Data Analysis and

Language ComparisonSummer Schoenberg

ESL 502

Background InformationName: Rodrigo ZamaollaOrigin: Arequipa, PeruNative Language: SpanishAge: 19 years oldGrade: 12th

Family: mother, father and two brothersFuture plans: to attend Penn State University

and major in Mechanical Engineering

Difficulties he has had in learning English

Words with multiple meanings in Spanish but a singular meaning in EnglishSpanish en can mean in, on, at or by; English

uses those four specific words for different situations

Spanish hacer means to do or to make and he often isn’t sure whether to use the English “do” or “make”, such as, “I make my homework as soon as I get home”

ContractionsIn Spanish there are only two contractions: a +

el combines to al (to the or at the) and de + el combines to form del (of the or from the)

He was completely unaware of words such as I’m, won’t, isn’t, doesn’t, shouldn’t, etc.

Pronunciation for him was difficult with the last consonant of each of these

Errors made

during interview

…

Preposition ErrorsStudent Error Correct Form

I go at the movies I go to the movies

My brother is at a trip My brother is on a trip

It depends of what school It depends on what school

I go in car to school I go to school by car

This student blatantly told me he has a lot of trouble with prepositions in English. The reason for this is because in Spanish, one preposition can mean many different things. So, when you see en carro in Spanish, it doesn’t literally mean in car but rather by car as en can have multiple meanings. Some uses can get translated to in, some can get translated to by, some can get translated to in. He said he has a hard time memorizing which prepositions are used when and that many times he just uses what he thinks sounds right, or someone will correct him.

Contraction ErrorsStudent Error Correct Form

I amn’t going I’m not going or I am not going

(General unfamiliarity with contractions in English)

He also was totally unfamiliar with English contractions when he began school here back in the fall. As I stated earlier, this student sought me out to ask for help with his biography for the yearbook. When I translated something to the English “I’m”, he asked “What’s that?”. I explained to him it is a contraction similar to how a + el combines to form al in Spanish. He understood it and then asked if there were more. In Spanish there are only two, which deal with combining prepositions and definite articles. In English, we combine two or more words, usually containing a verb so this is totally unfamiliar to Spanish speakers. This would be an example of rules in his L1 not corresponding with grammatical rules in his L2.

Past Tense ErrorsStudent Error Correct Form

I were there once too I was there once too

I get a good grade I got a good grade

She gived me 2 books She gave me 2 books

Past tense verbs also presented a challenge to this student. Mainly, the irregular past tense endings proved problematic. He would often generalize the –ed rule and apply to verbs that are actually irregular in the past tense. In Spanish, to form different tenses of verbs, you always start with the stem then have a specific set of endings and although there are irregularities, the rules are more general than they are in English.

Word Order ErrorsStudent Error Correct FormIt is to see very It is very

interesting to interesting the parade see the parade

She makes me very much She makes me study

study much/ a lot

Vacations excite me for summer Vacations make me

excited for summer

Upon interviewing this student, I anticipated many word order errors as many Spanish speakers tend to struggle with this. They often leave out articles or reverse word order as their L1 grammatical rules can interfere with their L2.

Pronunciation ErrorsIntended word Student Error Correct Formit /iːt/ /ɪt/is /iːz/ / ɪz/fit /fiːt/ /fɪːt/hot /hot/ / hɑt/study /stɛdi/ /stədi/excited /ɛgsajtəd/ /ɪksajtəd/fit /fit/ /fɪt/

as /əs/ /æz/isn’t /izənt /ɪzənt/vacation /vekəʃən/ /vekeʃən/read /riːd/ /red/

Although he has been studying English for many years, he still has a pretty thick accent that sometimes makes his speech incomprehensible to those who are unfamiliar with the Spanish language. I was aware that he would have trouble with vowels, as they sound totally different in Spanish. My students that are taking Spanish have this same issue and once they are able to memorize them and use them correctly, they are all set.

Other ErrorsStudent Errors Correct FormIsn’t it not that time yet? Is it not that

time yet?I don’t know nobody in that class I don’t know

anybody in that class

We both do the food at night We both make the food at night

Where are papers? Where are the papers?

Other errors included the use of double negatives since this is acceptable in the Spanish language. He also seems to neglect the use of quantifiers and articles.

Language ComparisonHere are some examples of some differences

between this student’s L1 and his L2You will notice how the differences between

the two caused much confusion

1. Spanish is phoneticWords in Spanish are usually pronounced

how they lookThere are no homophones (like maid/made)Spanish has 5 vowel and 5 diphthongsEnglish has 12 vowel sounds and 8

diphthongsVowels have a shorter sound in Spanish and

my student had trouble pronouncing vowels since they have multiple sounds, which for example, results in “it” sounding like “eat”

2. A subject is not needed in a Spanish sentenceVerbs in Spanish are derived from the

infinitive formEach subject has a specific ending depending

on the type of verb and verb tenseSo, the subject is clear just based on the

ending of the verb, once it is conjugatedThis student often omitted the subject such

as in the phrase “Is ok?” rather than “IS it ok?”

3. Spanish uses inflectionIn order to differentiate between gender (masculine

and feminine) and number (singular and plural), Spanish uses inflection for nouns and adjectives

This means where we have one word for “yellow”, they have four:Amarillo – used to describe something singular and

masculineAmarilla – used to describe something singular and

feminineAmarillos – used to describe something plural and

masculine or plural and both masculine and feminineAmarillas – used to describe something plural and

feminine

4. ContractionsOnly two exist in Spanish

A + el = alDe = el = delThis is done strictly for pronunciation purposes and does

not combine verbs like in English, but rather prepositions and definite articles

This student never formally learned contractions and was unfamiliar with words such as:I’mDon’tIsn’tDidn’t Wasn’t

According to the WIDA Can Do Descriptors,

this student would be classified at a level 4 with some abilities also at a level 5

Sources:

http://commed.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/10_common_ell_errors.pdf

http://www.bifroest.demon.co.uk/misc/homophones-list.html

 http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/spanish

.htm

http://www.wida.us/standards/CAN_DOs/index.aspx