Linguistic Analysis Project (RUBRIC): (50pts) Student will analyze and compare the marked and similar lexographic, phonetic and grammatical features of a chosen language and
English to demonstrate an understanding of English as a language system (phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics) to support ELLs. (ESOL 2010 - Domain 2,
Standard 1; 2.2.b., 2.2.d.)
Standard 1: Language as a System
Teachers will demonstrate understanding of language as a system, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics; support ELLs ’ acquisition of English in order to learn and to read, write, and communicate orally in English.
2.2.b. Recognize the importance of ELLs ’ home languages and language varieties, and build on these skills as a foundation for learning English.
2.2.d. Understand and apply knowledge of the role of individual learner variables in the process of learning English as a second language.
Directions: Linguistic Analysis Project (Submit in LiveText)
You have interviewed someone from a different culture for your Cultural Interview
Assignment, for your Parent Connection Research Paper you will research cultural practices in regards to schooling that may affect parental involvement for that culture.
Now, using the language that corresponds to the culture you chose for those two projects, you are going investigate the differences between that language and English. This will give you a deep picture of that particular culture and its language and allow you to plan culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate instruction for a student from that place of origin and L1.
For this assignment you will complete the “ Linguistic Analysis ” worksheet .doc. In order to complete it correctly you must complete independent research on your language. The websites below will be helpful to jumpstart your research.
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/index.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/non-native-pronunciations-of-english http://accent.gmu.edu/ http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profile.aspx?menu=004
Also use google and keyword searches such as:
“
Differences between English and ______
”
“ English vs. _______ ”
“ Contrastive analysis of English and ______ ”
“ Comparing English and _________ “
Note: When you are a teacher and have your own classroom these are the first questions in regards to language differences you have to ask yourself to begin instruction. Remember L1 literacy transfers to L2. We can facilitate this process when we understand the similarities between the L1 and L2 and teach at the gaps. If we know what stumbling blocks and difficult points will be, we can react proactively. However, Contrastive Analysis, the approach of predicting all learner errors based on the L1 is no more than 30% effective. Therefore, this is

only one consideration in language teaching. You may want to save this worksheet in your
"teacher resources" file for future use.

Your Name Melissa Kovacs
LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS WORKSHEET (25 questions)
Directions: Fill in the blank with the correct answer or highlight/underline the correct choice for each item.
1.Language of Investigation- Spanish
2. What places of origin (countries, regions, cities) is this language primarily spoken ? Cuba,
Mexico, Spain, Bolivia . Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile,
Dominican Republic,_ Nicaragua, and Uruguay.
3. This closest/ most similar language to this language is Portuguese.
4. Approximately, how many speakers are there globally of this language? About 500 million people.
Alphabet: Orthography
5. This language has which type of alphabet? a0 Latin (every sign has a single sound) X b0 Syllabic (every sign represents a whole syllable) c0 Logographic (each sign represents and entire word)
6. This language reads in which directions: a0 LEFT to RIGHT, UP to DOWN X b0 RIGHT to LEFT, DOWN to UP c0 RIGHT to LEFT, UP to DOWN d0 LEFT to RIGHT, DOWN to UP
7. The letters/ characters of this alphabet are of which language family? a0 Indo-European X b0 Sino-Tibetan c0 Semitic d0 Bantu e. Uralic f. Dravidian g. Austonesian h. Altic
8. Does this language depend primarily on tone or pitch? a0 Yes b0 No X
Phonetics and Phonology:
9. What sounds are specific to this language, but are not present in English? _ / ñ/ /cc/, /rr/.
10. What sounds are found in English, but are not found in this language? _ We have seven more vowel sounds than Spanish, /h/ is different and b and v are often confused in sound as are s and z.
11.
What sounds do speakers of this language have difficulty pronouncing in English? The letters b,v,s, and certain vowels like a, e, I and the consonants h, j, r, y.

Syntax and Grammar:
12. The word order of this language is a. Verb, subject, object (VSO) b. Subject, verb, object (SVO X c0 Object, verb, subject (OVS) d. Verb, object, subject (VOS) e. Subject, object, verb (SOV) f. Lacks a dominant word order
13. Are there particular parts of speech that are represented differently (such as articles or prepositions)? Spanish post-modifies nouns.
14. How are tense and aspect indicated? Indicative group: Preterite Perfect, Preterite,
Pluperfect, Imperfect, Present Perfect, Present, Future, and Future Perfect.
Subjunctive group: Pluperfect, Imperfect, Present Perfect, Present, Conditional,
Conditional Perfect.
15. What are the punctuation forms used in this language? List using English comparisons.
Spanish/¿ ?/ = English /?/, Spanish/ ¡ !/ = English /!/, Spanish/ « »/ = English /”…”/, commas and periods are the same in Spanish and English.
16. How does this language mark gender?
Nouns ending in –sion, -cion, -gion, -dad, -tad, -tud, e, z, and d are usually feminine, nouns preceded by ‘la’ are feminine; nouns preceded by ‘el’ are masculine, masculine nouns generally end in /o/; feminine generally end in /a/, and nouns ending in
–ma, -ta, and –pa are usually masculine.
Morphology: Remember that cognates have the same origin; they are not simply words that sound alike.
17. If there are some shared cognates between English and this language, what are they?
If not, why not? There are many cognates between Spanish and English. Some examples are : animal/animal, doctor/doctor, list/lista, and activity/actividad.
18. If there are some FALSE cognates between English and this language, what are they?
If not, why not? There are several false cognates as well such as: asistar in Spanish does not mean assist it means attend, decepción does not mean deception it means disappointment.
Semantics:
19. How is formality or respect expressed? _ There are more formal uses for the word you depending on whom you are addressing: _ usted (singular, formal), ustedes (plural, formal).
20. What is an informal expression in this language? What is the English translation/meaning? ¿Qué tal?
= How's it going?
Pragmatics:
21. What is the common expression for greetings? (In English, we ask “How are you?”) Cómo estás? How are you?(informal)
22. Are there certain topics that are considered inappropriate or forbidden? I could not find

any.
Teaching Implications:
23. Through your research what have you found are the biggest difficulties of speakers of this language learning English? Please provide specific examples. Some of biggest difficulties I think for ELLs would be just in pronunciation alone as well and understanding vowel differences. For vowel differences I mean that Spanish have one sound per vowel and we have several, like long and short sounds per vowel at least.
24. If you have an early production ELL who this language is their L1, what would be the most important thing you will teach them in regards to the difference between their language and
English? I think the first thing to work on with that ELL would be letter to sound correlation. What I mean is breaking down the letter and sound differences, instead of focusing on the entire alphabet, I would focus on the letters that are different and reviewing the sounds each make and try and work on the pronunciation.
25. What would you expect to be ongoing difficulties for intermediate ELLs who this is there
L1? What areas would you still need to address even after they had mastered social English?
I am sure that pronunciation would still be an issue with the ELL so I would continue to work on that. I would also work more on syllable breakups, grammar, and the concept of possession.