ABSTRACT This study attempts to discuss language interference with special reference to the Indonesian mother tongue, which can affect Indonesian learners of English. It also addresses some aspects of the two languages, English and Indonesian, which can cause some ‘errors’ on the English learners in particular, and on Indonesian speaking people in general. It has been identified that there are several language aspects of the students’ native language, in this case Indonesian, which are different from the target language (English) and presumed to influence L2 learning. Among them are: sound system (e.g. spelling, substitution of phonemes, differentiation of vowels), structure (e.g. tenses, plurality, nouns and the use of articles, prepositions), sociolinguistics (e.g. greeting, leave talking, and ‘small talk’ after introduction). It is suggested that the language produced by foreign learners (including Indonesian) is so unavoidably influenced, and even distorted, by the mother tongue of the learners that it should rather be termed an ‘Interlanguage’ (Selinker, 1972), since it will always be a blend of the foreign language and the mother tongue. The better the learner is at overcoming language interference, the more dilute that blend will be. Key words: interference, mother tongue, Indonesian learners of English Introduction People have constantly communicated via language, particularly their family language which they use to communicate with others and in order to be able to live as a social community. A language is often identified as ‘a group of people’ (Finegan et. al., 1997:6). For instance, Indonesians are people who speak Indonesian, Germans are people who speak German, the English are people who speak English, etc. Such language identification is called “people’s mother tongue” or native language, or home language, because these languages are primarily used in families where the people grow up. Mother tongue is a language which is potentially mastered when people are born (some say that even before we are born!). It is acquired informally and unconsciously. It is “the language learned as a child because it is the one used in the child’s environment” (Tomlinson, 1984:95). This is known as first language acquisition, which according to Krashen (1988:64) is “an unconscious process, the sort of spontaneous ‘picking up’ of a language that occurs in natural settings where no formal classroom instruction is involved;” whereas a second language is the language learned formally and consciously as a foreign language, or the language acquired after the first language. It is “the study of how learners learn an additional language after they have acquired their mother tongue” (Ellis, 1985:5). Furthermore, first language acquisition refers to all people’s activities to master their mother tongue. The stream of activities could be done through both informal and formal education. Informal education is often named ‘learning a language at home or untutored or naturalistic acquisition,’ while formal education refers to ‘learning a language at school or tutored or classroom acquisition’ (Ellis 1985:5). Similarly, Tarigan (1988:4) argues that informal education is learning a language naturally, whereas formal education is learning a language scientifically. Moreover, people who speak two languages (bilingual) or more (multilingual) interchangeably may affect the use of each language because one can use the L1’s rules on L2’s, and vice versa. This language interference is most often discussed as a source of errors (negative transfer), although where the relevant feature of both languages are the same, it results in correct language production (positive transfer). The greater the differences between the two languages, the more negative the effects of interference are likely to be. This study, therefore, attempts to discuss language interference with special reference to the Indonesian mother tongue, which can affect Indonesian learners of English. It also addresses some aspects of the two languages, English and Indonesian, which can cause some ‘errors’ on the English learners in particular, and on Indonesian speaking people in general. Literature Review Extensive research has already been done in the area of native language or mother tongue interference on the target language. Dulay et.al. (1982) define interference as the automatic transfer, due to habit, of the surface structure of the first language onto the surface of the target language. Interference may also be viewed as the transference of elements of one language to another at various levels including phonological, grammatical, lexical and orthographical (Berthold, Mangubhai & Batorowicz 1997, cf. Skiba 1997). Lott (1983) defines interference as “errors in the learner’s use of the foreign language that can be traced back to the mother tongue.” Whereas Brown (2000:95) states that interference occurs when “the previous performance disrupts the performance of a second task.” In addition, Ellis (1994: 51) refers to interference as ‘transfer,’ which he says is “the influence that the learner’s L1 exerts over the acquisition of an L2.” He argues that transfer is governed by learners’ perceptions about what is transferable