中学生英语写作中式英语现象的句法分析.doc

菏泽学院Heze University本科生毕业设计（论文）题目 Analysis of Chinglish in Syntax in Middle School Students English Writing 中学生英语写作中式英语现象的句法分析 姓名系 别专业指导教师2012年5月20日菏泽学院教务处制Analysis of Chinglish in Syntax in Middle School Students English WritingAThesis Presented toForeign Languages DepartmentHeze UniversityIn Partial Fulfilment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsBy Sun FuyanUnder the Supervision of Zhang YangmeiMay, 2012 CONTENTS摘要iAbstractiiIntroduction11 Literature Review12 Chinglish 2 2.1 Definition2 2.2 Generation23 Main Causes of Chinglish3 3.1 Cultural Difference3 3.2 Mother Tongue Interference34 Syntactical Analysis of Chinglish in English Writing3 4.1 Incorrect Word Order4 4.2 Dangling Modifier6 4.3 Disagreement7 4.3.1 Tense 8 4.3.2 Voice 8 4.3.3 Number 94.4 Connection 105 Solutions to Avoid Chinglish in English Writing11 5.1 Accumulate Chinglish Examples for Contrasting 11 5.2 Strengthen Awareness of Cultural Difference115.3 Apply Interactive Approach125.4 Encourage Students to Read Widely 125.5 Encourage Students to Write Freely 12Conclusion13Bibliography14Acknowledgements 15中学生英语写作中式英语现象的句法分析英语专业学生 孙福雁 指导教师 张仰媚 摘要：中式英语通常被认为是中国的英语学习者和使用者受到母语的干扰和影响，套用汉语规则和习惯，在英语交际中出现的不合规范或不合乎英语文化习惯的畸形语。中式英语表现形式各异，大大削弱了跨文化交际的效果，有些甚至影响跨文化交际的顺利进行。目前中学生的英语写作水平很不令人满意，中式英语错误成为老师和学生的一大难题。中学生的英语写作作为一种语言输出，在句法层面很大程度上反映了中式英语现象。因此，通过分析中学生写作中出现的各种中式英语现象，揭示其表现形式及产生原因，提出相应的改善措施，旨在给中国的中学生写作教学一个借鉴，希望在写作过程中尽量减少中式英语，提高写作水平。关键词：中式英语；中学生英语写作；句法分析；改善措施 Analysis of Chinglish in Syntax in Middle School Students English WritingStudent majoring in English Sun Fuyan Tutor Zhang YangmeiAbstract: Chinglish is often thought to be a kind of deformed English which is influenced or interfered by the mother tongue. Chinglish, in all forms, significantly weakened the cross-culture communication and even affect the smooth progress of it. The English level of middle school students is now far from satisfactory. Chinglish has become a headache both for English teachers and students. As a kind of language output, middle school students English writings, especially in the aspect of syntax, reflect too much Chinglish errors.Therefore, this paper attempts to provide reference for middle school students through investigating Chinglish problems encountered in their English writing.And then some solutions are offered,hoping to minimize Chinglish and improve the English writing.Key words: Chinglish; middle school students English writing; syntactical analysis; solutions IntroductionThe spread of English has been remarkable since the last century. English, which was originally spoken by little known German tribes, who invaded England, now covers the globe. English may be easily learned by a French, or a Chinese would feel easy to learn Japanese. Such cases reveal that the native language can influence the learning of another language. However, such second language acquisition would not be very easy for an English learner in China because the two languages are of great difference. Inevitably, students will be interfered by mother tongue in English writing, which results in Chinglish. Among the intra-linguistic motivations of Chinese English or Chinglish，syntactic factors are certainly of great importance and deserve much attention to both English learners and teachers in ChinaThis paper aims to find that Chinglish can be mostly attributed to their syntactic incompetence in producing some English structures properly. The present thesis consists of five parts. Part one is a literature review giving the background of the research. Part two is about the definition and the generation of Chinglish. Part three offers main causes of Chinglish. Part four is the syntactical analysis of Chinglish in English writing, which can be summarized as incorrect word order, dangling modifier, disagreement and connection. And in partfive, the author puts forward the possiblesolutions as advice.1 Literature reviewWith the opening and rapid development of China, China is playing a more and more important role in international affairs. Therefore, English has become one of the most popular and commonly learned second languages in China. However, Chinese learners have to resort to Chinese as the structure in learning English because of the lack of enough access to the English language and culture. As a consequence, Chinglish appears. Many researches have been carried out on Chinglish by scholars in China.Professor Li Wenzhong defines Chinglish as “a system of international language between Chinese mother tongue and the English target language used by English learners of Chinese when they have not mastered standard English.” (Li Wenzhong, 1993) Its stated in the book A New Concise Course on Linguistic for Students of English edited by Dai Weidong and He Zhaoxiong (2002: 77) that the native language takes on great significance, for it is regarded as the major cause for lack of success in learning a second language or foreign language. And a distinction was made between positive transfer and negative transfer, while the former will facilitate target language learning, the latter would interfere the target language acquisition. Deng Yanchang proposes that Chinglish may be grammatically correct, but the choices of words or phrases, and the manner of expressions do not conform to standard English usage (Deng Yanchang, 1989: 112-113). Although the understanding of Chinglish is not a problem, Chinglish is unacceptable. Zhuang Yichuan (2000) puts forward the origin of Chinglish error. He says that