Mother Tongue Influence on English Language Learning

Indian languages differ from English in many aspects, be it morphology, syntax, grammar or pronunciation. These differences result in the impact of First Language (L1) on Second Language (L2), which in turn pushes the learners to make mistakes in using the second language fluently. Though these differences are not similar for all, there are multiple reasons associated with Mother Tongue Influence (MTI) on English language learning. This paper attempts to discuss the role of languages and their impact on each other by explicitly giving examples of language in use. It further presents a clear analysis of the reasons mentioned for MTI. This paper also highlights on the problems of MTI among Indian speakers, especially Telugu Speakers and talks about the effects of MTI. The paper also presents a few possible solutions and ways of overcoming MTI and attempts to categorize the differences in L1 and L2 by giving examples in aspects of phonological, syntactic, semantic, morphological, lexical, grammatical, contextual code switching, usage to literal translational differences.