and by their stage of development in L2 learning. In learning a target language, learners construct their own interim rules (Selinker 1971 cf. Bhela 1999, Seligar 1988 and Ellis 1994) with the use of their L1 knowledge, but only when they believe it will help them in the learning task or when they have become sufficiently proficient in the L2 for transfer to be possible. Moreover, Ellis (1994) raises the need to distinguish between ‘errors’ and ‘mistakes’ and makes an important distinction between the two. He says that errors reflect gaps in the learner’s knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct. Mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows. In addition, Carroll (1964) argues that the circumstances of learning a second language are like those of a mother tongue. Sometimes there are interferences and occasionally responses from one language system will intrude into speech in the other language. It appears that learning is most successful when the situations in which the two languages (L1 and L2) are learned, are kept as distinct as possible (Faerch and Kasper 1983, cf. Bhela 1999). To successfully learn L2 requires the L2 learner to often prevent the L1 structures from the L2 learning process, if the structures of the two languages are distinctly different. Beardsmore (1982) suggests that many of the difficulties a second language learner has with the phonology, vocabulary and grammar of L2 are due to the interference of habits from L1. The formal elements of L1 are used within the context of L2, resulting in errors in L2, as the structures of the languages, L1 and L2 are different. Some Aspects of the Students’ L1 (Indonesian) which may Influence the Learning of L2 (English) There are several language aspects of the students’ native language, in this case Indonesian, which are different from the target language (English) and presumed to influence L2 learning. Among them are: A. Sound System The students who learn English are required to know and understand the sound system of the language. In using English vocabulary, they may be prevented from using ‘unfamiliar’ words since the choices of vocabulary are huge. Similarly, the use of sentence patterns may still be selected, though the choices are not as many as the vocabulary. In producing the sound system, however, it is easily recognized between English native speakers and non-native ones from their pronunciation of words. The greater the mispronunciation of the words, the more difficult the words are understood. For instance, an Indonesian student may find it difficult to differentiate between ‘I need a pen’ and ‘I need a pan,’ since Indonesian language does not distinguish the pronunciation of the two vowels (Tarigan, 1988:15). Furthermore, the problems of sound system may still be divided into several parts: 1. Spelling English is a language that has complicated spellings. Mispronunciation may be caused by spelling; and it may then cause a misunderstanding. The sound /i:/, for example, has many spellings: ‘ee’ as in ‘need’ or ‘feet’ ‘ei’ as in ‘receive’ ‘ie’ as in ‘belief’ ‘i’ as in ‘machine’ ‘eo’ as in ‘people’ However, the spelling ‘ough’ may have six different sounds: ‘cough’ ‘koff’ ‘tough’ ‘tuff’ ‘bough’ ‘bow’ ‘through’ ‘thru’ ‘though’ ‘tho’ ‘thoroughfare’ ‘thurafare’ There are also some English letters which are not uttered, such as: - letter ‘k’ as in ‘know, knight, knee’ - letter ‘l’ as in ‘talk, walk, balk’ - letter ‘e’ as in ‘love, care, make’ - letter ‘b’ as in ‘doubt, debt’ - letter ‘p’ as in ‘photo, psychology, pneumonia’ In addition, some words which have different spelling and meaning, but they have the same pronunciation are: bear – bare /be?r/ sight – site /sait/ night – knight /nait/ role – roll /roul/ meat – meet /mi:t/ Non-native speakers, of course, are not the only people who have difficulties with spelling in English, and not all spelling errors can be attributed to language interference. But it is interesting to note that a list of the most commonly misspelled words of English native speakers will have only a small overlap with a similar list of common non-native-speaker spelling errors (Nicholls, 2003). Equally, lists of common English spelling errors for learners with different mother tongues will give a very different picture of the problems English spelling poses for learners with different mother tongues. Here, the mother-tongue-specific 'accent' can be noted. For example, for Indonesian learners, because Indonesian does not distinguish between the sounds '/i/' and '/i:/', may find it difficult to differentiate between ‘ship’ and ‘sheep.’ Furthermore, language interference in learning English spelling is not, however, restricted to problems of pronunciation being carried over into spelling. Unlike many languages-Indonesian, for example-English does not have a high correspondence between sound and spelling. For learners in whose mother tongue this correspondence is greater, it is harder to grasp some of the complexities of English spelling. The vowel sounds of letters 'e' and 'i' are often confused (e.g. dicided, devided), and ‘this’ and ‘these’ are also often confused because the sound-distinction is unclear to learners. Indonesian speakers will often reduce a double consonant to a single one, as in their mother tongue, hence atention, oportunity, diferent. Indonesian speakers whose mother tongues do not feature clusters of consonants (two or more consonants grouped together, as in ‘twelve’ or ‘department’) will interpose an extra vowel (‘departement’), or rearrange the vowels and consonants available into a configuration which feels more natural to them (twelev), based on their mother tongue. 