Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015

De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

March 2-4, 2015

Interference between Filipino and English prepositions: A comparative

analysis of male and female Filipino bilingual learners in the World
Englishes paradigm in the Philippine setting
Rowena Marie Chua1, Ramsey Ferrer2, Leezandra Jae Quijano3, Joey Andrew Santos4
1De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, [email protected]
2DeLa Salle-College of Saint Benilde, PhilSCA-VAB [email protected]
3Reedley International School, [email protected]
4Far Eastern University and National University, [email protected]

Abstract: Following Ellis’ (1997) interference framework and Selinker’s (1972)

interlanguage hypothesis in light of Kachru’s (1985) concentric circle, the present
study aimed at establishing the common errors in the preposition in written
narratives, identify the difference in the rate of preponderance of preposition errors
of language learners who acquired English as either their first or second language,
and determine the compensation strategies used in English to Filipino and vice
versa. This paper employed an explorative-descriptive design with 40 secondary
students from Reedley International School (10 males and 10 females) and Sta.
Isabel College (10 males and 10 females). In carrying out the study, two wordless
picture story sequences as used by Shapiro and Hudson (1991 was adopted. Findings
show that participants from Sta. Isabel College participants recorded more incorrect
English prepositions which are predominantly incurred by females as compared with
the Reedley International’s list which appears to be consistent with the incorrect
Filipino prepositions. As regards the preponderance of preposition errors, the data
revealed a 3.2 mean across the twenty narratives. The same mean shows for the
occurrences of incorrect preposition use. In terms of the compensations strategies,
the participants used overgeneralization, elaboration, simplification, and
contextualization. The study concluded that the evidence of interference among
Filipino bilinguals was not as high as expected due to the minimal use of
compensation strategies and the mistakes recorded were purely ungrammatical and
not a transfer issue within the syntactic surface.

Key Words: Interference, Interlanguage Hypothesis, World Englishes, Concentric Circle

1. INTRODUCTION Englishes (Kachru & Smith, 1008 in Groves, 2010,

Interference, as defined by Dulay et al p. 111) which, as suggested by Kachru (1985a) and
(1982 in Bhela, 1999) is the transfer of rules carried Schneider (2003 in Groves, 2010, p. 111) has been a
by the first language to the target language. result of the multicultural growth and assimilation
Lekova (2010) views Interference as a deviation of the English language in various multilingual
from the conventions of a specific language, the settings all over the world.
change of linguistic structures and structural Al-Khresheh (2011) on the other hand,
elements. This concept of deviating from the looked at the coordinating conjunction “and” of
established conventions of the English language Jordanian EFL learners in written communication.
has been slowly gaining keen interest in the field of It specifically analyzed the interference of Arabic
psycholinguistic research especially with the syntactic structures into English. The data
increased acceptance of the concept of World revealed subject differences caused the interference

