language-transfer-in-english-writing(英文论文)

1、 外语学院2011级英语写作课程论文 题 目 Research on Language Transfer in English Writing 专业班级 11级英语+市场营销02班 学 号 1120010210 学生姓名 龙咏秋 指导教师 凃老师 得 分： 完成日期： 2014年 10 月 10 日 Table of ContentsAbstract in English.iAbstract in Chinese. .ii1. Introduction.1.1 Definition of Language Transfer.1.2 Purpose and Significance of Thi

2、s Thesis.2. Literature Review.2.1 Related Studies of Language Transfer in English Writing.2.1.1 Related studies aboard.2.1.2 Related studies at home.2.2 Evaluations.2.3 Thesis Statement.3. Concrete analysis of the language transfer in English writing.3.1 Concrete Analysis of Positive Transfer. 3.1.1

3、 Positive transfer in tone. 3.1.2 Positive transfer in euphemism. 3.2 Concrete Analysis of Negative Transfer.3.2.1 Negative transfer in vocabulary.3.2.2 Negative transfer in syntax.4. Strategies and Implications.4.1 Utilizing Positive Transfer Rationally. 4.2 Reading and Writing More English article

4、s. 4.3 Strengthening the Intake of English Culture. 4.4 Making Comparisons While Studying.5. Conclusions.Bibliography . 1 12222334444455566667 7 9Abstract English writing is the weak link among the majority of Chinese learners when they study English as a second language. While the language transfer

5、 is an essential factor in English learning, the positive transfer plays a encouraging role but the negative transfer plays a obstructive role in English writing. In the present studies, most scholars just described the impeditive impact of the negative transfer and they ignored the positive effect,

6、 few strategies were put forward to help the English learners overcoming the difficulties. This thesis adopts documentation method to analyze the main impacts of language transfer in English writing by collecting and identifying data, it finds out that the negative impact is far greater than the pos

7、itive effect though the positive transfer benefit English writing to some extent. In the end, this thesis puts forward rational predictions and concrete strategies to improve the English writing for the English learners. Key words: language transfer; English writing; language universals; linguistic

8、disparities 摘 要在英语这一第二外语的学习中，英语写作是大多数中国英语学习者的薄弱环节，而语言迁移则是影响英语写作水平的关键因素。正迁移对英语写作起着积极作用，而负迁移则拉低了英语写作的水平。然而在目前的研究中，大多数学者只是从语言负迁移这方面探讨了负迁移对英语写作的消极影响，从而忽视了正迁移对英语写作的促进作用，同时也鲜有研究提出能够切实帮助英语学习者克服负迁移提高写作水平的方法与策略。本文采用文献研究的方法，通过搜集、鉴别、整理以往有关文献，分析当前语言迁移现象在英语写作中的主要影响，探讨了语言共性方面正迁移的促进作用与语言差异性上负迁移的阻碍作用，研究结果显示语言负迁移对写作

9、的影响远远大于正迁移。同时，本文合理的进行了趋向预测并提出了有助于提高英语学习者写作水平的切实可行的解决策略。关键字: 语言迁移；英语写作；语言共性；语言差异i1. IntroductionEnglish writing is a weak link for English learners for quite a long time, most of the students can not think outside the box of their mother language to complete a fluent and authentic English essay. So t

10、hat how to improve the teaching of writing has becoming a focus by the educators and linguists. In the middle of last century，language transfer in SLA had been put forward by linguists to be applied to the teaching of English writing, and it was a new perspective to research English writing. The tea

11、chers mainly attach importance on vocabulary, grammar and structure in traditional English teaching method, it turns out that students usually doesnt see the forest for the trees and they cant form a comprehensive grasp as a whole. The essay usually distorted and non-native, that is the negative tra

12、nsfer. On the other side, language universals help the students to make their essay more fluent and concrete, it also impact the writing in a good way, that is the positive transfer. But how to take advantage of the positive transfer and get rid of the negative transfer was still a unknown for a lon

13、g time. In this research, a systematic strategy is put forward to help solve this problem. 1.1 Background Information English plays an increasingly important role in the cooperation and communication among different nations with the development of the world economy. It is also chosen as a foreign la

14、nguage to learn in educational system in China. But English writing is always an weak link in the teaching of English for that the learners foreign language learning is inevitably affected by their mother tongue. Language transfer refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native la

