Professional paper
Contrastive Approach in the Foreign Language Learning: Analysis of and the Proposal to Teach the Existential Verb Phrase THERE+BE in English According to Students’ Age
Marina Jajić Novogradec
; Buje, Hrvatska
Abstract
This article presents a contrastive approach in the analysis of existential
verb phrase there + be in the English language. We have noticed that many students
at the beginner and advanced level are often confused by the use of the phrase,
because it has no real equivalent in the Croatian language. Its incorrect use can lead
students to the inaccurate communication in the English.
When learning a foreign language, students, consciously or unconsciously, rely on
their first language, which is mainly the result of a negative transfer in the foreign
language. In order to prevent negative transfer of the first language and enable
positive transfer in the foreign language learning, the contemporary language
teaching requires the use of teaching techniques that involve the combination of
communicative, cognitive and contrastive elements. In such a way we can help our
students to better understand some of the most common mistakes they make,
especially those that are the result of the negative transfer from the first language.
Therefore, we propose activities for the better acquisition of the existential verb
phrase at different stages of the English language learning.
Keywords
existential verb phrase there + be; contrastive approach; first language; negative transfer: foreign language
Hrčak ID:
84308
URI
Publication date:
11.6.2012.
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