Language Transfer: a Native and a Second Language Influence

In the case of multilingual learners it is not onlythe native language that influences their performancein their other languages, but also other previouslylearned languages. It is interesting to observewhich of the learner?s previous languages has moreinfluence on the newly acquired language. The present study investigated the influence of thenative language and a second language on a tertiarylanguage. It compared the performances of Hungarianlearners knowing German as a second language andEnglish as a tertiary language, with that of learnersknowing English as a second language. The goal was tofind out whether a dissimilar native language or asimilar second language was more helpful in theproduction of different linguistic features inEnglish. These features were false cognates,prepositions, idioms and proverbs. The results have shown that not only the dissimilarnative language Hungarian but also the similarlanguage German was harmful in the performance of thelearners. This book is for those who are interestedin the influence of a native and a second language ona tertiary language.