Influence of Spanish Syntax on the Learning of English

Abstract

The study of the ways in which Spanish as a mother tongue influences the learning of English as a foreign language is a topic of interest for the scientific and teaching community (Matias, 2019; Relyea and Amendum, 2019; Rodríguez, 2018). In that sense, this article aims to describe how the syntax of Spanish (L1) influences the learning of English as a foreign language. To fulfill this objective, 14 students were asked to complete a pre-test, compose a narrative text, take a placement test, and respond to a survey on how often they reinforce outside of class the content they learn in the classroom, and the teacher was given an in-depth interview. The results were analyzed using a qualitative approach with the help of quantitative analysis techniques. The findings indicate that Spanish has a negative influence on English learning due to literal translation and poor understanding of English grammar, in addition to the linguistic similarities between the two languages that cause students to deliberately exchange their native language grammar with English.