How to Empower Hispanic First-Year College Students with
Contrastive Analysis Strategies
Mercè Pujol, Hostos Community College, CUNY
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on the First­Year Experience
June 15, 2004
Maui, Hawaii
The following linguistic aspects of Spanish and English have been researched, studied, and
contrasted. A series of strategies, with accompanying exercises, have been created in order
to help native Spanish speakers to learn English and be prepared for college work.
Examples
of the spelling patterns of words and sentence structure follow. Tips on how ESL
students can deal with academic content on their own also follow. If you are interested in
having the full presentation, please e-mail the author.
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The sounds of Spanish and English
The spelling patterns of words
Word forms
Word meanings
Sentence structure
Communicative competence
The Spelling Patterns of Words: Clusters
Double Consonants in English:
Unlike Spanish, double consonants are very common in English and occur with almost all the
consonants:
Spanish
English
Común
common
Manera
manner
Acento
accent
Papá
daddy
Pasar
pass
Sufrir
sufer
You may know that in Spanish only the R, L, C, and N can double. Examples
are: perro, carretera, terreno, llama, lluvia, llorar, lección, ficción, acción,
innecesario, connotación, and innegable.
Remember that monosyllables (words containing one vowel between two consonants) in
English and words whose accent is on the last syllable double the last consonant when adding
an ending or a suffix.
Plan
planned
Fog
foggy
Put
putting
Swim
Swimming
Refer
referred
Consonant Clusters in English:
Unlike Spanish, clusters of two and three (or even more) consonants are common at the end of
English words:
Enough, thorough
Heart, hurt, blurt
Hold, told, should
Lung, hang, sing,
Blind, fnd, found
Diferent, tolerant
Caught, thought, bright
Health, wealth
Hundredth, width, length, eighth
Distinct, instinct, precinct
Thirst, frst, worst
Clusters of two and three consonants are common in the middle of a word in Spanish.
Some examples are: cambio, signifcado, complemento, cangrejo, and hambriento.
However, the following words in English are difficult for a Spanish speaker to write
correctly.
Government, judgment, acknowledgment, diphthong
Clusters of two consonants are common at the beginning of a word in Spanish. Some
examples are: problema, trabajo, flauta, crecer, and glucosa. However, English also
has clusters of three consonants at the beginning of a word, which are difficult for a
Spanish speaker to write correctly.
Strawberries, through, sphere, shrug, phrase
Vowel Clusters in English:
Clusters of two vowels are as common in Spanish as in English. Some examples of Spanish
vowel clusters are: resfriado, agrietar, claustrofobia, abuelo and sucio. However, unlike
Spanish, clusters of three vowels are very common in English and pose problems for Spanish
speakers.
Courageous, outrageous, gorgeous
Cautious, pretentious, precarious
Exercises: The Spelling Patterns of Words: Clusters
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Study the spelling of these fifteen English words for one minute. Then cover the words.
How many can you remember and write without any spelling error?
indistinct, relationship, communication, growth, shrimp,
muffin, refreshment, attempt, month, government,
assassination, environment, beautiful, ambitious, fifth
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Read the following paragraph written by a Spanish speaker learning English and correct the
spelling problems that you identify:
Last year my parents bougth a new home, and we all moved to a new neigborhood in
the Bronx. At fst, I didn’t like my new neigborhood because it was too diferente and
some areas seemed dangeros. Also, I thougth that people were not friendly enoug to
us. My mother would come home depresed after shoping in the market. She used to
complain that many of the vendors were rude to imigrants who couldn’t speak English
well.
Other spelling patterns to compare and contrast:
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Uses
Uses
Uses
Uses
Uses
Uses
Uses
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
m and n.
b, v, f, and w.
c, k, q, s, and z.
h, ll, and y.
g and j.
r and rr.
t and d
Sentence Structure: Simple Sentences
Even though Spanish and English sentences are similar in many ways, there are many
structures which can be difficult for Spanish speakers to learn and use. Here you have a few to
compare and contrast.
Structures with Verbs of State:
Spanish
English
Soy ingeniero.
Estoy agotada.
Me siento cansado.
Luisa se siente contenta.
Carlos parece nervioso.
La sopa huele bien.
Natalia parece muy joven.
Parece que va a llover.
Parece que no hay tiempo.
I am an engineer.
I am exhausted.
I am tired.
Louise feels happy.
Charles seems nervous.
The soup smells good.
