Abstract
M.A. (Applied Linguistics and Literary Theory)
Any person who tries to learn or acquire a second on foreign language will be subject to some form of mother tongue and/or cultural interference. In the South African context such interference can occur between any two cultural and language groups in contact e.g. between English and Afrikaans, or between both English and Afrikaans on the one hand, and any African language on the other. The investigator is of the opinion that such interference can cause serious barriers to communication. Her research focuses
particularly on the impact of cultural interference. Her findings suggest that cultural interference has a significant negative impact, and as a result she recommends that differences need to be addressed as an important component of ESL and EFL
teaching in South African schools. She believes that the new education system known as Curriculum 2005 will help to reduce some of the identified communication problems, because it emphasises the promotion of all languages, especially the African languages which were in the past not accorded official status.