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This is an overview of the difficulties Spanish speakers have when learning EnglishTRANSCRIPT
When Spanish Speakers Learn English: The trials and tribulations of learning a second language
by: Rebecca Yares
Outline
List of the issues that Spanish speakers have with learning English
Explanation of each issue
Possible exercises and ideas for effective instruction
Summary
Common Errors Made by Spanish Speakers
Learning EnglishUse of present tense
for past tense
Underdeveloped Contractions
Article Omitted
Improper subject/Verb number
Third person subject omitted
Omitted preposition
Improper pronoun
(Baca Moore et al. 1979)
Use of present tense for Past tense
Spanish does not have consonant clusters
Spanish’s past tense (the preterit) normally ends in vowels or ‘s’
Final consonant clusters (-ed in English) may be deleted from an Spanish English learner this causes confusion and loses the past tense
meaning in English
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Underdeveloped Contractions
There are no contractions in Spanish so there is some initial confusion when learning this function
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Article Omitted
In Spanish, indefinite articles are sometimes omitted and so speakers will omit them in English where this normally occurs. i.e. Soy estudiante (I am a student) A Spanish speaker may say “I am student”
In correct use of the indefinite article before mass nouns such as “He has a chalk” since this is not a mass noun in Spanish
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Improper subject/verb number
There are many irregular verb forms in the English language Difficulty in learning these may occur because
of the sheer number of them
In Spanish the first and second person pronouns are usually omitted because the number and tense is placed on the end of the verb This de-emphazises the importance of the
subject/verb relation to the Spanish speaker
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Third person subject omitted
Spanish omits their third person subject pronoun since the information exists in the verb
English’s “he”, “she” and “it” need to be learned and used
“Es una mujer” (She is a woman”) The verb “ser” has the third person singular marker with a femine article before the noun
A Spanish speaker may say “Is a woman”
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Preposition omitted
English has “in”, “on” and “at” which equates to Spainsh’s “en” for all three of these. This could cause the confusion on which one to
use so it prepositions are omitted for ease.
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Improper Pronoun
In Spanish the pronoun agrees in number with their antecedents This is not the case in English
“His, her, its and their” possessive pronouns in English are all replaced by “su” in Spanish which also causes confusion for the learner on which one to use when
(Baca Moore et al. 1979
Ideas for Instruction
Third person pronouns in English are a major cause of confusion in Spanish
Since there are feminine and masculine nouns in Spanish taking a lesson to compare the third person pronouns with this grammatical gender in Spanish and running through examples on the third person neuter as well as the others would be highly beneficial.
Example for third person pronoun
instruction Create a worksheet that
has men, women, boys and girls as well as inanimate objects. Like the one here from freelanguagestuff.com Then have each student
write the correct third person pronoun under each one
Repeat the same activities for the possessive pronouns
Consonant Clusters
Bacca Moore et al. in his study found that Spanish speakers have troubles with certain grammatical or tense functions because of consonant clusters
Spending a class on pronunciation would be beneficial. However, this might only be effective if the
students have a grasp on the writing or there may be confusion when explaining the pronunciation
Consonant Cluster Pronunciation Exercise
example In regards to the past tense:
By going over the past tense of a group of commonly used words and then going over the pronunciation
Draw a line down on a chalkboard Give each student a word on a slip of paper in
the past tense and have them group the pronunciation as either ending with a ‘t’ sound or an “ed” sound
Contractions
Contractions are something we all have to learn how to spell.
The best solution for this is to place to words on the board and then cross out the unncecssary onces and form the contraction
Then have a worksheet that puts the students through theses exercises.
Contraction worksheet example
Pointing out to the students that normally the last vowel is deleted on the second word before it becomes contracted is beneficial and use the chart below to have the students create contractions
Can + not -> cannot -> cannot-> cant -> can’t
Would not -> wouldnot -> wouldnot -> wouldnt ->wouldn’t
I am -> Iam -> Iam -> Im -> I’m
Article Exercise
Articles are tricky especially when a speaker’s native language uses them differently
Going through exercises of articles is the only way to effectively learn how to approach it
using the articles “the” and “a/n” and explaining that they are usually always necessary
Article Exercise Example
Explaining the difference between definite and indefinite can be compared closely to Spanish definite and indefinite articles. The key to having the Spanish speaker master
the English articles is to stress that they are always used unlike in Spanish
Giving several sentences with articles removed will aid in this mastery between definite and indefinite
Subject-Verb Agreement
A possible way to teach this agreement is to explain that the subject always pays attention to the number of people, instead of the number of objects
As well with the Subject-Verb agreement, another good way to learn to master this is to circle the subject and circle the verb check to see if the verb is in the right
agreement with the subject
(Grammar Girl 2011)
Omitting Prepositions
Spanish also has many prepositions that need to be memorized and organized
When learning English, repetitiveness and worksheets like this image will assist in effectively learning English prepositions
http://www.prof2000.pt/users/estante/prepositions.html
English Preposition Exercise
Using a bridge is a great way to teach prepositions
Someone can be “on” the bridge and draw a person on the bridge. using the sentence “I saw Brian the other day on the bridge”
Someone could be “in” the water and draw them in the water “I saw Brian the other day in the water”
Then explain if these get mixed up their meaning is different. Someone would be “on” the water and “in” the bridge and draw them as such
Summary
When teaching a Spanish speaker English, like all L2 learners exercises and practice are key
Although there are cognates that Spanish speakers recognize, there are some problems that do arise that can be specifically zeroed in on Spanish speakers.
References
http://www.freelanguagestuff.com
http://www.prof2000.pt/users/estante/prepositions.html
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
Baca Moore, Fernie and Marzano, Robert J. “Common Errors of Spanish Speakers Learning English” Research in the Teaching of English: Vol. 13, No. 2 (May, 1979), pp. 161-167 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English