Protocol
Contrast languages only where interference actually appears
Use contrast as a scalpel, not as the default format for every lesson.
When it fits
- A form from one known language repeatedly leaks into another.
When to avoid it
- Similarities can also facilitate learning. Do not frame every shared feature between languages as interference.
Why it matters
When a recurring error plausibly reflects cross-language influence, place the competing forms side by side and make the cue for each language explicit. Produce contrasting examples, then return to single-language use. Do not build giant English-versus-German comparison tables for features that are not causing trouble; multilingual influence is selective and context-dependent.
Steps
- Capture the recurring cross-language error.
- Write the competing forms side by side.
- Identify the cue that selects each form.
- Produce two or three contrasted examples.
- Return to a normal target-language task and check transfer.
An example
If English word order keeps leaking into a specific German clause pattern, contrast only that construction, then retest it in a German explanation.
Check your result
The target-language form survives a later monolingual task without needing the contrast table.
Keep this limit in mind
- Similarities can also facilitate learning. Do not frame every shared feature between languages as interference.
Evidence and sources
Cross-linguistic influence in multilingual learning can be facilitative or inhibitory, with direction and strength affected by factors such as proficiency, language status, linguistic proximity, recency and dominance.
This does not establish that simultaneous English and German study is inherently beneficial or harmful for a particular adult learner.
Cross-Linguistic Influence · Chapter summary