Learning German after English - the Effect of Cognates in a Translation Task without Explicit Instruction

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Učenje njemačkog nakon engleskog - utjecaj kognata na prevođenje bez izravnog poučavanja
• Author: Lucija Sokač
• Mentor: Stela Letica Krevelj (mentor)
• Mentor: Aleksandra Ščukanec (mentor)
• Committee member: Stela Letica Krevelj (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Aleksandra Ščukanec (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Renata Geld (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of German language and literature); Zagreb
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2021-07-05, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Interdisciplinary Humanistic Studies; Teaching Methods in the Humanistic Sciences
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; German Studies

Abstract

In the current environment of widespread multilingualism and learning multiple languages in and outside of educational contexts, crosslinguistic influence occurs frequently. Although its effects can be used to enhance the efficiency of the learning and teaching process (Hufeisen & Neuner, 2003b), there is still some hesitation among teachers to integrate other languages into their classes.
This study attempts to discover whether Croatian learners of German as a third language can use their knowledge of English to translate unknown English-German cognates into Croatian. In order to collect the necessary data, a study was conducted consisting of a language background questionnaire and a translation task. The participants were 39 students (learners of English and German) in the eighth grade of an elementary school in Zagreb. The translation task results showed a low percentage of correctly translated cognates. Out of 30 cognates, only a fraction of them were more likely to be translated correctly by all participants. Most cognates had either a very low correct translation rate or were not translated correctly at all. However, the percentage of translation attempts based on similarities between words was very high, indicating that participants were trying to make use of English and other background languages when guessing the meaning of the unknown words. When comparing the results with the information gained through the language background questionnaire, no obvious patterns could be determined.
The results suggested the existence of the facilitative potential of crosslinguistic influence in the translation task. Furthermore, the results opened additional research questions regarding cognates and the effects of CLI, both positive and negative, as well as the influence of individual differences on CLI. This study offers tentative evidence that teachers should not shy away from using another language in their classroom to help their learners acquire German as a third language.

• Keywords: third language acquisition; tertiary didactics; cognates; crosslinguistic influence
• Language: english
• Language: german
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:248732
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: TEFL; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra edukacije engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra edukacije engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Study programme: Title: German Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Teaching, Cultural Studies, Translation; Course: Teaching; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra edukacije njemačkog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra edukacije njemačkog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2021-07-07 08:37:39