Language Transfer
and Language Interference
Language transfer is the effect of one language on the learning of
another. Two types of language transfer may occur. Negative transfer, also
known as interference, is the use of a native-language pattern or rule
which leads to an ERROR or inappropriate form in the TARGET LANGUAGE. For
example, a French learner of English may produce the incorrect sentence I am here since Monday instead of I have
been here since Monday, because of the transfer of the French pattern Je suis ici depuis lundi (“I am here
since Monday”). Positive transfer is transfer which makes learning
easier, and may occur when both the native language and the target language
have the same form. For example, both French and English have the word table, which can have the same meaning
in both languages.
