Original scientific paper
Native errors in Croatian as a second and foreign language
Milvia Gulešić-Machata
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sanda Lucija Udier
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
In the language of non-native speakers of Croatian as a second and foreign language various deviations from the linguistic norm occur, e.g. transfer and developmental errors. Most of them are the result of insufficient familiarity with the rules of the language being learned. There is also another group of errors, rarely mentioned in literature (foreign and Croatian). These are native errors, i.e. productions also occurring in the language of native speakers (e.g. Nije mu se dalo više ništa *radit.; *Gdje ideš?; *Di ideš?). Such errors do not hinder understanding and are a component of communicative competence. They occur more frequently with students learning Croatian in Croatia than those learning it abroad, because the former acquire the language as well as learn it. The article primarily discusses native errors in the interlanguage of students learning Croatian. The authors endeavour to find the correct attitude towards them. They are a fact of the colloquial register and as such, within that register they are not really errors. Therefore, removing them from the students' interlanguage should not be attempted if within that specific situation they are used in the proper register. However, native errors should be corrected if it is obvious that they have been used in the incorrect register, i.e. in the standard language. The attitude towards native errors also depends on the reason for which the student is learning Croatian. If the instructor knows, for instance, that a student of Croatian origin needs Croatian primarily to communicate with his/her relatives in Croatia, native errors in the language of such a student should not be treated in the same manner as, for instance, native errors in the language of a student studying Croatian at any university throughout the world. The relationship towards native errors in testing the knowledge of Croatian as a second or foreign language is slightly different. Native errors should not be criteria for evaluation at the beginner or intermediate level, although the language tester should make sure the student knows which register they belong to. At the highest language level native errors should be treated in the same manner as non-native ones. Whereas the attitude of the language instructor towards native errors in the student's interlanguage depends on various factors, one could conclude that such errors are necessary for acquiring communicative competence and therefore they should not be eliminated in all language situations.
Keywords
Croatian as L2; interlanguage; non-native errors; native errors; communicative competence
Hrčak ID:
31986
URI
Publication date:
29.9.2008.
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