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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING-A DISCOURSE OF HAUSA AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
This chapter consists of the general background of the study, statement of the research problem, aim and objectives, research questions, significance of the study, scope and delimitation, and definition of operational terms and abbreviations.
1.2 Background to the Study
In the process of learning a second language by the second language learners, there is every possibility for the first language of the learners, which had already become part and parcel of their (the learners) communicative competence, to interfere with the second language which is being learnt. The interference could come at any level during the learning procedures; it could be at the level of phonology, semantic, syntactic or even all of them and at any learning stage. The learners are already engrossed by the exposition of the first language and may tend to apply the same rules in the formation and usages of the new language which is being learnt, English question tags in this case.
Generally speaking, question tag is seen as a short question tagged on to the end of a statement (declarative or imperative sentence). Some languages have an invariable question tag that can be added to almost any statement. For example: French uses, “n’est-ce pas?”as the added tag question meaning, (isn’t it?) in English; Spanish uses, “verdad?” as the tag question, meaning, (truly?) in English. In IndE and some other varieties, “isn‟t it?” is used in this way (You are going tomorrow, isn’t it?), while “yes?” and “no?” as the question tags are used for confirmation (―You are coming, yes?”, “She is going there, no?”). In many kinds of English, an enclitic tag, (an enclitic is a word pronounced with so little emphasis that it is shortened and
forms part of the preceding word, for example n’t in can’t). An enclitic tag is used for confirmation and other purposes example, “eh?” is a shibboleth of CanE and common in BrE (You like that kind of thing, eh?), and in some varieties of ScoE, “eh no?” is common (You’re coming as well, eh no?—meaning “aren’t you?”). Many AmE speakers use “huh?” or “uh?” (You‘re coming, huh?). Other common informal tags are “right?” And “ok?” (He’ll be there, right? I’ll see you soon, OK?). (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 26/8/15)
Furthermore, from what has been seen above, there is influence of a learner‘s first language in learning a second language; this influence is often called transfer or interference.
―The influence of a learner‘s first language knowledge in the second language‖ is called transfer or interference, as stated by Lightbown and Spada, (2008, p.205). It is important to note, at this juncture that, the transfer or interference of the learners‘ first language could be classified as either being positive or negative one. Positive transfer refers to a situation when a structure or rule from the first language (L1) aids in the production of correct utterance in the second language (L2), and a negative transfer occurs when a structure or rule from the L1 to the L2 produces an incorrect or inappropriate utterance in the L2. Thus, the English question tags are not exceptional, that is to say, to some extent it may either be negatively or positively influenced or both by the first language of the target population, as will be seen in due course exhibited by the target population, Nigeria Certificate in Education Hausa learners of English as a second language at the Federal College of Education, Zaria which is the study area.
In the same development, an English question tag or English tag question (also known as tail question) is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question. Example, “He is a teacher, isn‟t he? Meaning, “…isn‟t he a teacher?” That is, question tag is a shortened/truncated version of the original statement. The statement,
“He is a teacher” is turned into a question by the “tag”, “isn‟t he?” The term ―question tag‖ is generally used by the British grammarians, while their American counterparts prefer ―tag question‖. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 26/8/15)
1.3 Statement of the Research Problem
Question tags or tag questions will be shortened ―QTs‖ for the plural form of the question tags and ―QT‖ for its singular form. QTs are virtually found in every language. However, in some languages, they (QTs) have the same form, structure and meaning as in the English language for example, Hausa language, Yoruba language and Igbo language, while other languages have their own peculiar form, structure and meaning (other than that of the English language). For example, French uses, “n’est-ce pas?” meaning “isn‟t it?” Spanish uses, “verdad?” as the tag question, meaning, (truly?) in English. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 26/8/15)
