Bilingual and Multilingual Development             

"False Friends" Teaching: A Critical Factor of Students' Interlanguage Formation in Bilingual Education

Overview

• Bilingual and Multilingual Development 
• Copyright © Edizioni La Creazione 2012
  
• Published online 1 September 2012

Abstract

Teaching approaches of False Friends of English and Italian, two languages linked ( research at the University of New England Armidale, NSW, 2006) are examined. This examination seeks to enlighten new practices that can be applied in the bilingual education students.

First of all, the bilingual education in countries - migration stations (eg USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, England etc.) is illustrated: the "Immersion Bilingual Education" (Rebuffot) is being described and ten types of bilingual education are being analyzed (Baker). What causes "Immersion Bilingual Education" success is also being described. Moreover, the term "Interlanguage” and the formation of students’ interlanguage in bilingual education are analyzed. The stages of development of a learner’s interlanguage are also described. Thirdly, an analysis of "False Friends" occurs and  semantic errors into which students fall because of them are described. Also, a list of False Friends of English and Italian is recorded thus a) demonstrating a connection that governs these two languages, and b) identifying understanding hoaxes that may be committed by a student in bilingual education. In conclusion, the findings of this study show that Teaching in the students’ bilingual education should focus on learning proper words and structures. In other words, the structures of languages ​​should be taught confrontationally and lexical teaching should be based primarily on their morphology and then on their meaning, while separating False Friends. This means that the teacher is called to be an expert in both languages​​.