LLI-II-013 1
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

between Arabic and English coordinating usage and mastery is problematic for non-native
conjunction. Jordanian learners were found to rely English speakers.
on their mother tongue in learning English, thus Using the print material sub-corpus of the
making their L1 habits get in the way of Philippine component of the International Corpus
acquisition. The study then concluded that of English (Bautista, Lising & Dayag 1999),
Jordanians mostly employ their L1 knowledge in Bautista (2000a, summarized in 2000b)
resolving their learning and communication investigated the use of prepositions among English
problems and acquiring the target language, in this learners of different L1 backgrounds. She found
case, English. numerous instances of deviations in subject-verb
Prepositions in the English language are agreement, articles, prepositions, tenses, mass and
used to denote position in sentences. Spatial count nouns, pronoun-antecedent agreement, word
concepts in writing require a very detailed and order, and comparative constructions. She showed
specific description due to the precise nature of the sentences with deviations to a native speaker of
directions and location. "Perspective taken in English to confirm whether these seemed to be a
spatial descriptions varies within complex divergence from Standard American English (SAE).
descriptions as well as across situations and For instance, Filipino speakers would use result to
environments" (Tversky, 1996; Taylor & Tversky, and based from instead of result in and based on.
1996 in Grabowski & Miller, 2000, p. 525) thus She argued that these instances were due to the
perhaps resulting to a wide variety of prepositions absence of distinctive items to represent the
in the English syntactic repertoire. Cuypere’s prepositions on, in, at, toward in the Filipino
(2013, p. 122) semantic analysis on prepositions syntactic repertoire which has only one generic
revealed that there are certain difficulties that preposition known as "sa" which is equivalent to
need to be addressed when studying English various English prepositions. However,
preposition, specifically, prepositions of movement prepositions such as result to and based from and
(e.g. to, towards, through, etc.). The study argued the variable use of at, on, in might be acceptable in
that certain prepositions of movement present educated Philippine English (PE) because of
complications with spatial concepts for non-native semantic considerations. According to Bautista
learners. Since these concepts may vary across (2001), the Filipinisms result to and based from can
different cultures there is high probability for be explained as the association of destination with
discrepancies in the syntactic use of prepositions by “to” and of source with “from” thus prepositional
ESL/EFL learners. usage here may not be a serious breach of
"Errors which deal with prepositions are grammar. But English teachers in the Philippines
the most common mistakes done by non-native should still correct the prepositions and use the
speakers especially in their writing" (Tetreault and occasion to explain idiomatic usage and why PE
Chodorow, 2008 in Arjan, Abdullah & Roslim, 2013, usage is judged deviant in those instances.
p.167), confusion in preposition use may arise even This study aims to answer the following
between two commonly used preposition in research questions;
sentence construction. Arjan, Abdullah & Roslim (1)What are the common errors in the preposition
(2013) conducted a corpus-based study on the use of use of male/female Filipino secondary learners in
prepositions on and in across three different their written narratives?
academic levels. Using the Malaysian Corpus of (2)What is the difference in the rate of
Students Argumentative Writing (MCSAW) preponderance of preposition errors of male/female
frequency and types of errors in the narrative Filipino secondary learners who acquired English
outputs were identified through a concordance and as their first language and those who acquired
semantically analyzed. The results of their study English as their second language?
determined that students found confusion in the (3)How do male/female secondary learners
correct usage of the prepositions in and on, compensate for the lack of equivalent Filipino
particularly in matching them with the appropriate prepositions in the process of translating their
article. They also found that there was no concrete narratives written in English?
progress in the mastery and developmental pattern 2. METHODOLOGY
of prepositions within the two earlier grade levels
2.1 Participants
(Form 4 and 5). This study further validates the
results of other studies that claim that preposition

LLI-II-013 2
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

The study has a sample population of forty (40) committed by the participants in their narrative
students composed of twenty (20) male and female outputs commenced. Finally, research question
Filipino secondary students who have an age range three is discussed through an analysis of the
of 14 to 18 years old and a mean age of 15.58 years compensation strategies used by the participants to
old (M=15.58). They were chosen through a non- determine how the participants resolved issues in
random, convenience sampling method. The first the translation of prepositions from English to
group consists of Grade 11 (fourth year high school) Filipino in their narratives.
students from Reedley International School, who 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
have been brought up with English as their first 3.1 Common preposition errors
language and Filipino as their second language. On Table 1 shows the incorrect prepositions
the other hand, students from Santa Isabel College committed by Sta. Isabel and Reedley students. As
employ English as their second language and can be seen, nine kinds of incorrect prepositional
mostly come from the middle to the upper words were used within the narratives out of a
socioeconomic class of society. total of twenty narratives from the Sta. Isabel
2.2 Instrument participants. Of the nine incorrectly used
The narrative writing task used for the study prepositions, most of the errors were committed by
is an adapted version of the task used by Bhela female participants. On the other hand, male
(1999) in his study on native language interference participants incorrectly used only three words from
in second language learning. A pilot test was the total list of prepositions used, manifesting
initially done with two participants each from the lower incorrect prepositional use as opposed to the
two chosen educational institutions to determine if females. The prepositional words in and into had
there will be a possible comparison of errors in the the highest frequency of errors, and were mostly
preposition use of students as found in their found in the narratives of female participants.
written narratives outputs. Proceeding from the Narratives from the Reedley participants had only
results of the pilot study, the actual writing task two kinds of English prepositions that were
was administered to the intended number of incorrectly used, in and to which were both found
participants for the study. The study adapted two in the male participant’s narratives.
wordless picture story sequences as used by Table 1.
Shapiro and Hudson (1991) in their study on Sta. Isabel and Reedley: Incorrect use of English
cohesion and coherence in children’s narratives. prepositions
Reedley International
Sta. Isabel College School
2.3 Method of Analysis Total Total
The study used a comparative analysis in number number
determining interference errors in the preposition of of
use of Filipino secondary students who employ preposit preposit
English as either their first or second language. ions ions
The first research question is addressed in the used by % used by %
study through the analysis of correct and incorrect male of errors male of errors
and committed and committed
preposition use in the participants’ written
female by female by
narrative outputs. This was done to determine the Preposi student Sta. Isabel student Reedley
common prepositional errors committed by the tion s students s students
participants of the study. Meanwhile, the second Fem Ma Fem Ma
research question is addressed through the ale le ale le
tabulation of correct and incorrect prepositions
using frequency count which were then transmuted onto 1 100
into percentages. Computation of the mean was in 13 69.2 30. 3 10
subsequently done. Results are then segregated 3 76 0
on 3 100
according to gender and separated according to
by 1 100
correct or incorrect preposition use in the
into 5 60 40
narratives written in the participants L1 and L2. of 3 100
Upon extraction of the necessary quantitative data, over 1 100
a comparative analysis of prepositional errors out 1 100

