CHAPTER –VII –CONCLUSION 7.1 Conclusion This dissertation work has been taken up to explore the mother tongue Influence (MTI) upon the EL learners of Tamil speaking Under Graduate students of Arts and science colleges in Madurai district. 500 informants were administered various sample questions with a view to highlight the linguistic errors committed by them and the relationship between the errors and mother tongue influence have been taken up for discussion in chapter V. Before the actual dissertation work started, a students’ questionnaire was prepared and distributed to the informants to gather basic data. The results have been discussed in the V with a brief analysis about the study of MT impact in English language learners had been discussed in Chapter Four.
With so many Englishes around the word -
British English, American
English, African English, Sri Lankan English, West Indian English, Canadian English
-
the Tamil speaking EL learners are beset with so many linguistic
problems. Second language studies around the world have been going on for many decades – specially for the last thirty or forty years. Production of English sounds create much difficulty to the TSUGS. The difference between the L1 and L2 make a great dent in the SLA. As it has been pointed earlier, there are more differences between the sounds of Tamil and English languages than similarities. Some of the major points have been briefly discussed for the convenience of scholars to understand the areas which cause much problem to the SL learners.
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If the teachers of English language focus on the following areas of grammar , the SL learners would derive a great advantage . The differences are in almost all the areas of grammar and linguistics. What a SL teacher should look for while teaching English as a SL is the linguistic difference between the L1 and L2. They may be in
alphabets , sounds, spelling, stress, intonation, semantic, syntactic,
morphological and style. The SL learners should be made aware of the fact that there are too many letters (247) in Tamil while English has only 26 letters. And there are 247 sounds in Tamil while English has 44 sounds The SL learners should have clear cut ideas about Tamil and English sounds and letters before proceeding to learn both written and spoken English.
That the 247 letters have clear-cut ideas that well-defined pronunciation pattern is available in Tamil language
while English has 20 vowels and 24
consonants with variations from very slight to slight modulation. Some remedial measures may be taken to focus their learning process on the rules of pronunciation. Pronunciation rules are not static. Pronunciation could change in English language.
The second language
learners of Tamil speaking students are not exposed to British English (RP) but also North American English which is also in vogue for a long time with many words being used in day-today life like ‘pants’ not ‘trousers’. In addition, there are regional dialects. Hence, the SL learners are in great confusion in adopting a standard dialect. The SL learners should be aware that the first major difference between these two languages is its vowel and consonant sound pattern.
Tamil is a language which adheres to its letter for its sound. There is not much variation between the alphabets and the corresponding sounds. One must note that what speaks is written as record and what one writes is spoken. How and what should be spoken or written is the grammar part and its linguistics rules and regulations. As far Tamil language is concerned, there are 247 letters with 247
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sounds. The types of letters and their corresponding sounds have been discussed in detail in other parts of the thesis. It must be noted that as far English is concerned, it does not adhere to its own grammar and linguistic rules and regulations. It gives rules and violates them, too. One rule tells the learners to change the word from leaf to leaves from singular to plural if the singular word ends with ‘f’. But it forbids the learners to change the ‘f’ letter to -ves for plural in some cases such as in ‘ kerchief ‘ . In this case, the rule tell the learner to add just ‘s’ to change from singular to plural. This oddity is only one of the examples while there are hundreds of rules and regulations and hundreds of exceptions.
Or one can venture to say that each
grammar rule has at least one exception. This exception is the confusing factor which inhibit the second language learners while they try to acquire some proficiency in English language skills. The teacher of English language who teaches English as Second language should highlight the intricate spelling rules poses another major linguistic problem to Tamil speaking learners of English language . Pronunciation is one of the crucial factor which is the stumbling block in the way of English language learning. Mute letters cause a lot problems to Tamil speaking English language learners. The letter ‘h’ should be pronounced in some words but in others. An hour is ‘an ou(r)’ while honour is ‘honor’. Vehicle is not vehicle but ‘veicle’. The letter ‘B’ is always pronounced but not in all occasions like’ comb’ but this is ‘com’, coup is not coup but it is ‘cou’. The verb pattern of English is a big cause for confusion. The regular verb, irregular verb, modal verb, auxiliary verb, be verb, conditional verb - all pose a big problem to second language learners. Unlike in Tamil language, there are two stresses viz., primary stress and secondary stress in English language.