Chinese students have a tendency to transplant the Chinese semantics and cultural structure into English expressions as a result of ignorance of the cultural difference or distinctive thinking pattern. Although there are studies and writings on the definition and reasons of Chinglish to theory or to practice, a systematic study of Chinglish has never been in existence. There is no general agreement on its definition, nature and causes up to now. Moreover, most of the studies on Chinglish are focused on the field of translation and little research was made in Chingfish in English writings, not to mention Chinglish in syntax in middle school students English writing. Under such circumstances, it is quite necessary to make a comprehensive investigation into Chinglish in syntax in middle school students English writing. After classifying and analyzing Chinglish in middle school students English writings, this thesis attempts to find out the main manifestations and corresponding solutions to Chinglish.2 Chinglish2.1 Definition of ChinglishProfessor Li Wenzhong distinguishes the China English from Chinglish in his book China English and Chinglish, which is defined as “Chinglish is based on standard English to express unique things peculiar to China by means of transliteration, translation, and semantic creation.” (Li Wenzhong, 1993: 11) Whats more, he argues that Chinglish is a kind of deformed English which is influenced or interfered by the mother tongue. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that Chinglish is non-standard English that is neither English nor Chinese but stands between them. 2.2 Generation of Chinglish L1=mother tongue L2=second language Figure 2-1Figure 2-1 above presents how Chinglish generates. For Chinese students, the process of their English writing is just a matter of acquiring translation equivalents. They just use electronic dictionary or surf the Internet to help them get the meaning of every new word they will use in their writings. In such way, they continue to use the mother tongue as a framework on which they attach L2 (second language) items and they will not develop the necessary framework to take account of syntax between different items in the target language. L1 (mother tongue) sentences are learned as both semantic and formal entities, but L2 (second language) sentences are formed mainly as formal entities because, here, the meaning is provided, either through association with L1 (mother tongue) translation or by means of definition, rather than extracted or learned from the context by writers themselves. Therefore, Chinglish appears in form of English translation as well as intra-lingual analogy. Based on the above discussion, how to strengthen mental thoughts connection between the two languages in the network of the brain seems to be the core task for writers to solve the problem of Chinglish and generate the more proper English.3 Main Causes of Chinglish in WritingHe Mingzhu (2000) ascribes the causes of Chinglish to multiple aspects such as the differences in modes of thinking, cultures and customs between China and English. In fact, a few factors contribute to Chinglish, and here are two main causes:3.1 Cultural DifferenceLanguage is the carrier of culture, like a mirror, which reflects a variety of social and cultural habits and expressions of a different language in different historical periods and cultural backgrounds. It is easy to make mistakes for Chinese students, because they do not understand these cultural differences.For example, in China the expression “您上哪儿去?” “吃了吗?” “上班?” etc. are used to greet someone. However, their English versions “Where are you going?” “Have you eaten?” “Going to work?” are considered to be silly questions.3.2 Mother Tongue InterferenceChinglish in English writing is the language formed by Chinese students who transfer the habit or manners of Chinese into English, resulting in not meeting the expressions of English. Many sentences which can express ones title can be used to show ones official position or profession, such as, coach, teacher, carpenter, etc. As a result, Chinese students are likely to apply this kind of expressions to English, so Chinglish arises. We often see students write “Dear, Teacher Li” or “How are you, Chairman Mao?” etc. However, only a few nouns in English can be used as office address words such as, doctor, professor and so on. 4 Syntactical Analysis of Chinglish in English WritingMany Chinese students only pay attention to the sentence replacement but neglect different thought patterns and structures of the two languages when they form sentences in English writing. As has been discussed in chapter three, mother tongue interference and cultural difference will affect the English writing. Consequently, Chinglish arises from it. In the following, the author illustrates the manifestations of Chinglish by large amount of examples.4.1 Incorrect Word Order We may know that both Chinese and English have a pattern as “S+V+O” when we talk about sentence structure. However, the word order in Chinese is more flexible than English. They belong to different language structures and it is an important aspect that the word orders of the two languages are not the same. The English sentences with incorrect word order may become Chinglish. The following are examples.Examples:(1) 我非常喜欢读书。Chinglish: I very like reading books.Revision: I like reading books very much.(2) 每天早上我七点起床。