LLI-II-013 3
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

to 1 100 1 100 participants. Participants from Sta. Isabel

showcased higher rates of errors when using
Total Total Filipino prepositions compared to participants from
number number Reedley. Sta. Isabel students committed a total of
of of
twenty incorrect Filipino prepositions in contrast
preposit preposit
ions ions with Reedley students’ lower rate of twelve errors.
used: used: Table 3.
29 4 Sta. Isabel and Reedley: Incorrect use of Filipino
prepositions
Reedley International
The data indicates that students who Sta. Isabel College School
learned English as their second language Total Total
committed a higher number of errors in English number number
preposition use compared to students who learned of of
English as their first language. The former group preposit preposit
also encountered more difficulties in determining ions ions
the proper usage of the different English used by % used by %
male of errors male of errors
prepositional words, committing a total of nine (9)
and committed and committed
kinds of prepositional errors compared to the latter female by female by
group, which only had two (2) kinds of prepositional Preposi student Sta. Isabel student Reedley
errors. tion s students s students
The results show consistency with Bhela 's Fem Ma Fem Ma
(1999) findings that learners commit significant ale le ale le
number of errors in their target language. This is ng 8 37.5 62. 8 25 75
perhaps due to the absence of the wide 5
sa 12 58.3 41. 4 75 25
prepositional variety in their L1 in contrast to the
3 67
English language. In the case of the Reedley Total Total
participants who employ English as their L1, they number number
show minimal errors in preposition use. Although of of
English is their native, it seems that errors are still preposit preposit
likely to occur. As Bhela (1999) noted, native ions ions
speakers continue to show relative error in used: used:
preposition despite having achieved a higher level 20 12
of mastery than ESL learners. From the two The data reveal that students who learned
participants, in and to are recorded to be the most English as their first language experienced fewer
common errors in the English preposition which is interference errors when accessing words in their
consistent with a study done by Arjan, Abdullah & second language. Since there are fewer
Roslim (2013). prepositional devices in the Filipino language,
In the Santa Isabel College group, the learners may have had an easier thought process
males have shown the least number of occurrence when retrieving words during their writing task. It
of errors while the females somewhat double the may be easier to make connections using the
result which is consistent with the findings from English language first towards the Filipino
Reedley where males show minimal errors while language than the other way around due to the less
the females recorded more. It can be inferred that complicated structure of the Filipino prepositional
males, regardless of their L1 and L2, reveal a devices. It is interesting to note the consistency of
consistency of result in English preposition use, errors committed by the Sta. Isabel group who
making them more linguistically competent in the employ Filipino as their L1 yet recorded more
use of this syntactic feature than the females, at errors than that of the Reedley group. This then
least in the Philippine setting. partly debunks the idea that once a learner is a
3.1.1 Errors in Filipino preposition use native of the language fewer errors are expected.
Table 3 indicates the two prepositions in The result of the Filipino prepositions is in contrast
Filipino, which are ‘ng’ and ‘sa’ that were with the English preposition findings.
incorrectly used in the narratives of the 3.2 Rate of preponderance of preposition
errors

