False Cognates by Spanish and Russian Speaking EFL Students from the Perspective of Cross- Linguistic Similarity in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

[eng] False cognates are one of the main challenges Second Language speakers (L2 speakers, henceforth) need to face when acquiring new vocabulary. False cognates are defined as some words in second language that may sound or appear similar to those of the first language but actually be different in meaning.1 In order to perform better and benefit from their linguistic competence, L2 learners schould be aware of semantic similiarities and differences that exist between their native language (NL) and target language (TL) while learning a new foreign language. Since misusage of false cognates is a catalyst of inaccurate translations, misunderstandings, incomplete teaching strategies, or unprofessional performancies, it might not contribute to cross-linguistic communication successfully (Janke; Kolokonte 2015, 4). Therefore, it is important to learn how to deal with false friends' unreliability to avoid a state of confusion caused by a range of vocabulary mistakes and, instead, use the linguistic features of a TL accurately. By matter of fact, to produce a good quality output, L2 learners are supposed to receive a high quality input, so that to be able to express themselves explicitly. This study examines the use of false cognates by English second language (L2) learners of Spanish and Russian native languages. It is indeed aimed at finding out whether L2 speakers are capable of accurate semantic interpretation of created sentences in English where falsecognate pairs are inserted from either Spanish L2 or Russian L2 and English L1 transfers by evaluating them as plausible or implausible expressions. 83 participants, divided into three groups (English L1, Spanish L1 and Russian L1) have been tested on false cognates lexical items by means of two English language accuracy-based surveys.