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Glite Dictionary
🚧 Causing disturbance 🗣️ From another language 🔀 Mixing signals
interferential

interferential

9.6
An error in a new language caused by a speaker's first language
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪntərfɪˈrɛnʃəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : interferencial
  • Many interferential errors occur when learners apply grammar rules from their first language.

Examples

  • The teacher identified several interferential mistakes in the student's pronunciation.

  • Teachers should address interferential issues in language acquisition.

  • Her interferential habits made it difficult to master the new language's sentence structure.

  • The interferential errors in her speech were noticeable.

  • Many interferential errors occur when language learners mistakenly apply rules from their native language.

  • The teacher highlighted interferential mistakes students make due to influences from their first language.

  • Understanding interferential errors can help improve language teaching methods.

Surface Forms

interferential positive

Morphology

interferential = interfere (semi-transparent) = interfere + ential

The form is built from interfere, but the language-learning sense is a specialized extension of interference rather than an everyday meaning.

Etymology

Interferential comes from the prefix inter- 'between' and the verb interfere 'to get in the way', and a helpful way to remember it is to think of one language getting 'between' and changing another. So interferential errors are the mistakes that happen when a learner's first language gets in the way of the new language.