LLI-II-013 4
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

3.2.1 Preposition errors in English College

Table 5 and 6 show the mean occurrence of the Reedley 2 4 2
International
correct and incorrect preposition use of English
School
prepositions by students from Sta. Isabel College
The data indicates that both set of
and Reedley International School. Statistical
students encountered very little difficulty in their
treatment of the data posted a mean of 3.2 which
use of English prepositions despite the widely
indicates that across twenty narratives there was
established belief that prepositions are one of the
only an average of 3.2 occurrences of incorrect
most problematic syntactic elements in terms of
preposition use. Santa Isabel College female
English language acquisition (Richards, 1974;
respondents posted an average occurrence of 2.4
Ravina, 1982 in Castro, 2013; Arjan, Abdullah &
incorrect prepositions while a mean of about 0.78
Roslim, 2013). This perhaps may be attributed to
was found for the male students.
the present linguistic environment in the
Results of the analysis for Reedley
Philippines which is increasingly growing more
International School students, whose L1 is English
exposed to the common use of the English language
as reflected in Table 6, indicate that across twenty
in various forms of media over the years. Students
narratives the students only posed an average of 2
now have more resources in learning and acquiring
errors in preposition use. Breakdown of the data
the different syntactic elements of the English
according to gender shows that out of ten
language As Hardy and Friginal (2012, p. 145)
narratives there was an occurrence of a mean of 1.5
suggests, "social networking through Facebook,
errors in English preposition use by the female
Friendster, and Twitter; blogging, and ubiquitous
students while male students posted an evidently
English-based websites allow many Filipinos to
low mean of 0.5. These results inform us that
read and write in English regularly through online
students from Reedley International School
technology platforms." The list of resources in the
encountered very little difficulty in the use of
latter statement gives us an overview of the
prepositions in their narratives. Computation of the
accessibility of the English language to Filipino
mean also indicates that both schools have a high
ESL learners today. Although this amount of
mean of occurrence for the correct use of English
exposure may not be credited as an established
prepositions across the twenty sample narratives
determiner of linguistic competence it is still a
with Santa Isabel College garnering a higher mean
concrete indicator of the opportunities for learning
(M=20.16) that Reedley International School
available to Filipino ESL learners in the current
(M=12.43). However, the length of the participants
Philippine linguistic setting. A multifaceted
narratives should be taken into consideration as
language experience has been found to stimulate
most of the students from Reedley International
the brain of bilingual learners (Li, Legault &
School only wrote an average of two to eight
Litcofsky, 2014) thus it can be assumed that the
sentences as opposed to the four to ten sentence
varied resources for language learning and
narratives that students from Sta. Isabel College
interaction may have had a positive effect in the
produced.
Table 5. process of second language acquisition by the
Sta. Isabel and Reedley’s computed average for correct Filipino bilinguals today.
usage of English prepositions The number of different prepositions correctly
School Kinds of Number of M used by the students is also relatively high with 24
prepositions occurrences different kinds of English prepositions used by Sta.
Sta. Isabel 24 484 20.16 Isabel students and 21 different kinds of English
College prepositions used by bilinguals from Reedley
Reedley 21 261 12.43 International School. The wide variety of
International
prepositions used by students from Sta. Isabel
School
College is particularly of interest since these are
learners whose L1 is Filipino. Given that there are
Table 6.
Sta. Isabel and Reedley’s computed average for incorrect
"fewer linguistic markers in Filipino in contrast to
usage of English prepositions the many kinds of prepositions that exist in
School Kinds of Number of M English" (Lofranco, Peña, & Bedore, 2006, p. 30)
prepositions occurrences with only sa and ng widely in use it would have
Sta. Isabel 9 29 3.2 been plausible if Filipinos who are learning English

