The contrastive linguistics of English and Maltese

Abstract

A scientifically sound contrastive analysis could be considered as one typological statement about any number of languages that are brought under comparison. we shall be able to see in the first unit, traditional typological theory based linguistic comparison on the morphological, perhaps the morpho-syntactic, aspect of languages, whereas nowadays typological classification examines the comparisons and contrasts between languages at a number of levels, both linguistic and extralinguistic. It is partly in this light that the following work has been approached. Another issue which I have continually kept in mind is the increasing emphasis on contrastive analysis as an explanation rather than a mere enumeration of contrasts (errors, in the case of contrastive analysis applied to the classroom situation) that arise between different languages.. Contrary, once again, to the traditional reference of one language to what was mistakenly considered a richer or superior language, such explanation of contrasts can best be achieved by relating the languages concerned to a particular linguistic theory which is potentially applicable to any human language that comes under investigation. Naturally enough, an exhaustive contrastive analysis of two or more particular languages is a virtually impossible task. In one way one could set up a detailed analysis of any particular aspect of interest at a given linguistic level.