Question tags are of different types, the most popular ones are the polarity types in which positive statements take negative tags and negative statements go with the positive tags. For example, “He ought to go, oughtn‟t he?” “She didn‟t wash all the dirty clothes, did she?” Standard English throughout the world requires the question tag to correspond to the subject and verb of the preceding sentence. Such tags consist of a single-word verb (be or have as main verbs, an auxiliary, or a modal) plus a subject pronoun, as in, “It’s a nice day today, isn’t it?”, ―You have enough books, haven’t you?” (especially BrE) and ―You have enough books, don’t you?” (especially AmE), ―She went home last night, didn’t she?”, and ―You could help if you wanted, couldn’t you?” Question tags are normally negative after a positive statement, and vice versa. When spoken on the rising tone of yes–no questions, they may
genuinely be asking for information or be expressing surprise or uncertainty: ―You’re not going to tell them, are you?” However, tags are more usually spoken on the falling intonation of statements, to invite or expect agreement with the preceding statement: ―Lovely day we’re having, aren’t we?”; ―It’s been a mild winter, hasn’t it?” Question tags can also be used with imperatives: ―Wait a minute, will you?”; ―Send us a postcard, won’t you?”; ―Let’s go together, shall we?” Another possibility is for the tag to agree with a subordinate clause: ―I don’t think they’ll come now, will they?”; ―That’s a nice mess you’ve got us into, haven’t you?” Occasionally, a positive statement is followed by a positive tag, with a rising intonation. This may simply signify an inference or even a request for clarification (He’ll be 21 next year, will he?), but the structure often suggests sarcasm or suspicion: So he’s innocent, is he?; It fell off the back of a truck, did it? (implication: I doubt that very much). (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 26/8/15)
Furthermore, in addition to the polarity types, some positive statements could bear positive tags while negative ones could as well carry the negative tags. For example, “You will come with me, will you?‟ and “She wouldn‟t wash the clothes, wouldn‟t she?” respectively.
In the light of the above, learners of any language are likely to have or face one problem or the other due to structural differences between their first language and the language they are learning. This is because of the assertion that no two languages are exactly the same. Languages may vary at all levels of linguistic analysis. Hence, English question tags might not be an exception. The Hausa learners of English as a second language, that is, the target population may face problem in understanding and using these kinds of question tags whose tags endings are rarely found in Hausa language. For example, “You will come with me, will you?” and “She wouldn‟t wash the clothes, wouldn‟t she?”
1.4 Aim and Objectives
The study aims at examining the problems in the use of English question tags used by the Hausa learners of English as a second language, that is, target population as posed by the first language in the formation and use of the English question tags by looking at the form, structure and meaning. The specific objectives of this study are:
i. To identify the possible causes of the first language interference of the Hausa learners of English as a second language in use of English question tags.
ii. To identify the types of language interference.
iii. To examine why this problem exist.
iv. To examine the effects of the first language interference in the use of English question tags of the Hausa learners of English as a second language.
1.5 Research Questions
This study attempts to answer the following (research) questions:
i. What are the possible causes of the first language interference of the Hausa learners of English as a second language in the use of English question tags?
ii. What are the types of language interference?
iii. Why does this problem exist?
iv. What are the effects of the first language interference in the use of English question tags of the Hausa learners of English as a second language?
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is set out to identify the extent of the interference of the first language in the use of the English question tags by the Hausa learners of English as a second language, the target
population, why the problem exists and the effects of the first language interference in the use of English question tags of the Hausa learners of English as a second language. Several linguists have written and expounded QTs from the perspectives of definition, rules governing their formation and giving some illustrations to uphold their stand. Among these scholars are (Forrest, 1977), (Ubahakwe & Sogbesan, 2001, p.82). These earlier studies are focused on definitions, rules governing the formation and illustrations of the QTs. For example,
Forrest (1977, p.65) discusses question tag by firstly, explaining what question tag is, ―in conversation we sometimes ask a question not because we need information but confirmation of what we already know. We want the person addressed to agree with us. To do this we add a question tag to a statement.‖
Examples:
You like history, don‟t you? (Affirmative statement—negative tag). You don‟t like history, do you? (Negative statement—positive)
The tense of the tag corresponds to the tense of the statement: You will read the text, won‟t you? (Simple future tense)
You were reading the text, weren‟t you? (Past Continuous tense) You didn‟t read the text, did you? (Simple Past)
Nearly all the auxiliaries in statements repeat themselves in the tags: He shouldn‟t harm the animals, should he?
