in contexts by foreign language learners. Furthermore, it stresses the fact that even advanced learners make mistakes in communication. Hence, it is meant to highlight the importance of raising English language learners’ awareness about the fact, that they display a different pragmatic system from that of the target language native users. To achieve this study, a questionnaire has been designed for a group of LMD English students. After the analysis of the data collected, the results confirm that the students’ unawareness of the influence of the first language lead them to misinterpret some English contexts, thus, errors are produced in this foreign language.