LLI-II-013 5
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

as a second language would only utilize a few Sta. Isabel and Reedley’s computed average for correct
prepositions or would have committed more errors usage of Filipino prepositions
due to the possibility of interference. However, as School Kinds of Number of M
previously stated due to the accessibility of other prepositions occurrences
Sta. Isabel 4 427 106.75
resources Krashen’s (1998, p.80) claim that
College
"interesting and comprehensible input will result in Reedley 3 215 71.67
language acquisition" may be a reasonable International
explanation for the competent use of English School
prepositions by the participants of this study. Table 8.
It was also determined that although there was Sta. Isabel and Reedley’s computed average
no significant difference in English preposition
for incorrect usage of Filipino prepositions
errors between male and female students from
Reedley International School there was a slight School Kinds of Number of M
difference between the male and female students of preposition occurrence
Sta. Isabel College. Female students from Sta. s s
Isabel College were found to have more occurrences Sta. Isabel 2 20 2
of errors (M=2.4) than the male students who only College
posted a mean of 0.78.. It can be said that females Reedley 2 4 5.
are possibly more prone to prepositional errors Internationa 5
than males in narratives due to the women’s
l School
inclination to competence in verbal fluency (e.g.,
Data shows that although there was a higher
Herlitz, Airaksinen, & Nordstrom, 1999; Kimura &
average occurrence of correct usage of Filipino
Harshman, 1984; Larsson, Lovden, & Nilsson,
prepositions from students from Sta. Isabel College
2003; Loonstra, Tarlow, & Sellers, 2001; Maitland,
(M=106.75) in comparison to students from Reedley
Herlitz, Nyberg, Backman, & Nilsson, 2004 as cited
International School (M=71.67) the results are
in Kaushanskaya, Gross & Bauc 2013, p. 82) which
challenged by the higher rate of occurrence of
inadvertently may cause carelessness in terms of
Filipino prepositional errors for the Sta. Isabel
sentence construction. On the other hand,
students. Filipino bilinguals from Reedley
compared to the number of correct English
International School only had a total mean
preposition occurrence the females (M=7.05 across
occurrence of 5.5 in contrast to students from Sta.
ten narratives) outperformed the male students
Isabel College who had almost double the number
(M=5.38 across ten narratives) which is an evident
with an average of 10 errors across ten narratives.
reversal of roles in terms of their performance in
These results contradict previous studies that state
the use of prepositions in their narratives.
that the difference in the syntactic structure of the
3.2.2 Preposition errors in Filipino Filipino and English languages may give rise to
Table 7 and 8 shows the mean of correct and difficulties in the interaction of the two languages.
incorrect Filipino preposition use across twenty As the data shows, the students appear to be
narratives written by students from Sta. Isabel generally competent in their use of the Filipino
College and Reedley International School. Mean language. The students found it easier to choose
occurrence suggests that in an analysis of twenty from a very limited number of prepositions with sa
narratives for each institution there was only an and ng easily interchangeable as well without
average occurrence of 10 errors in Filipino causing any grammatical discrepancies. This
prepositional use for students from Sta. Isabel phenomenon has been described by Grosjean (2011,
College while an average of 5.5 error occurrences P. 15) as, "interferences due to performance errors’,
were found for Reedley International School. For they are due to the inadvertent intrusion of an La
the participants from Sta. Isabel College both the [L1] element in the processing of Lb [L2]." This
male and female students garnered an average may be due to the constant exposure of the Filipino
mean of 5 incorrect occurrences of Filipino bilingual learner to the English language resulting
prepositions across ten narratives while for Reedley to the loss of the learners’ firm grasp on his/her
International School female students had a mean of native syntactic rules and thus resulting to
2.5 and male students had a mean of 3.5 interference. Furthermore, Grosjean (2011, P. 16)
occurrences across ten narratives for each group. classifies this as "dynamic interference" which was
Table 7.

LLI-II-013 6
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

described as a "dynamic element of one language worth emphasizing, however, that female
which slips into the output of the other language." bilinguals tend to employ correct use of preposition
This claim validates the notion that as English in their L2 while male bilinguals display correct
language continues to be absorbed to the various use of preposition in their L1. In addition, female
disciplines of the Philippine culture it also affects bilinguals elicit incorrect use of preposition in L1
the learners’ grasp of the native language resulting narrative while male bilinguals elicit error in their
to confusion and consequently error in production L2 narrative.
even from native speakers. 3.3.2 Elaboration
3.3 Compensation strategies FS4: (5) Mike after seeing the sign that
It is found that Filipino bilinguals regardless if indicated the beach, Mike got excited
their L1 is English or Filipino, use different seeing the sign.
compensation strategies in order to express (6) …kung saan pupunta sabe nito sa
statements when writing from English to Filipino. beach na excite si Mike nang marining ito.
These strategies include overgeneralization, Sentence (5) uses a phrase that is introduced
elaboration, simplification, and contextualization by the preposition ‘after’ while sentence (6) seems
as explicated with the given examples below. not to use any preposition at all. The absence of
3.3.1Overgeneralization preposition in sentence (6) seems to show mismatch
FS3:(1) On a Sunday morning Alex and her from L2 to L1 translation but an effort to
motherwent to the market to buy semantically compensate for L2 to L1 translation,
the ingredients they needed for the party. the preposition ‘after’ was used in order to
(2) *Sa isang umagang linggo si Alex kasama elaborate an utterance that is incorrectly
ang nanay niya ay napunta sa palengke structured in L1 narratives.
upang bilhin ang mga kakailanganin para sa It can be concluded that female bilingual
pupuntahan nilang pagsasalo-salo. learners whose L1 is Filipino use prepositional
Sentence (1) elicits correct use of prepositions phrase in order to give more modification and
in L2 such as “on”, “to”, and “for” which are description to their utterances via elaboration. It is
basically used in order to introduce time, location found out that there was no elaboration as
and object. When writing in L1, sentence (2) uses compensation strategy used my male bilingual
the general locative marker “sa” in order to learners.
introduce time and place. However, compound 3.3.3 Contextualization
preposition like “para sa” is used in order to FS7:(7) *The mother decided to fix and try the car’s
introduce an object. engine out of his luck and he figured
It can be said that female bilingual learners out what’s the problem and had fixed it.
whose L1 is Filipino seem to display correct use of (8) Sinubukan ni Gng. Manuel na ayusin ang
prepositions in L2 narratives; however, they show sasakyan sa kanyang swerte, napagalaman
incorrect use of preposition in their L1 that elicits nya kung ano ang problema ay naayos niya ito.
overgeneralization on the use of “sa” in lieu of Sentence (7) uses a phrasal verb ‘out of’ but
several prepositions (e.g. on, to, in) when writing functions as a preposition that introduces an object
from her L2 to L1. (which is his luck). Although sentence (7) is
MS6: (3) *…and the mother wants to be out in obviously ungrammatical, its meaning is conveyed
the bakery. through the use of the phrasal verb that functions
(4) Gusto ng ina na umalis na sya at as a preposition. This use of preposition in sentence
umuwi na sa kanilang bahay. (7) is elicited in order to contextualize its meaning.
Sentence (3) uses preposition in that makes it As can be seen, sentence (8) shares the same
ungrammatical. However, sentence (4) appears to semantic features with sentence (7). It is worth
be grammatical in the use of equivalent preposition mentioning, however, that sentence (8) elicits
‘sa’ in their L1. This occurrence likely shows that correct use of preposition both in its structure and
both male and female Filipino bilingual learners meaning, in contrast to sentence (7) which appears
whose L1 is Filipino use overgeneralization, an ungrammatical in pursuit to contextualize the use
intralingual error (Corder, 1981; James, 1998 in of idiomatic expression preposition vis-à-vis its
Castro, 2013), as one of their compensation intended meaning.
strategies that are apparently based on errors. It is

LLI-II-013 7
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

It may well be concluded that female bilingual the second language but evidences of the English
learners tend to use prepositional phrase which language providing a smoother transition for
turned out to be an idiomatic expression to learning Filipino prepositions. The use of
contextualize their intended meaning. In the case compensation strategies by Filipino bilinguals has
of Filipino bilinguals whose L1 is English been found to be evident but also minimal allowing
contextualization is used not in their L1 but in an assumption that since they have a better
their L2 narratives as shown in this example: understanding of the language transfer of syntactic
MR4: (9) After a while Mica smelled something features is minimal. More often than not mistakes
fishy then her mom opened the oven then committed are purely ungrammatical but not an
it’s over cooked. evidence of the transfer of the syntactic features of
(10) Higit isang minuto may inamoy si their L1 to their L2.
Mica na kakaiba. Kaya pala ang rason ng List of References
may amoy sunog pala ang mga cookie. Al-Khresheh, M. H. (2011). An Investigation of
Sentence (9) obviously did not elicit any single interlingual interference in the use of ‘and’
preposition; however, sentence (10) elicits as a syntactic coordinating structure by
preposition ‘ng’ to complete its thought.It can be Jordanian EFL learners. European
said that male bilinguals whose L1 is English need Journal of Social Sciences. 18 (3), 427-233.
not use the function of preposition in order to Arjan, A., Abdullah, N., & Roslim, N. (2013). A
complete the meaning in their L1 narratives as corpus-based study on English
opposed to their L2 narratives which would prepositions of place, in and on. English
necessitate a preposition. Language Teaching 6 (12), 125-131.
Simplification doi:10.5539/elt.v6n12p167
MR8: (11) Once upon a time little sally felt Bautista, M. L. S. (2001). Attitudes of English
like baking. language faculty in three leading
(12) Gusto ng sally mag bake kasama ng Philippine universities toward
mommy niya. Philippine English. Asian Englishes, 4.
Sentence (11) uses preposition ‘upon’ that is Retrieved from
used to introduce time while sentence (12) uses www.eric.com
preposition ‘ng’ in order to introduce a name. The Bautista, M. L. S., Lising, J. L., & Dayag, D. T.
latter was just used as strategies to simplify the (1999). Philippine English data for the
text while the former has no apparent one-to-one International Corpus o f English
translation. This only shows that male bilingual Project. University Research Coordination
learners whose L1 is English may simplify their Office, De La Salle University, Manila.
narrative when translating from L1 to L2. Bhela, B. (1999). Native language interference in
4 Conclusion learning a second language: Exploratory
The phenomenon of World Englishes in the case studies of narrative language
Philippine setting has paved the way for a unique interference with target language use.
linguistic environment for Filipino bilinguals thus International Education Journal 1 (1), 22-
creating room for study in a mostly unchartered 31.
territory of second language acquisition. Castro, M. (2013). An analysis of prepositional
Interference has evolved into a more dynamic errors of college students. Foreign
process, grounded in previous studies (Grosjean, Language Learning and Testing
2011). The present study examines the interference Conference Proceedings by Language
errors of English and Filipino prepositions Institute Thammasat University 2 (1), 97-
committed by Filipino bilinguals whose first 108. Retrieved from
language varied: one having acquired English as http://litu.tu.ac.th/2012/index.php/fllt-
their L1 while the other acquired it as their L2. The conferences/521-fllt-2013-conference-
results indicate that although there is evidence of proceedings
interference it is not as high as expected in lieu of Czaplicki, B. (2013). Arbitrariness in grammar:
the wealth of studies claiming the general Palatalization effects in Polish. Lingua
interference between L1 and L1. Furthermore, 123,31-57.
interference has been found to be not only in the http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2012.10.0
form of the native language affecting acquisition of 02

