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LINGUISTIC EXPERIENCE AND LINGUISTIC HABIT
Author(s) -
Shen Yao
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1962.tb00035.x
Subject(s) - habit , linguistics , citation , psychology , linguistic analysis , spanish language , philosophy , library science , computer science , social psychology
Time and again teachers of foreign languages a re reminded of the importance of being aware of the difference between languages, for differences constitute learning problems. And different native languages can constitute different learning problems in learning the same foreign language. Some attention has also been given to the all-too-often neglected importance of seeking possible differences within "similarities," for "similarities" have been found to be "differences" and therefore they too constitute problems. This article attempts to show further some of the intricate relationships between "similarities" and "differences" among languages. Examples used here are the voiceless and voiced bilabial, alveolar (dental), and velar stops in final position. The foreign language is English. The native languages a re Tagalog, Javanese, Thai, Mandarin, and Japanese. We shall now examine the learning problems involved when native speakers of these five languages produce the six stops in final position in English, with special attention to the voiced velar stop /g/.l There a re pairs of words in English that are semantically and linguistically different. The minimal phonological difference is voicing. As far as the six stops in English are concerned, this minimal difference can occur initially, intervocalically, and finally (though these a re not of course the only possibilities). For example: