Cross-linguistic Influence on Second Language Use of College Students

ABSTRACT : The study determined the cross-linguistic influence (CLI) on the second language use of collegestudents for the school year 2022-2023. This study included qualitative descriptive research approaches andthematic analysis. The purposely chosen participants in this study were the twenty-five sophomore BSEDEnglish students from one higher institution in Sorsogon. The instruments used in this study were researchermade field notes, survey checklist and interview schedule. When replying to the teachers during recitationEnglish (L2) was used. Most participants used Taglish to interact with teachers, reporting, and in groupactivities. The majority of participants used the Bicol dialect when chatting with peers and when ordering in thecafeteria. The socio-cultural context, learning environment, teaching strategies, prior linguistic knowledge, andsupport at home are the elements that influence vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation in the context of CLI tothe speaking abilities of L2 students. The Filipino (L1) may influence the participants’ use of L2 by makingthem use their own dialect in the classroom instead of English. This suggests that everyone who speaks does sowith a solid foundation of language knowledge acquired from past exposure to a different language.Furthermore, multiple consonants and vowels are frequently switched or mixed. The findings showed that CLIcan be linked to home language, location, socioeconomic status, parental education level, and literal or wordfor-word translation from Filipino to English all contributed to these issues. To eradicate cross-linguisticinfluence, the researcher suggested the institutional policy known as English Language Only Policy.

KEYWORDS :cross linguistic influence, L1, L2, Sorsogon, Philippines.