The acquisition of the copula be in present simple tense in English by native speakers of Russian

The current research investigated the acquisition of the copula be in Present Simple Tense (PST) in English by native speakers of Russian. The aim of the study was to determine whether or not Russian students with different levels of English proficiency would encounter any problems while using the copula be in PST in English. The study also identified domains related to the use of the copula be that appear to be problematic for native speakers of Russian. To carry out the research, two diagnostic tests and a taxonomy of the domains of the use of the copula be were developed. The data were collected from three groups of Russian students who were in their first, fourth and eighth years of learning English. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used in the study. The findings of the study revealed that some of the errors, such as omission or misuse of copula forms, disappeared with further exposure to the language. However, some of the errors were fossilised and were observed in the Russian students' performance even after eight years of learning English. Negative transfer at the morphological level and incomplete understanding and application of the copula be rule were suggested to be the underlying reasons for the fossilised errors made by the Russian learners

The use of verbal morphology in Turkish as a third language: The case of Russian-English-Turkish trilinguals

Aims and Objectives: Several studies suggest that third language acquisition (TLA) is marked with complex patterns of language interaction. However, it is not clear yet to what extent multilinguals activate each of their background languages in TLA, as various factors may trigger the activation of one of the previously learnt languages. This study aims to contribute to the discussion by examining the use of verbal morphology in third language (L3) Turkish of Russian-English-Turkish trilinguals. We investigate whether the use of verbal morphology in L3 Turkish of Russian-English-Turkish trilinguals differs from that of Turkish native speakers and in the case of a deviation, which of the background languages can account for it

A hearer-based analysis of Turkish-Azerbaijani receptive multilingual communication

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Receptive multilingualism (RM), a mode of multilingual communication in which speakers of different languages use their own native language to communicate and still understand each other, is considered to be a relatively under-investigated area in multilingual research. This paper examines features of Turkish-Azerbaijani RM and, focusing on a hearer-based analysis, looks into strategies applied for achieving understanding in the receptive multilingual communication (RMC). Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is carried out within the conceptual framework of RM. Data and Analysis: Authentic data obtained from oral communication between an Azerbaijani and a Turkish native speaker are analyzed and a post-interview was conducted with the participants in order to investigate to what extent they were able to understand each other in the RMC and what strategies they applied to achieve understanding. Findings/Conclusions: The study reveals that the Turkish and Azerbaijani participants could communicate with each other in RM mode without much difficulty thanks to the typological proximity of their languages. In a few instances in which lack of understanding occurred, the participants were found to apply strategies such as asking questions for clarification, conveying confirmation, repeating, rephrasing, resorting to their lexical and world knowledge as well as utilizing the let-it-pass strategy