Words that may look or sound the same in the target language and the student's first language but have two different meanings are called?

Words that may look or sound the same in the target language and the student's first language but have two different meanings are called?

• A. False friend
• B. Exponent
• C. Metalanguage
• D. Echo

Answer: (A)

Words that look or sound the same in two languages but have different meanings are called false friends. This happens because the surface form nudges you to think of one meaning, while in the other language the word means something else entirely, which can lead to misunderstandings if you assume the meanings match. For example, some words that look alike across languages carry unrelated meanings. The best term to describe this phenomenon is false friend. The other terms don’t fit: an exponent is a mathematical symbol, metalanguage is language about language, and an echo is a sound reflection.

Words that look or sound the same in two languages but have different meanings are called false friends. This happens because the surface form nudges you to think of one meaning, while in the other language the word means something else entirely, which can lead to misunderstandings if you assume the meanings match. For example, some words that look alike across languages carry unrelated meanings. The best term to describe this phenomenon is false friend. The other terms don’t fit: an exponent is a mathematical symbol, metalanguage is language about language, and an echo is a sound reflection.