2. Substitution of Phonemes Several English phonemes which do not exist in Indonesian phonemes are often substituted for their use. As a result, they may change the meaning of the words. For example: they /ð/ is uttered as ‘day’ /d/ thank /?/ is uttered as ‘sank’ /s/ shade /?/ is uttered as ‘said’ /s/ very /v/ is uttered as ‘ferry’ /f/ 3. Differentiation of Vowels English has more vowels than Indonesian. As a matter of fact, Indonesian learners may pronounce two different English vowels with the same pronunciation; and this may change the meaning of the sentences. For example: /i/ and /i:/ feel fill = Feel/fill this bag sleep slip = Don’t sleep/slip on the desk /ei/ and /e/ taste test = Can you taste/test it? sail sell = He wanted to sail/sell the boat /u:/ and /u/ pooling pulling = They are pooling/pulling it fool full = Only a fool/full horse would do it /ou/ and /o/ coat cot = That coat/cot is too small B. Structure Since Indonesian language belongs to the Austronesian family, while English belongs to Indo-European (Atmodarsono 1988, Finegan et.al. 1997), there are several aspects of language structure which are significantly different between the two languages. Among them are: 1. Tenses Indonesian language does not have tenses; people emphasize the exact time by only describing it in words: now, today, yesterday, last week, tomorrow, next year, and so forth. In addition, these words are used only if necessary. In English, however, most of the sentences have certain tenses which have certain pattern drills as well. The use of tenses in English sentences has been, therefore, considered as the most difficult aspect of English to be mastered by Indonesian learners (Subiyakto and Nababan 1992). It is possible for Indonesian students, for instance, to have sentences like this: You go to Jakarta tomorrow? I live in Jakarta for 5 years. which they should be: Will you go to Jakarta tomorrow? I have been living in Jakarta for 5 years. 2. Plurality Plurality form also does not exist in Indonesian language; we just repeat the word twice if we want to emphasize its plurality. In every English sentence, however, we have to identify the subject to know whether it is singular or plural. Variable nouns in English have both a plural and a singular form which differ from each other, most often by the addition or subtraction of an 's', though there are, of course, many irregular variable nouns. Invariable nouns in English come in different forms. Some have only a singular form, as is the case with uncountable nouns like ‘furniture’ and the names of some academic subjects, games and diseases, e.g. mathematics, darts and measles, which look misleadingly like plurals. Others have only a plural form in English, whereas their counterparts in other languages may have singular forms. For example, many objects which are made up of two hinged or joined parts and are symmetrical, such as scissors, scales, secateurs and trousers, have only a plural form in English. To refer to these nouns in the singular, we have to use 'a pair of' or 'some'. If the Indonesian learners assume that the number of these nouns is the same in English as in their mother tongue invalid noun forms, like trouser, an incorrect verb-noun and determiner-noun agreement errors, as in 'this trouser is too small' will result. This is all the more confusing since in languages where nouns of this type have been borrowed from English, they are usually given a singular form, regardless of their status in the language they were borrowed from (Nicholls 2002). Similarly, some nouns in English, like sheep, aircraft and offspring have the same form in both the singular and the plural, with only context to help with their interpretation. The Indonesian learners who have not sufficiently learnt these facts may rely on the assumption that these nouns behave in the same way as they do in their mother tongue. 3. Nouns (and the Use of Articles) Nouns in English are divided into two basic types: countable nouns and uncountable, or mass, nouns. Countable nouns are those which refer to individual entities which can be counted, such as coins, fingers and buildings. Uncountable nouns are those which refer to mass entities or to notions, which cannot be counted, such as money or laughter. These two types of noun have distinct grammatical behaviours (Nicholls, 2003). Moreover, countable nouns must have an article, which does not exist in Indonesian language as well. We cannot say 'coin is made of silver'. Uncountable nouns can stand alone without an article; we can say 'laughter is contagious'. While both types can take the definite article 'the', only countable nouns can take the indefinite article 'a' (e.g. ‘a coin,’ but not ‘a money’). Countable nouns have a plural form, whereas uncountable nouns do not; we can say ‘coins’ but we cannot say ‘laughters.’ Indonesian learners who start learning English and discover that, rather than being a quality which is inherent in the things denoted by the nouns themselves, countability is something which is written into the English language and what is countable in one language (i.e. English) can be uncountable in another (i.e. Indonesian). If the learners assume that the same countability applies to a word in English as in their mother tongue, interference errors will be occurred. For example, the word ‘advice’ is an uncountable noun in English. We cannot say ‘an advice’ (we have to say 'a piece of advice' as though it is a mass entity that has to be carved up, like bread), and we cannot say ‘advices.’ In Indonesian, however, the word for the concept of ‘advice’ is countable. It is accepted in Indonesian context to say 'he gave me a good advice' or 'his advices were useful', for example. In fact, when it comes to countability, English is often the exception, running counter to the trend in other languages, leaving learners mystified and making mistakes (Nicholls, 2003). In addition, other words which are uncountable in English but often countable in other languages, including Indonesian, are: information, news, luggage, furniture, weather, equipment, work, and money. The learner who only learns the noun and does not also learn the countability and attendant grammatical behaviour of the noun, will always make themselves understood, but their English will be incorrect. Cross-linguistic differences in countability are the source of such foreign-sounding statements as 'what a lovely weather', 'the money are in my pocket' and 'I have to do my homeworks' (Lott 1983). 4. Prepositions Unlike tenses, plurality and nouns, Indonesian learners are familiar with prepositions because sentences in Indonesian have the preposition as well. However, the students often put the Indonesian preposition into the English. For example: I told to him to go The teacher is explaining about the problem to the students. I like with you. they should be: I told him to go The teacher is explaining the problem to the students. I like you. C. Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is one of several language aspects which is concerned about the culture and the society of a nation. According to Hudson (1980, cf. Wardhaugh 1988:12), sociolinguistics is “the study of language in relation to society.” It is concerned with investigating the relationships between language and society with the goal of a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication. The importance of sociolinguistics is often neglected in learning one language. As long as the Indonesian learners use English among them, sociolinguistics is not needed. However, in communicating with the native speakers of English, we should not use the sociolinguistics in Indonesian context in order to be able to prevent from misunderstanding. There are several aspects of sociolinguistics in English context that Indonesian people, particularly the learners, should be aware. They are: 1. Greeting English : “Hi, how are you?” Indonesian : “Halo, mau kemana?” It is common in Indonesian context to continue with the question: “Where are you going?” or “Where do you want to go?” In the English speaking communities, however, it is uncommon to ask such question except for our close friend or someone we already know well (Montgomery, 1995:210). 2. "Small Talk" After Introductions After an introduction, there is usually a range of time to have a ‘small talk.’ It is a common situation for English speaking people to ask such questions: "Do you live in this area?", "How do you like living here?" or "What are you studying?" Someone may also ask, "What do you do?” which means "What is your job?" Indonesian people may further ask, "How much money do you make?" or "How old are you?" and even a very personal question such as: "Are you married?" will also be inquired. These kinds of personal questions may make the English native speakers surprised as they consider the questions rude and impolite, whereas such questions are very common in Indonesian speaking people. Conclusion Some studies and research which have been conducted indicate that there are, of course, many other influences at play when we learn a foreign language, but the influence that the mother tongue has on the language we produce when we use a foreign language has become a very important aspect to be aware of. Indonesian language which has some different aspects of rules and norms from English, has the potential to create interference among students and other Indonesians who learn the language. It is therefore suggested that the language produced by foreign learners (including Indonesian) is so unavoidably influenced, and even distorted, by the mother tongue of the learners that it should rather be termed an ‘Interlanguage’ (Selinker, 1971), since it will always be a blend of the foreign language and the mother tongue. The better the learner is at overcoming language interference, the more dilute that blend will be. References Atmodarsono, S., (1988). Linguistic Tutorials. 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