Using Contrastive Analysis (CA) to Promote Conceptualisation of English Sentence Patterns in The Malaysian ESL Classroom

Abstract

Conventionally, the first language (L1) is regarded as a source of interference in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. But the use of the L1 has been recorded in Malaysian ESL classroom, with many supporting the use of L1 to teach English. This paper examined the use of Contrastive Analysis (CA) of Mandarin Chinese and English as a pedagogic approach to promote conceptualisation of the English sentence patterns among Malaysian ESL learners, 7 respondents from a school in Sabah were recruited as participants of a study. An Error Analysis task, which served as a form of Need Analysis, was administered to identify a particular language learning need. In particular, the Need Analysis determined the participants’ ability to: (i) identify grammatical errors, (ii) justify rectifications of said errors. Then, the intervention programme, based on the concepts of Structural/Taxonomic Model and also Shi's (2002) Contrastive Analysis of English and Mandarin Chinese, was administered to the participants. Sandwiching this intervention programme are the Pre-, Post- and a Delayed Posttest, intending to examine the use of CA of English and Mandarin Chinese. Qualitative data was also obtained from the participants in the form of Reflective Logs, in which they provided feedback regarding the use of the CA-oriented intervention programme while input from the teacher was recorded in the lesson plans. Statistically, the findings indicated that CA helped to improve participants’ ability to detect grammatical errors, but less so when it comes to explaining or justifying them. The participants were receptive towards the idea of learning English sentence structures with the use of Mandarin Chinese, as the use of L1 helped them to conceptualise sentence patterns better. These findings highlighted some implications for future considerations. There is a need to reconsider how English is learnt, taught and assessed, as well as how teachers ought to be equipped to address an increasingly multilingual ESL classroom in Malaysia.