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The meaning of a word changes according to the stress. It also decides the grammatical unit- if the word is verb or noun. As in the case of ‘conduct’, CONduct (noun ) or conDUCT (verb). There are more confusion, too. Intonation also changes the meaning. In Tamil language, there is no such thing as stress or intonation which determine the meaning of a word or sentence.
As for pronunciation is concerned, there are words which are voiced or voiceless in English language. Tamil has no voiced or voiceless words. There is assimilation in
English language.
Some words are lost in the process of
assimilation Since English is the international language, new concepts and ideas are published in it.
Most of the scientific and technological advancements find place in English. Even international treaties and co-operations are singed in English language. The user-manual and other information about new devices, gadgets, machines, are explained new inventions and discoveries are published
in English language.
Naturally other languages including Tamil try to catch up with the new concepts. In the melee, the damage is done to the native languages. The purists of native languages are so provincial and narrow-minded that every new thing should be translated into their tongues. In the translation, some analogues are being found but most of the technical terms cannot substitute the original words from which the names of device or things are borrowed. For example, the computer is translated in Tamil as mouse is translated as
(Kanani) and the
(eli)! The Tamil speaking students armed with such
translation approach English as a Second Language. There are a lot of confusion if it is mouse or eli. In Tamil language , eli means mouse. But could mouse could substitute eli, which cannot be translated for a computer device. Translation could be done for certain concepts and ideas. Processes could be translated in steps to explain, to illustrate and make the non-native speakers to understand.
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If all devices are translated into native languages, there will be nothing only confusion. For more illustration, a simple process needs to be explained in Tamil. If the English command tells the user to press the right side of the mouse (device), the same process, if translated into Tamil, would make the learner to have a good time in the classroom but without any learning. Look at the example: In English , the command is : press the mouse on the right side to select a word. Now the translation for this command in Tamil is:
(oru vaarththaiyai thErnthu edukka eliyin valathu puRaththai amukkavum).
This is but only one instance. In a language, there are countless examples like this while language purists insist on word by word translation or literal translation for even devices. New gadgets could not be translated in every native language.
But Tamil language students who like to acquire some proficiency in English face this strange problem. Hence, the informants should be aware of these manholes while they tread the path of language learning in a Target Language. This differentiation must be borne in mind by the Tamil speaking second language learners. In this confusing linguistic scenario, the second language learners. Compound words made up of various combinations of words such as :
Noun+Verb
-
Noun+Gerund
-
(sleep+walking=sleepwalking)
Gerund+Noun
-
(walking+stick=walkingstick),
Noun+Noun
-
(post+man=postman),
Noun+Adjective
-
(heart+less= heartless),
Preposition+Noun
-
(top+up=topup)
(air+dash=airdash),
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Another confusing aspect for the second language learner is the attempt to translate many of the things which are actually highly untranslatable as they mean something and are referred to them metaphorically. Brass is a metal. It is used for making musical instruments. Medals are made of brass also. Taking these things into account, there is a usage using brass for people of great importance like the metal.
Hence, they are called top brass. For example, The Prime Minister met the top brass in the police department to discuss the law and order situation in country.If translated into English, this might turn out to be one of the silliest translation. The quality of the metal can not be ascribed to the police officers in translation but the quality of the metal may be applied to them metaphorically. So, the Tamil speaking learners quite often face this problem. There is something called sense in every language. Grammar of a language could be translated and understood. Morphological and phonological aspects of a language could be learnt by SL learners. But the cultural heritage, the historical aspect of a language, the music and rhythm of a language could not be learnt by simply memorising rules and regulations of a foreign tongue. In addition, the sociocultural, political aspects of a language should not be forgotten.
Reading a sentence and translating them into the mother tongue might be an easy task but comprehending the underlying meaning – both textual and sub-textual is paramount on the part of the second language learners. In this instance, the mother tongue works both as strength and weakness. More of weakness than strength is what one’s mother tongue does to a second language learner. In spite of all these linguistic bottlenecks, there are gains if one succeeds in acquiring a working knowledge of a foreign tongue such as English. Every day research findings are being published. The research findings suggest ways and means to improve English as Second Language. In the globalized context, no one can afford to avoid the process of acquiring some knowledge in English as second or third language.
