母语语用迁移对中国学生英语写作的影响(英文)

Abstract: Language transfer has been a key issue in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and language teaching for at least a century. The topic of the first language influencing on the second language is mostly focused on by language teaching researchers. Recently people attach greater importance to English writing; however, the result of English writing exam is far from being satisfactory. This paper focuses on the phenomena of native language’s pragmatic transfer in Chinese EFL writing, and emphasizes how to strengthen the positive language transfer, and avoids negative language transfer, with the purpose of improving the Chinese students’ English writing levels and abilities of language use. Some suggestions have also been put forward for the EFL learning and teaching in China in this paper.

Key Words: Native language; Pragmatic transfer; English writing

摘  要：近一个世纪,语言迁移在应用语言学，第二语言习得研究和语言教学中一直被认为是很重要的课题。第一语言对第二语言习得的影响是语言教学研究者所关注的首要课题。近年来中国学生的英语写作能力的提高备受关注，但中国学生的英语作文质量一直低下。本文首先注重分析中国学生英文写作中的语用迁移现象，并着重强调了如何强化母语正迁移，弱化母语负迁移，旨在提高中国学生英语写作水平和语用能力，文章结尾部分还就促进中国英语写作教与学提出几点建议。

关键词：母语；语用迁移；英语写作

Introduction
In English language teaching, language transfer has been a controversial topic and more linguistic researchers have a better and more comprehensive understanding of it. There has been considerable progress in the study of transfer during the last hundred or so years, especially during the years since World War II. Within the last few years, however, the importance of language transfer has been ebbed and flowed. A learner’s native language that we also call one’s first language（L1） always has great impact on his or her second language(L2). People think that L1 slows down and interferes with the process of Second Language Acquisition. Up to the 1980s a fairly derogatory term interference was used for the L1 influence on L2 performance. The term interference was the origin of the term transfer. However, at present, the Chinese students’ English writing level is far from being satisfactory, the Chinese type of English expressions frequent appear. There are many scholars have conducted the research in the light of this, and puts forward many proposals about English writing teaching.
The objectives of the research are to try to investigate the main types of errors made by Chinese EFL students in their English writing, explore the sources of the identified errors and finally find out the specific proportion of errors caused by language transfer. It is hoped to help English teacher in China get a further understanding of the errors made by Chinese students and the psychological cause of making errors, hence stimulate them to treat errors properly and improve their English teaching.

1 Language Transfer
    In the second language acquisition, language transfer can not be overlooked. Before language learners learn a foreign language, they have been using their native language to communicate with each other for a long time, so that they have been very familiar with the rules of native language. When they learn a new language, they transfer those rules into the second language unconsciously, and then transfers appear. However, there are similarities and differences between two languages in their usages, rules and so on.
1.1 The definition of language transfer
 Language transfer is also called cross-linguistic influence and it is one of the key factors contributing to learners’ interlanguage. The origins of the term go back to Behaviorism and its view is that the native language habits influence learning of the foreign language habits. Although it was later discredited, the notion of transfer has been revived again and remains one of the most fundamental in foreign language acquisition research.
Corder questions the use of the term “transfer” because of its past association with behaviorism. He prefers to speak the role of the mother tongue. He further distinguishes between two types of native language influence: borrowing and structural transfer[1]. According to Corder, borrowing is a performance phenomenon. It is so variable and situation-dependent that it does not incorporate into a learner’s interlanguage. But he recognizes that borrowing is related to the learner’s perception of language distance, and is the result of an impasse in a communication setting. Structural transfer in Corder’s framework is considered as a result of successful borrowing. The standard of success is not measured against the grammaticality of these language structures, but based on the learner’s perception of whether or not the particular communication was successful.
Adjemian, on the basis of Corder’s framework admits the difficulty in determining the etiology of an error which resembles a native language feature. He claims that in the case of borrowing, the learner is aware of the fact that he has relied on his native language; in the case of structural transfer the learner should not be necessarily aware of the fact that a native language rule or form is used since the learner-grammar has been affected[2].转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net