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Cross-LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES 2.5 STRATEGY USE Interference-like errors are not always due to negative L1 transfer, as claimed by classical CA. Learners may deliberately borrow elements from their L1 or form sentences using the patterns of their native language to bridge gaps in their L2 knowledge. In this case they use strategies based on their L1 to express something that they do not (yet) know in their L2. E.g., if the learner does not know the word harangvirág or hóvirág, they may try to translate it literally (and in the case of harangvirág they will end up with the right solution: bellflower). There is a fair chance that literal translation will work even if it yields anon-existing English word or phrase, but its meaning can be recovered from the context: given the right circumstances, *snowflower instead of snowdrop might be understood. Learners may also try to translate a Hungarian phrase into English even when they know that it is probably not transferable. Ihey may or may not succeed, but in a given context literal translations like It is like throwing peas against a (brick) wall, or Lets be thankful that we have a hole in our bottoms might be understood. Corder (1973, 1981) says that learners are actively involved in the process of L2 acguisition, and the first language can serve as one of the inputs in the process of hypothesis generation. Not all strategies are L1-based. E.g., ifthe learner uses the phrase *a large yellow fly to describe a wasp, the strategy used is unrelated to his/her L1. In the choice of strategies, however, individual variability is also an important factor. Some learners are more likely to use L1-based strategies than others (see, e.g., Singleton 1999), and under certain conditions most learners may tend to choose L1-based strategies. Strategies may lead to correct or incorrect L2 forms, but - since they are used consciously to solve a communication problem - they cannot be regarded as interference errors. 2.6. TRANSFER AND STRATEGY Transfer, in its literal meaning, is the use of L1 elements in L2. According to this narrow definition only phonological and lexical transfer is possible, since grammatical morphemes or constructions are rarely borrowed. In a broader sense, however, transfer includes cases where L1 patterns of meaning are transferred into L2 on the basis of perceived similarity of certain structures or lexical items. It is this broader sense (allowing grammatical transfer, too) that is more current, as reflected in Odlin’s definition: Transfer is the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly) acquired (1989: 27). s 31 e