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Hence, the research scholars and linguists and language experts come out new theories, approaches, methodologies and ingenious devices to overcome the linguistic bottlenecks among the second language learners. In India many research papers are being published to uncover the errors committed by the SL learners. In Tamil in particular, the SL research has been going on for a number of years. Using SL theories propounded by SL experts – Selinker, Corder, Stephen Krashen, etc.,- the English language teachers have come out new findings in the area of error analysis and remedial measures. Before suggesting for further research, the pitfalls of SL theories may be taken up for discussion briefly. Are the SL theories are foolproof ones? Are they the touchstones of Error analysis and Mother tongue Impact ? Are these theories infallible ? what are the strength and weakness of these SL theories?
Many linguists are bitter critics of these SL theories propounded by these famous second language experts. Among the common areas of error analysis , instead of taking up the four major fields of linguistics – morphology, phonology, syntax and semantics, one area could be taken and the errors could be analyzed. The four linguistic fields could not separated as they are overlapping in some cases. But the relationship between two areas could be taken up for research and the error analysis could done in a systematic manner. Error analysis is being done normally within the classroom situations. The context may be changed and the topic of error analysis may also be changed. For example, error analysis of second language speakers among doctors ( Errors in Medical English ), lawyers, judges ( Judicial English or Legal English ), engineers ( Technical English ), Errors committed in various contexts could be taken up for research to help devise new strategies to avoid them. Computational linguistics and Forensic linguistics are the new areas which call for intensive research.
With a lot of speech soft wares (the Text-to-Speech soft wares) such as Adobe Reader, Microsoft Reader, Google Reader, IBM Via Voice, the linguistic field is set to scale great heights. With internet becoming a common facility
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accessible by anyone and everyone at any place with Wi-Fi facilities at Railway Stations, Bus Stations, Air Ports, Cafes, Restaurants, Hotels etc.,, more and more soft wares are needed to provide choices to consumers or end-users such as teachers , students, doctors, engineers, etc., Hence, computational linguistics could be taken up for research. SLA provide ample opportunities for research topics. There are a number of unexplored linguistic areas in foreign language acquisition. Hence, the language teachers should look for new and innovative topics for language research. While teaching English as SL what the teachers of SL should explain to the SL learners is the matrix of language which they are going to study. Generally Language is a means of communication and self-expression. It is arbitrary, noninstinctive; conventional , symbolic, systematic , vocal and a form of social behavior. Even though animals use some sort of language to communicate among themselves by making sounds and body language, language is basically human. It is generally agreed that it is open-ended, extendable and modifiable. It is also structurally complex. Hence, the second language learners find the learning process somewhat cumbersome.
Aristotle called the speech as the representation of the experience of the mind. Sapir, one of the language exponents , called speech as human and noninstinctive method of communication ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols. While SLA is taken up for analytical critique, one must always bear in mind that acquisition of a language after some period of time - especially after one’s adult life - becomes an unenviable task for SL learners.
While First Language Acquisition (FLA)
or Mother Tongue
Acquisition (MTA) is a natural process, SLA is not so on various counts. In other words, FL is acquired without conscious effort on the part of the learners while SLA is a conscious effort. Hence, the teachers of English who teach English as a second language may not be in a position to make the SL learners to acquire it perfectly. They may make them to learn it to communicate in a proper way. Chapter
VI amply explains with adequate illustrations about
learning
difficulties of the Tamil Speaking Under-Graduate students of Arts and Science colleges in Madurai district. The difference between these two languages have been adequately explained as the main cause of the linguistic disability on the part of the TSUGS of Madurai district.
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But there is always the force of nature which require human beings to adopt and adapt including acquisition of a second language. English being the harbinger of prosperity for the third world students, one cannot ignore the teaching of English as second language. What the SL teachers should remember is to provide ample opportunities and ambience for successful learning process. Categorization of class room activities are pivotal for successful SL learning. The findings of this dissertation work would go a long way for further research regarding the MTI with regard to English as Second Language(ESL). The suggestions and remedial measures given at the end would definetly help the SL learners to come over the inhibition and show an excellent performance in the production of both Written and Spoken English.
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