Nathalie looks very young.
It looks like it is going to rain.
It seems that there is no time.
Structures with Verbs of Result:
Spanish
English
Pedro se enojó con ella.
Paco se emborrachó ayer.
Juana se enfermó.
Mi vecino se volvió ciego.
Lola se puso furiosa con el cartero.
(Se) ha engordado.
(Se) ha envejecido.
Peter got angry at her.
Paco got drunk yesterday.
Joanne got sick.
My neighbor became blind.
Lola became furious with the mailman.
He/she has gotten fat.
He/she has grown old.
Sentences with Direct and Indirect objects:
Spanish
English
Le enseñé los libros a María.
Le enseñé a María los libros.
Se los enseñé.
I showed the books to Mary.
I showed Mary the books.
I showed them to her.
Le expliqué la lección a José.
Le expliqué a José la lección.
Se la expliqué.
I explained the lesson to Joseph.
I explained Joseph the lesson.
I explained it to him.
Structures with the Verb To Be plus Adjectives:
Spanish
English
Es
Es
Es
Es
It is essential to know English.
It is important for you to learn English.
It is boring to study alone.
It is interesting for you to travel.
imprescindible saber inglés.
importante que aprendas inglés.
aburrido estudiar solo.
interesante que viajes.
Simple and Complex Sentences with WANT:
Spanish
English
Quiero viajar mucho.
(Ella) se quería ir temprano.
Quiero que me ayudes.
(El) quería que su padre le visitara.
I want to travel a lot.
She wanted to go early.
I want you to help me.
He wanted his father to visit him.
Double Negative Structures in Spanish:
Spanish
No creo nada de lo que dices.
No quiero verte nunca jamás.
Nadie ha dicho nada de ti.
English
I don’t believe anything of what you say.
I don’t want to see anymore/ ever again.
No one has said anything about you.
Exercises: Sentence Structure: Simple Sentences
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Why would all of the above sentence structures in English pose problems for Spanish
speakers learning English? Explain the differences you observe as far as sentence
structure is concerned.
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Read the following paragraph written by a Hispanic ESL student. Identify problems with
simple sentence structure in English. Correct them if you can. Why do you think the
student made such mistakes?
A few years ago my father wanted that I went to college, but I refused. I wanted hang out
with my friends and wasn’t interested in studying. To me I liked spend too much time with
my friends, and I didn’t have no time for nothing more substantial. My father got very
angry at me and wanted punish me. He actually decided not give no money until I found a
decent job. I had to struggle for a while. Finally, I realized that I had to study. My father
showed to me a good lesson. Now I know that is important go to college and receive an
education.
Other sentence structure issues to compare and contrast:
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Compound sentences
Complex Sentences
Passive Structures
Direct and Indirect Speech
Punctuation
Tips for Dealing with Content Material
Reading and understanding literature and academic content in a second language can be
intimidating and sometimes frustrating. Here you have some advice on how you can
approach the reading process so that it becomes enjoyable, interesting, and productive. You
will become an active, independent, and efficient reader.
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Relax and have an open attitude of mind before you start.
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Read the heading a few times and see what comes to your mind. (If nothing comes to your
mind, it is just fine. Relax and continue.)
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Read the passage to yourself, either silently or aloud, for the first time slowly, but without
stopping. (It is important to grasp the general idea of the passage.)
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Repeat the same procedure once or twice. (Do not use any dictionary at this point.)
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By the third reading, you still want to read slowly. However, use your imagination,
intuition, native language, personal experience, and prior knowledge to make connections
and guess the meaning of the passage. You are very resourceful. Use your resources.
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In your next reading, you want to fully interact with the text. You may want to circle and
underline important or difficult words and phrases. You may want to write on the margins
and ask questions. You may even want to write a journal entry about whatever comes to
your mind as far as this passage is concerned.
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Feel free to use a dictionary at this point if it helps you clarify words or phrases. Do not
overuse it.
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By the fourth or fifth reading, you should be able to identify the following information about
the passage:
 General idea
 Major claims
 Details or evidence accompanying each claim
 Final statements or conclusions
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By now, you should also have developed an opinion about the topic, and you should have
related it to your experience and prior knowledge. However, you may still have questions
that you would like to pose to your professor and/or classmates. Write everything down in
your journal. Be ready to share your thoughts and concerns with them all in class. Don’t
be shy! What you have to say is very valuable and can benefit others a great deal.