The English-Spanish bidirectional transfer in movement situations

Abstract

The present research investigates the bidirectional transfer between English as a mother tongue and Spanish as a second language in the motion domain. The empirical research carried out compared the written narrations in L1 and L2 of a group of English speakers learners of Spanish, beginners level, with those of a native English speakers group and a native Spanish speakers group respectively. The present article discusses the findings of event conflation not only in boundary crossing but also in non boundary crossing situations. The qualitative analysis showed a clear transfer from L1 to L2 as examples of event conflation have been found. Additionally, the quantitative analysis evidenced transfer from L2 to L1 in other components (Ground and Manner) not discussed in this article. This research proves how the languages that cohabit in the bilingual mind interact and influence one another, even in the early stages of the second language acquisition. It also shows that L1 thinking for speaking patterns can be reestructered accepting characteristics of the emerging language and including them in the established language.