For students who study a second language, there may be many different difficulties. This may be due to the fact that knowledge of the first language can interfere with the educational process. Thus, education providers should clearly understand these barriers and skillfully find ways to limit them. The main aspects of the intervention are reading, the meaning of words, and the construction of speech.
One example when vocabulary from the first language may cause interference is memorizing the meaning of words. For example, the Spanish “introducir” may seem similar to the verb “introduce,” but it means “insert.” Thus, when learning English as a second language, many pay attention to the context of the word and not to its meaning. This is because a word can have several meanings, and in many cases, it can belong to different parts of speech. Therefore, many foreign students may have problems using the word since they do not remember the meaning of the word being studied but its connection with other words.
The second example would be the application of native speech constructs to a new language. In this case, students build sentences and phrases based on the rules and norms of the first language, forgetting that they may differ from the second language. This can lead to excessive wordiness of sentences and utterances. For example, in English there is a certain sentence structure, while in Spanish sentences are more flexible. Awareness and consideration of this issue will contribute to the imitation of interference when learning a language.
The third example, when the first language presents a significant interference when learning a second foreign language, becomes problems with reading. Thus, learners apply the reading patterns of their native language, which contributes to a decrease in the effectiveness of learning. For example, the phonology of Spanish differs significantly from English, which can interfere with learning to read. Moreover, students can pay attention to important parts of the text regarding the structure of the construction inherent in the first language, ignoring the structure of the second.