She must sweep the room, mustn‟t she? He could make it, couldn‟t he?
In exceptional cases, ―need‘‘ and ―dare‘‘ used affirmatively in the statement are not repeated in the tag:
We need to buy a new cell phone, don‟t we? He dared to play with a snake, didn‟t he?
He used to drive an expensive car, didn‟t he?
An imperative can be made into less of a command and more of a request by the addition of an affirmative tag in the future tense.
Let us bury the hatchet, shall we?
Close the gate, will you? Pass me the salt, will you?
Finally, note that since QT is majorly used in a conversation. The shortened conversational form of the negative (don‘t, won‘t, hadn‘t, etc) is required. Forrest however remains silent on some of the types of the QTs, such as the facilitative, challenging etc. He (Forest, 1977 p. 65) also remains silent on the issue of importance of the QTs. He has not discussed the interference of the mother tongue in the formation of the question tags. Despite the omission of the afore-mentioned areas, the work is still relevant to the present work in as much as it defines QTs discusses some types of the QTs and their ways of formation other than what have been discussed by some of the scholars.
Ubahakwe & Sogbesan, 2001, p.82 say, tag questions are very close to the „yes-no‟ questions in that their answers start with yes or no tag questions are attached to statements and give indication of the type of answer expected. A positive statement is followed by a negative tag question and vice-versa. When a negative tag question follows a positive statement an affirmative (yes) answer is expected. E.g.
i. Question: You have seen Emeka, haven‟t you?
Expected answer: Yes I have.
Where the expectation is wrong, the answer will be No, I haven‟t.
ii. Question: You didn‟t take part in the riot, did you?
Expected answer: No, I didn‟t.
Where the expectation is wrong, the answer will be Yes, I did.
Other Questions
iii. They haven‟t a right to go to court, don‟t they?
iv. He can give account of himself, can‟t he?
v. We are entitled to overnight allowance, aren‟t we?
vi. You don‟t have to invite the police, do you?
vii. She hasn‟t left town finally, has she?
viii. The armed robbers didn‟t kill anybody in that house, did they?
They are of the view that a positive statement should be followed by a negative tag question and vice versa. They did not discuss the influence of the first language on the learning of the second language and have not touched other forms of question tags. In addition, their uses and processes of formation of the tag question were not explained.
This study intends to bridge the gap created by the earlier studies. In this regard, it tries to adopt another approach by Corder (1965); the approach is error analysis approach as will be discussed in due course. However, this study will hopefully open up new area or areas of interest to the linguists and serve as a reference material to the students of grammar and other related language studies by looking at the inter-relationship between first language and the target language in use of the English QTs.
1.7 Scope and Delimitation
This study is limited to identifying the extent to which the first language influences the performance of the learners of English as a second language in the use of English question tags, and describing some of the performance of the target population (Nigeria Certificate in Education Hausa students in Federal College of Education, Zaria) in their verbal and written communications. It also tries to explain some corrective measures in this direction. The analysis is based on the error analysis approach which identifies the errors made by the learners of English as a second language and tries to establish the role of the first language in the second language acquisition/learning.
1.8 Definition of Operational Terms and Abbreviations
This section attempts to define some words that may be misunderstood, which have been used in the course of this write-up. The essence of this is to avoid the misconceptions about some words in the course of reading this work:
Target population as used in this write-up stands for Hausa students under study i.e.
Nigeria Certificate in Education Hausa students at the Federal College of Education, Zaria.
Frequency stands for the rate of occurrence of something as used in this context.
Bilingualism is the ability to use two languages, not necessarily with equal proficiency by the bilingual(s).
Superordinate clause stands for main, stem, principal or major clause.
Target population stands for Hausa learners of English as second language as used in this study.
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