Chinglish: I every morning seven oclock get up.Revision: I get up at seven oclock every morning. Obviously, Chinglish sentences are in wrong word orders that are the same with Chinese. The structure of Chinese is S+adv.+V+O while the English one is S+V+O+adv.(3) 飞机从北京起飞。Chinglish: The plane from Beijing take off.Revision: The plane takes off from Beijing.(4) 昨天和同学们踢球了。Chinglish: I yesterday with my classmates played football.Revision: I played football with my classmates yesterday.Chinese people emphasize on the process while westerners pay more attention to the result. As a result, the English people often put the result or the more important information before the process or the less important information. In addition, orders of persons are often put in wrong orders by Chinese people. For instance:(5) 星期天，我，李明还有李华一块去图书馆。Chinglish: I, Li Ming and Li Hua are going to the liberary this Sunday.Revision: Li Ming, Li Hua and I are going to the liberary this Sunday.(6) 王明跟我应该对这事负责。Chinglish: Wang Ming and I should be blamed.Revision: I and Wang Ming should be blamed. Generally speaking, “I” is put after other people in English. However, when responsibility or mistake is to be taken or admitted, “I” must be placed before others.(7) 他想到一个好主意。Chinglish: He came up a good idea.Revision: A good idea struck him. (8) 报纸报道他将在上海举办音乐会。Chinglish: The newspaper reported that he is going to have a concert in Shanghai.Revision: It is reported that he is going to have a concert in Shanghai. Object is usually the study target of western people, while subject is considered more by Chinese. That is to say, the person is the subject in China but the matter is used as subject in English. (9) 我的地址是上海市北京路2号大街。Chinglish: My adress is Shanghai Beijing Road No. 2.Revision: My adress is No. 2 Beijing Road, Shanghai . (10) 我来自山东省烟台市。Chinglish: I am from Shangdong province, Yantai. Revision: I am from Yantai, Shandong . Places are generally put from the small one to the bigger one in English countries. On the contrary, they are put from the big one to the smaller one in China.4.2 Dangling ModifierDangling modifier is one of the most common Chinglish problems in sentence structure. They are phrases or clauses that function as adjectives or adverbs and that are illogical. They are not because of faulty placement but because of faulty grammatical relations with other elements in the sentence. Therefore, a change in word order will not suffice to correct them. The writer has to deal with them in other ways. Dangling modifiers in English writing appear frequently in structures as participles, infinitives and prepositional phrases.Examples:(1) 写完作业后，我打开了电视。Chinglish: Having finished the homework,the TVwas turned on.Revision: Having finished the homework,Iturned on the TV. This is a typical Chinglish. “Having finished” is a participle expressing action, but the doer is not the TV set becuse TV sets dont finish assignments. Since the doer of the action expressed in the participle has not been clearly stated, the participial phrase is said to be a dangling modifier.(2) 明天下午两点将在学校礼堂开会。Chinglish: At 2:00 pm tomorrow in the school hall will hold a meeting.Revision: There will be a meeting at 2:00 pm tomorrow in the school hall.The Chinese sentence is typical of “topic prominence”. “明天下午两点在学校礼堂” is the adverbial phrase functioning as the theme or topic rather than subject in the sentence. The real subject “faculty” is hidden in this sentence. The use of “there be” sentence pattern in revision is acceptable in English.(3) 用武力或和平方式，都可能击败大部分残余敌对势力。Chinglish: Using either military or peaceful means, most of the remaining enemy forces were put out of action.Revision: Using either military or peaceful means, we put most of the remaining enemy forces out of action. A participle phrase at the beginning of a sentence must modify the subject of the sentence. The subject of the Chinglish sentence is “most of the remaining enemy forces”, but it is “we” in revision that “use either military or peaceful means”.(4) 再一次上课迟到，书面检讨必不可少。Chinglish: Having arrived late for class,a written excusewas needed.Revision: Having arrived late for class,the team captainneeded a written excuse.Who arrived late? The Chinglish sentence says that the written excuse arrived late. To revise, it must to be decided who actually arrived late. The main clause now names the person (the team captain) who did the action in the modifying phrase (arrived late). (5) 一进校门就看到很多花。Chinglish: Go into my school, you can see many flowers. Revision: Going into my school, you can see many flowers. The action “go” is done by “you” and there must be only one verb in a sentence. (6) 他又做了一遍实验以改进实验结果。Chinglish: To improve his results,the experimentwas done again.Revision: To improve his results,he did the experiment again. Who wanted to improve results? The first sentence says that the experiment was trying to improve its own results. To revise, it is necessary to combine the phrase and the main clause into one sentence. (7) 没有考虑仔细，实验失败了。Chinglish: The experimentwas a failure,not having studied carefully.Revision:Theyfailed the experiment,not having studied carefully.The doer of “study carefully” should be someone while in the Chinglish sentence, the subject is “the experiement”, so somebody like “they” are used.(8) 要想学好英语，大量的练习是必不可少的。Chinglish: To learn English well, a great deal of practice is necessary.Revision: To learn English well, one needs to have a great deal of practice. In English, the logical subject of non-predicate verb should be consistent with the subject of the sentence. In this example, th