Week 3: Interlanguage, L1 Influence, & Fossilization
Throughout this reading I found myself comparing my own L1 and L2 experiences. I believe that I relate more to the L1 Influence scenarios mentioned. As I've explained in class, I myself struggle with purposely as well as accidentally formatting my Spanish (L2) sentences in the English format. I believe that is because English makes so much sense to me and it is the language I am most comfortable with. English is truly my L2 language, but since English was used in social and academic settings, it eventually overtook my initial L1 language, Spanish. It is easier for me to express my emotional, physical, and mindset in English then it is in Spanish.
I also found it interesting that the readings mentioned the stages in which an L2 learner will most likely stop at certain stages if the stage they are in does not interfere with communication with the people of that language. Initially when my mother came to the United States she practiced and practiced English, especially when she was undergoing her American Citizenship testing. My mother would not let any of us speaking in Spanish because she wanted to become comfortable with the English language as well as for the Citizenship test. Eventually she became very proficient in the English language. She was even comfortable speaking to native English speakers. Today, she is a nationalized American citizen, but she no longer feels comfortable speaking to native English speaks. I believe this happened because 1) she stopped using English in social settings 2) she was a stay-at-home mom 3) she reverted back to her native Spanish tongue. Therefore, now she has fell back from the fluency stage to possibly Stage 3-5 in each of the examples given in the reading. Including the above reasons behind why she has declined in her English level of proficiency, I also believe it is due to the fact that her level of English has not brought her any conflict. Therefore, she can efficiently communicate with the little English she can speak. Plus she has four daughters who are very fluent in English. We end up communicating for her in social settings, so she does not have too.
Here's my question: Have you found yourself or know others that have altered, negatively or positively, a persons ability to speak another language fluently?