"Investigating the Cross Linguistic Interference When Learning English and French Simultaneously"

Abstract

This piece of research work is a descriptive case study that sought to investigate the cross linguistic interference when learning English and French simultaneously by third year primary school pupils in Jijel, Algeria. It also aimed at finding the common types of error pupils committed due to cross linguistic interference. This study was built on one main assumption: third year pupils made errors that are caused by the cross linguistic interference of French and English. In order to collect data for this study, one research instrument was used; a questionnaire was administered to 80 teachers: 30 teachers of English and 55 teachers of French in Jijel primary schools. It mainly aimed at knowing the most common types of error pupils made. According to the obtained results, third year primary schools pupils who were learning English and French at the same time made errors that are related to cross-linguistic interference and this is due to the fact that they face difficulties in distinguishing between the two language systems. As a result, this type of interference affected their learning process negatively and leads them to commit two essential types of errors at this early age level. They were those related mostly to phonology and vocabulary. In addition, the results suggested that it is better not to teach English and French simultaneously for young learners