15、nguage to a second language. It is most commonly discussed in the context ofEnglish language learning and teaching. When the relevant unit or structure of both languages are the same, linguistic interference can result in correct language production calledpositive transfer correct meaning in line wi

16、th most native speakers notions of acceptability. An example is the use ofcognates. Note, however, that language interference is most often discussed as a source of errors known asnegative transfer. Negative transfer occurs when speakers and writers transfer items and structures that are not the sam

17、e in both languages. Generally speaking, the more similar the two languages are, and the more the learner is aware of the relation between them, the more positive transfer will occur.1.2 Purpose and SignificanceAs we know, writing is one of the four basic skills in English learning, it is very for t

18、hat it shows ones overall abilities in language learning. But the writing is also the most difficult by comparing with the others. Though much efforts has been made to improve Chineses students writing skills, it is still the weakest link in English learning. So that this thesis is wrote to help lea

19、rning this issue correctly and provide specific strategies for the learners. 2. Literature Review2.1 Studies of Language Transfer in English WritingOver the past decades, the study of language transfer has developed quickly both aboard and at home and has made great progress.2.1.1 Related studies ab

20、oardBut as we known, most of the linguists mainly focus on negative transfer. First of all, in 1971, Grauberg found that when German learned English, there were 35 percent errors of interference accounts, among which there were 25 percent of the lexical errors, 10 percent of syntax errors, and none

21、of morphology errors. He believed that transfer errors were common on the phonological and lexical levels. In 1974, when Dulay and Burt found that some Spanish-speaking children learning English as an L2, they begun to studying the errors and then they concluded that transfer accounted for only thre

22、e percent of all the errors they had collected. Latter on, in 1975, Tran-Chi-Chau claimed that there were about fifty-one percent errors at the English learning by Chinese learners. In 1982, Lay researched four Chinese-speaking ESL writers and he put emphasis on the writing process. In 1992, Silva f

23、ound that L2 writing is distinct from L1 writing, but the distinct nature of L2 writing has received limited research literature. In 1989, Odlin claimed that the language transfer could be divided into positive transfer and negative transfer. 2.1.2 Related studies at homeIn 1997, Guo Chunjie and Liu

24、 Fang surveyed the think-aloud protocols of twelve Chinese EFL learners to examine the amount of L1 involved in the L2 composing process. This study gave a clearer account of the role of L1 thinking in L2 writing. In 1998, Wen Qiufang and Guo Chunjie select six subjects protocols and give a more det

25、ailed description of L1 functions, it identified five functions: transformation, confirmation, generating ideas, retrieving L2 forms and controlling the writing procedures. In 2006, Yang Mei found that languages are interdependent with each other, the L1 capacity had positive effect on the learning

26、of L2, especially in terms of reading, speaking and writing. Besides, many researches have been doing to investigate the language transfer in order to help improving the learners writing skills, language transfer arouses much interest in China. 2.2 EvaluationsThe review above shows that a lot of res

27、earches about the language transfer have done to seek for implications. What we can conclude is that L1 does have influence on learning a second language, and the L1 transfer is a double-edged sword. It can help improving the English learning but it is also a obstacle. Though great progress has been

28、 achieved, some problems are still exist. Though there are many similar studies about the language transfer, few of them truly put forward some concrete and practical implications,they just talked in generalities. 2.3 Thesis Statement By analysis the positive transfer and negative transfer, the thes

29、is advises that the teachers should take the advantage of the language universals and get rid of the negative effect in their English teaching. Using the universals to stimulate the eager and interest of learners and on the other hand paying more attention to the cultivation of English thinking in o

30、rder to abandon the effect of negative transfer.3.Concrete Analysis 3.1 Concrete Analysis of Positive Transfer The language transfer can play some positive role in English writings for the language universals. Compared with negative transfer, the positive transfer of mother language in English writi

31、ng is not so obvious. But it truly exist. Taking Chinese for an example, the positive effects are as follows.3.1.1 Positive transfer in toneIt is obvious that people who speaks Chinese well may also speaks English well. In Chinese, there are four basic tones in Chinese studying, it just like the str

32、ess in English. Many teachers use the four basic tones to teach the English stress, it turns out a big success. Language sense is important in writing, and it is mutual in different languages. So that if you are good at Chinese language sense,you are good at English writing.3.1.2 Positive transfer i

33、n euphemism In Chinese, we sometimes use a more implicit and indirect way to express a phenomenon or a expression, for example, there are so many expressions to express death such as 去世、归西、驾崩，they are more polite and implicit. While in English, there are also some euphemisms similar to Chinese. Pass

