Introduction to Contrastive Linguistics

Objective:
To make foreign language teaching more effective

Premises and key concepts:

Foreign language learning is based on the mother
tongue
Positive transfer: similarities facilitate learning
Negative transfer/Interference: differences cause problems
Problems can be predicted and considered in the
curriculum via contrastive analysis
A few historical facts about CL

CL (Contrastive Linguistics) is seen as an applied branch

of linguistics Applied Linguistics
Started from the assumption that it serves practical
purposes in foreign and second language teaching
Interest in CL declined however in the US

In Europe interest continued large contrastive projects

in the 1970s
Since 1990s corpus-based

Expanding field; theoretical and methodological interest

2 approaches in CL

1. a theoretical one less evident

2. an applied one with much more visible results

The objective is to detect and put together a set of issues

that are to be subsequently detailed through analytic
research the applied contrastive analysis.
Methodological steps

1. Description
Selection of items to be compared

Characterisation of items in terms of some language

independent theoretical model

2. Juxtaposition
Search for and identification of cross-linguistic equivalents

3. Comparison
Specification of degree and type of correspondence between

compared items
 Levels of description

Phonology
Morpho-Syntax / Grammar

Lexis

Pragmatics
Text / Discourse

'Culture'
 THE NOUN
There is one opposition that needs to be taken into account when contrastively
analysing the noun in English and Romanian: common noun/proper noun.

Nominal flexion doesn't really vary in English: a single noun form for all
grammatical cases in singular (Nom., Acc., Dative, Vocative) Consequently, it
is word order and context that are defining for determining the grammatical
case and function of the noun.

Nominal flexion in Romanian: with the help of defined, undefined articles,

or the 'zero' article

copilul
(pe) copil
copilului
(al) copilului
copile
the child
to the child
for the child
of the child/the child's

Conclusion: the place of the word in the sentence and the prepositions are
crucial.