The Effect of L2 on L1: An Analysis of Iranian Speakers’ English Knowledge Influence on Their Use of Persian Prepositions

• Main Authors: Zarbakhsh, Mojdeh, Rahim, Hajar Abdul
• Other Authors: Moussa, Pourya Asl
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Pusat Pengajian Ilmu Kemanusiaan 2019
• Subjects: H1-99 Social sciences (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/45685/1/ART23.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/45685/
• Institution: Universiti Sains Malaysia

While much work on cross-linguistic influence has focused on the effects of L1 on L2 (e.g., Garcia-Mayo, 2009; Gass & Selinker, 2008; Goad & White, 2009; Saville-Troike, 2012; Snape, 2009), there is limited research into the effects of L2 on L1 (Mahmoud, 2013). This includes studies on the various aspects of prepositions which have mostly focused on how L2 affects the use of L1 prepositions. This gap is addressed in the current study on the influence of Iranian speakers’ L2 (English) on their L1 (Persian), in particular, the effects of their knowledge of English prepositional phrases and phrasal verbs on their use of Persian prepositions. The study was motivated by a phenomenon that has emerged among advanced Iranian speakers of English who use deviant forms of prepositions in using Persian. A deviant form of Persian preposition use is unusual and resembles the L2 form. For example, the equivalent of ‘on’ in the English prepositional phrase ‘on purpose’, in Persian is ‘of’. However, there is a tendency among advanced Iranian speakers of English to replace ‘of’ with ‘on’ with the word ‘purpose’ when speaking Persian. Given this the current study set out to answer the following questions: 1) to what extent does advanced Iranian speakers’ knowledge of English affect their use of Persian prepositions?, and 2) do the frequency of use of their L2 (English) and L1(Persian), and the length of residence in their L2 environment (Malaysia) affect their use of Persian prepositions?