34、 away, demise, kick the bucket are also used to express death. Euphemism makes it easier to comprehend the English.3.2 Concrete analysis of negative transferThe biggest problem in English writing is that the learners doesnt understand the differences between the two languages such as culture and hab

35、its. It is unwise to use the Chinese way to study English and writing English for it will lost the original flavor of English.3.2.1 Negative transfer in vocabulary3.2.1.1 improper lexical choiceAn English word usually has different meanings and some words usually have a similar meaning. The improper

36、 lexical choice is due to the mistakes in comprehension to the words. Many students only remember the Chinese meaning of a word but they are indifferent to the concrete usage. But sometimes the Chinese meaning can not properly express the precise meaning. For example, the accept in Chinese means 接受,

37、 so that many students take for granted that the 接受 is the accept. For example, will you accept（take） this advice？In this sentence, take is the right word to express the meaning.3.2.1.2 confusion of parts of speechMany learners are confusing about the verb, noun,and adjective for they do not underst

38、and the parts of speech, so they always mistake them and use them at the improper situations. For example, to express my apologize. Apologize is a verb, in this sentence it should use apology instead of apologize. 3.2.1.3 collocation errorsAn English article can be graded by its collocational compet

39、ence. Collocation errors result from the unfamiliarity of the habitual or idiomatic usage of certain words in English collocation. When writing in English, students tend to come up with Chinese words or sentences, and then try to find the equivalent words in English without distinguishing their sema

40、ntic difference in a given linguistic context. For example, he always sees(reads) a book, the book is usually collocated with read.3.2.2 Negative transfer in syntaxLearners usually cannot distinguish the difference of syntactic structures and idiomatic expressions of the two languages. The syntax of

41、 Chinese is like a outstretched straight line but the English sentence is more hierarchical, it has trunk and branches and every branch has more tiny branches, every branch has distinct SVO. Half of the Chinese sentences have no subjects, the consistency is rely on the themes. But in English, every

42、verb must have a specific subject and the tense must be consistent. Students will be confused if they do not understand those differences. 4. Strategies and ImplicationsBased on the analysis of the language transfer, the implications for improving the L2 writing competence o English learners are pro

43、posed in this part.4.1 Utilizing Positive Transfer RationallyTo improve the writing skills, learners should have a right attitude towards the positive and negative transfer. Firstly, students should take advantage of the positive effect. Since the universals cannot be reduce, then we can utilize the

44、m. For example, the euphemism is existing in both Chinese and English, teachers can take this advantage and make students better understand the express of euphemisms. Then it can be used in English writing, the essay can be more vivid. Second, teacher can cultivate students language sense at any tim

45、e whatever in Chinese or English. The two languages have something in common, that is rhythm. Good rhythm can help adding something special in English writing.4.2 Reading and Writing More English articlesReading is a main source of language input while writing is a main source of language output, wh

46、en you have enough accumulations, you can output your ideal better. The students who want to write an authentic essay must read enough authentic English articles. Reading more not only help you learning more English knowledge but also cultivating your language sense which may help a lot when you wri

47、te articles. To sum up, if you want to harvest then you must seed at first, if you want to write an authentic essay then you must read enough at first.4.3 Strengthening the Intake of English CultureCulture difference is an important reason resulting in negative transfer. As we known, the east cultur

48、e and the west culture are totally different. Those differences lead to the differences in language. The culture influences the language, so that it is advisable to learn a countrys culture before learn its language. Because of the cultural differences, the expressions and writing habits are really

49、different, not only in syntax but also in passage. That is why more and more teachers begin to attach importance to the teaching of American culture and English culture. 4.4 Making Comparisons While StudyingThe influence of the mother language is deep-rooted, then why not comparing the the two langu

50、ages and find their universals and differences. Students usually make mistakes because they do not understand the differences of the two languages, they just write it down by their instinct. By comparing the similarities and differences, they can clearly understand the differences and keep it in min

51、d. Many teachers avoid the otherness, but to be honest, Maybe, you would find that foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses is best choice.5. ConclusionLanguage transfer is inevitable in Second Language Acquisition. The main purpose of this research is to investigate and analysis the phenomena of

52、language transfer in L2 writings by Chinese English learners and further explore some effective solutions to improving the writing competence of English learners.The analysis and implications in this thesis are carried out on the basis of theoretical and empirical findings of the previous research in language transfer and L2 writing