Language transfer

Article summary

Language transfer is the application of linguistic features from one language to another by a bilingual or multilingual speaker and may occur across both languages in the acquisition of a simultaneous bilingual. It may also occur from a mature speaker's first language (L1) to a second language (L2) they are acquiring, or from an L2 back to the L1. Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, and crosslinguistic influence) is most commonly discussed in the context of English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation when someone does not have a native-level command of any target language, as when translating into a second language. Language transfer is also a common topic in bilingual child language acquisition as it occurs frequently in bilingual children especially when one language is dominant.

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