UNIVERSITY GOCE DELCEV - STIP

5 Methodology of CA
WINTER SEMESTER 2023
LECTURER: ANA KOCEVA, PHD
CA Methodology – 3 steps
1. Description
 All contrastive studies must be based on independent descriptions of the relevant
items of the languages to be compared.
 no comparison is possible without prior description through the same theoretical
framework.
 Cross-linguistic comparison has to be based on universal conceptual semantic
concept.
 Descriptive categories (plurality, passives…) shouldn’t be used since they are
typical for particular languages.
 Conceptual-semantic terms: time and aspect, definiteness, plurality,
possessiveness…
Ex: Description of nouns in English and Macedonian

- Noun is a naming word; it names a place, a person, a thing or abstract

idea.
- Both languages share subtypes of: proper and common nouns, concrete
and abstract, countable and uncountable.
- The concept of countability is a semantic distinction.
- Separate bounded entities = C
- Indivisible whole = U
- Wholes consisting of individual items = collective nouns.
2. Juxtaposition
 The act of determining the elements that can be compared and those that can’t.
 Juxtapose – ‘to put next to’
 Classical contrastive studies - > intuitive judgement on what is comparable based
on bilingual competence.
! Lack of clear explanation on why sth is comparable.

 Nouns in English and Macedonian are comparable for: types of nouns, countability,
noun modification;
 Nouns in English and Macedonian aren’t comparable for gender.
 In EN only animate nouns have biological gen
Verb comparison in English and
Macedonian
Only English has: Only Macedonian has:

  Double object,
Two present tenses;

  Double negation,
Present perfect tense;

  Indefinite past.
Causative use of ‘have’;

 Phrasal verbs.
3. Comparison
 elements of language can be compared solely through shared properties
or features.
 the comparison can be done in 3 areas:
 equivalent systems:
- pronouns, articles, verbs, phonology consonants/vowels…
 equivalent constructions:
- interrogatives, relative clauses, negation, syllables, diphthongs…
 equivalent rules:
- Adjective placement, interrogative inversion…
 The relative character of identity must be remembered in all comparisons.
 Possible situations:
 An item in L1 may be similar in some respect with an equivalent item in L2.
(number of nouns in EN &MK)
 An item in L1 may be different in some respect from an equivalent item in
L2.
(dual numbers in MK, no dual no. in EN)
 When an item in L1 has no equivalent in L2.
(nouns have no plural inflections in Chinese)
 Example: modal verb can vs. ‘може’
 Both are used to express permission, ability, possibility, necessity.
• I can swim. Знам да пливам. (ability)
• I can swim from Ohrid to Struga. Можам да пливам... (ability)
• You can go now. Можеш да одиш сега. (permission)
• Can you open the door? Можеш ли да ја отвориш вратата?
(permission)
• It can’t be late. Не може да е толку доцна.
(possibility/necessity)
• Може да е доцна било што да се направи.
• It can be late to do anything about it.
  There are two aspects in both English and Macedonian:
 progressive and perfect in English and
 Imperfective and perfective in Macedonian.
 The basic feature of the perfective aspect is that it views the activity as rounded, completed.
 The progressive and the imperfective aspect, on the other hand, shows the activity as ongoing,
in its current development.
 The imperfective aspect of Macedonian is also used to express states and habitual activities.
 Macedonian and English examples of the present tenses

 The progressive English construction partially correlates with the functions of the Macedonian imperfective
aspect only when it comes to dynamic actions in progress and iterative actions, while the other functions
covered by the Macedonian imperfective aspect, i.e. states and habitual activities, are expressed by the
present simple tense in English
 Analysis of form
and function

 The central goal of language theory and typology is to describe and explain the complex
relationship between form and function.
 Comparison based on form.
- Form without meaning does not make much sense.
- English and Macedonian /l/ are partially equivalent.
 Comparison based on mapping from form to function
- The semantic component of form.
- Time and verb forms correlations.
- Near equivalence in the use of ‘will’ & ‘ќе’ for expressing future tense.
Analysis of form and function
 Comparison across functional domains.
 Functional theories see language as a tool, so it is reasonable to assume that its structures
are best analyzed and understood with reference to the functions they carry out.
 A functional grammar aims to match forms to function and meaning in context.
 The basic unit is the clause that conveys:
(a) the linguistic representation of our experience of the world;
(b) a communicative exchange between persons; and
(c) an organized message or text
Example
 to study the word order in sentences with respect to the theme and rheme.
 Theme is the topic, what is being talked about, as opposed to rheme which is the part of a
sentence that provides further information regarding the topic.
 in Macedonian the DO or the IO can be a theme:
На Марко му ја дадов книгата; Цвеќето го донесе Соња.
It is not so easy to achieve this in English:
To Marko I gave the book or The flowers Sonja brought them would sound at least awkward.
different means to achieve this - ‘cleft sentences’ in English.
It was Sonja who brought the flowers would be acceptable in certain situations.
Interlanguage studies
 CA also includes comparisons of learner’s interlanguage to his/her L1 or L2 or
both.
 Interlanguage / second language acquisition studies.
 Interlanguage is the type of language or linguistic system used by second- and
foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a target language.
 The interlanguage is studied as a system with its own structure.
 Also labeled as transitional linguistic system that is different from the target
language and the native language of the learner.
 The focus of interlanguage studies is on: identifying the characteristics of the L2
knowledge system and explaining success and failure in communication.
Read examples on p.64
 The analysis of learners’ interlanguage gives insights into learners’ verbal behavior
and the difficulties in the acquisition of certain language units.
 The findings reveal certain gaps in the learners’ performance and may be used as
guidelines for designing syllabus.
 Meaningful classroom activities may raise L2 pragmatic awareness and provide
learners with the necessary information and choices to help them become more
competent users of the target language.
 Interlanguage pragmatics is the study of the ways non-native speakers acquire,
comprehend, and use linguistic patterns or speech acts in a second language.
Research in CA
 Research objectives – We begin research with a certain goal/aim in mind. Why do we want
to research our topic?
 Research questions/hypothesis – Then we state the specific questions of our research.
 Research methods – the researcher gives information about the following:
 participants – number of participants and their characteristics (male/female, native
language, age, proficiency level, and so on)
 data – description of the materials used for analysis, how they were collected
 data analysis – This section mentions the model that the analysis is based on as well as
the method and techniques used in the research.
 Description of Research Results – the results are presented with verbal descriptions of data
that may be displayed in charts, figures, or tables.
 Results sections usually provide objective descriptions presented without interpretation
Research in CA
 Discussion/Conclusion – These are often two separate sections and are primarily
interpretative and explanatory in nature.
 The discussion section restates and summarizes the main idea of the study and the findings.
 Then, the findings are interpreted in light of the research questions and an explanation is
given.
 They are also compared to other research in the field.
 The conclusion section summarizes the research, mentions the implications of the results, and
provides suggestions for further research.
 Many studies also include a section on the limitations of the study and suggest ways of
remediating the limitations
Research in CA

 References – The list of references

comprises the works cited in the
study. They are given in
alphabetical order of the second
name of the author.
 Appendixes – In this part, authors
place materials that can be used for
reference, for exercises, or for
further reading. They may be
questionnaires, full results,
illustrations, articles, etc.
textbook p.70 workbook p.