LLI-II-013 8
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2015
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 2-4, 2015

Gorokhova, S. (2009). Semantic and grammatical believe story: Coherence and cohesion in
interference effects in sentence production. young children's picture-elicited
Unpublished Manuscript. Paper presented narratives. Developmental Psychology 27
in the 2009 British Association for Applied (6), 960-974. Retrieved from
Linguistics (BAAL) Annual conference. www.sciencedirect.com
Newcastle University. Retrieved from Tarone, E. (2013). Interlanguage. In C. A. Chapelle
http://www.baal.org.uk/proc09/gorokhova.p (Ed.). The Encyclopedia of Applied
df Linguistics, pp. 747-752. Oxford: Wiley-
Grabowski, J. & Miller, G. (2000). Factors affecting Blackwell Publishers. Retrieved from
the use of dimensional prepositions in http://socling.genlingnw.ru/files/ya/interlan
German and American English: Object guage%20Tarone.PDF
orientation, social context, and
prepositional pattern. Journal of
Psycholinguistic Research, 29 (5), 517-553.
Retrieved from
www.proquesteducationjournals.com
Grosjean, F. (2011). An attempt to isolate, and then
differentiate, transfer and interference.
International Journal of Bilingualism 16
(1), 11–21.
DOI: 10.1177/1367006911403210
Groves, J. (2010). Error or Feature? The issue of
interlanguage and deviations in non-native
varieties of English. Hong Kong Baptist
University Papers in Applied Language
Studies 14, 108-129. Retrieved from
www.sciencedirect.com
Hardy, J. & Friginal, E. (2012). Filipino and
American online communication and
linguistic variation. World Englishes 31
(2),143–161.DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-
971X.2011.01728.x
Kaushanskaya , M., Gross, M. & Buac, M. (2013).
Gender differences in child word
learning. Learning and Individual
Differences 27, 82–89.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.07.00
2
Krashen, S. (1998). Comprehensible output?
System 26, 175-182. Retrieved from
www.sciencedirect.com
Li P, Legault J, Litcofsky KA. (2014).
Neuroplasticity as a function of second
language learning: Anatomical changes in
the human brain. CORTEX [Accepted
Manuscript]. doi: 10.1016/
j.cortex.2014.05.001.
Lofranco, L., Peña, E., & Bedore, L. (2006). English
language narratives of Filipino
children. Language, Speech and Hearing
Services in School 31(1), 28-38. Retrieved
from www.proquesteducationjournals.com
Shapiro, L., & Hudson, J. (1991). Tell me a make-

LLI-II-013 9
Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol. 3 2015