抄録
Many of the graphic confusions found in the English written by Japanese speakers are paralleled by the mistakes they often make in pronouncing English. Empirical and experimental data seem to agree in showing that there are some factors which promote the occurrence of these graphic confusions. Among them are:
(1) association, due to formal resemblance, between the word to be learned and another unrelated form occurring (i) in the learner's memory or (ii) in proximity in the context actually given to be memorized, and
(2) the successive or nearly successive occurrence within the word to be learned of the letters which are likely to be confused with each other.
The word deliberate is often misspelt as *deliverate obviously under the influence of the very familiar word deliver, which is in the learner's memory (1, i). The words swarm and thwart, given in the same context in fair proximity, sometimes appear as *thwarm and *swart respectively in reproduction test (1, ii). The letters v and b in the word vibrate are not infrequently transposed, thus giving rise to erroneous forms like *vivrate and *bivrate (2).
I have tried in this paper to explain the phenomena like those mentioned above on the basis of the learning-theory concept of retroactive and proactive inhibition. The idea underlying my arguments is that learners memorize and reproduce words primarily in terms of spelling-to-sound correlation. Further, my arguments are based on the hypothesis, which seems very justifiable, that Japanese speakers' auditory memory of English words consists of the sounds of their native language.
The above-mentioned phenomena will be explained as follows:
(1)(i) deliberate *deliverate
First Learning Second Learning
Proactive Inhibtion
deliver-[dilibe] deliber (ate)-[dilibe (reit)]
The great familiarity of the word deliver implies that it has been repeatedly read or learned before the learning of the word deliberate takes place. Thus the first learning interferes with the second learning.
(ii) swarm *thwarm; thwart *swart
First Learning Second Learning
Proactive Inhibition
swar (m)-[swo:(m)] thwar (t)-[swo:(t)]
Retroactive Inhibition
The erroneous forms *thwarm and *swart are respectively the results of retroactive and proactive inhibition. Nearness in occurrence of the two series of learning in question is a factor prompting inhibition.
(2) vibrate *vivrate, *bivrate, etc.
First Learning Second Learning
Proactive Inhibition
v-[b] b-[b]
Retroactive Inhibition
The letters v and b of vibrate correspond to [b] in Japanese learners' perception of the word. Thus, inhibition, in both directions, tends to take place, aided also by the close contiguity in occurrence of the two series of learning.
