Reducing L1 and L2 transfer in L3 English acquisition: an intervention study in Kazakhstani trilingual education
This study examines interlanguage interference within the context of foreign language education in Kazakhstan. Drawing on an analysis of pedagogical practices and statistical data, this study identifies the primary error types and methods for preventing interlanguage interference. Interlanguage interference occurs when learning Kazakh, Russian, and English within a trilingual education setting. Difficulties arise in phonetics, grammar, and lexis, manifesting as pronunciation errors (e.g., substituting/ θ / with/s/) and non-canonical word order. The lexical difficulties included the translator's “false friends.” To minimize interference, the study recommends exercises that facilitate explicit comparison of language structures and grammatical features. Systemic language teaching refers to a structured learning process in which the review of simple constructions gradually shifts to more complex ones. The cognitive-communicative approach is associated with caution due to the quasi-experimental design. A survey on the level of lexical skills development in the context of interlanguage interference, which was conducted on the basis of the Nazarbayev Intellectual School (116 people) and the Nurmakov specialized boarding school (146 people), indicated the following results: a high level of lexical skills—50%, a medium level of lexical skills—40%, and a low level of lexical skills—10%. Thus, the combination of systemic and cognitive-communicative approaches has reduced the impact of interlanguage interference in the study of Kazakh, Russian, and English.