Inglese come Relay Languge in un Confronto Linguistico Consapevole: Decisivo per l'Uso Competente di Strategie e Risorse Online.

More and more foreign language learners make interference errors from the first to the second foreign language; the negative transfer does not only take place from L1. We know that not every contrast leads to a negative transfer and not every similarity supports the language learning process. However, foreign language learners always compare between languages, not only between two, but between all their previously learnt languages. The responsible factor for the successful use of a plurilingual repertoire seems to be the awareness or the conscious use of language comparison as a strategy. In this context the English language plays an important role as a relay language. Examples from empirical studies on dictionary use are presented, in which English as a consciously used relay language is responsible for a competent use of online resources and dictionaries. Finally, the design of a research project is presented, which aims to clarify the relationship between language competence, language awareness and the conscious use of learning strategies and a competent use of online resources and dictionaries.