母语在英语学习中的作用

PAGEPAGE2010年毕业论文TheRoleofMotherTongueinEnglishLearningPAGE1第1页共11页母语在英语学习中的作用0TheRoleofMotherTongue0inEnglishLearningAbstract:Learner’sL2acquisitionmaystronglybeinfluencedbytheirL1intheprocessofforeignlanguagelearning.Theinfluencecanbealsocalledlanguagetransfer.Languagetransfercanbedividedintotwoaspects-positivetransferandnegativetransfer.Inrespectofthis,thispaperwillbrieflydiscusstheroleofL1inL2acquisitionbyreviewingsomelinguists’pointofview.Referringtothestudyresultsofsomelinguistsandresearchers,theauthorwillfurtherinvestigatethepositivetransferandnegativetransfer,therelationshipbetweenL1andL2.Onthebasisofanalysis,L1playsanimportantroleduringtheprocessofL2acquisition.Inordertoidentifytheareaoflanguagetransfer,aprocedurecalledContrastiveAnalysiswasdevelopmentwhichwillbealsoexplainedinthispaper.Keywords:secondlanguageacquisition;mothertongue;languagetransfer摘要:在外语学习过程中，学习者通常会把母语知识迁移到外语学习中去，语言的迁移可以分为正迁移和负迁移。根据一些语言学家者对母语在二语习得中的影响研究，本文讨论了母语在二语习得中的正迁移和负迁移作用及母语和第二语言的关系。在理论分析的基础上，母语在二语习得的过程中确实扮演着很重要的角色。为了更好地了解语言的迁移，本文将对错误分析做进一步的分析。关键词:二语习得;母语;语言迁移ContentsIntroduction.……………………..………………1A.Background.……………………..………………1B.Reasons………….………………1Ⅱ.LiteratureReview……….….……………….…...…2Differentviewsonlanguagetransfer……….….………...…2Behavioristlearningtheory…………..………2Habits………………….…………2Errors……………………….…………3Ⅲ.AnImportantProcedureinLanguageTransfer……………5Explanationofcontrastiveanalysis………………5Thepsychologicalaspectofcontrastiveanalysis……………..…5Thelinguisticaspectofcontrastiveanalysis……………..………6Ⅳ.TheInfluenceofL1onL2learning…………..…7Positivetransfer…………..………7Negativetransfer………..…………8Ⅴ.TheRelationshipbetweenL1andL2………..…………………8Ⅵ.Conclusion……….……9WorksCited……….………10TheRoleofMotherTongueinEnglishLearning第12页共11页Ⅰ.IntroductionBackgroundDifferentresearchershavegivenverydifferentinterpretationsofthedefinitionofsecondlanguageacquisition.AsCookmentioned“Peoplehavebeeninterestedinsecondlanguageacquisitionsinceantiquity,butinmoderntimesmuchoftheresearchemphasiswasinfactplacedonlanguageteaching”(Cook23).Manycomparativestudiesoflanguageteachingmethodswereconducted.Aswasmentioned“Inthe1960s,asaresultoftheinconclusivefindingsfromthecomparativestudies,adebateinpsychologyoverthenatureoflearningandarevolutioninlinguistics,achallengetothedominanceofresearchonlanguageteachingwastotakeplace”(Larsen-Freeman5).SinceHatch’sbookwaspublishedin1978,therehavebeenhundredsmorestudiesconducted,severalnewjournalsbegun,andnumerousconferencesconvened.Raimes(535)offersanadditionalindicatorofthebirthandgrowthoftheSLAfield.Inrecentyears,moreandmoreresearchersaredevotingthemselvestosecondlanguageacquisition.ReasonsDuringtheprocessofEnglishlearning,therearemanyfactorswhichcaninfluenceourEnglishlearning.Amongallthefactors,L1playsanimportantroleinL2learningwhichisalsoahottopicinrecentyears.Beginninginthepost-waryearsandcarryingonintothe1960s,therewasastrongassumptionthatmostofthedifficultiesfacingtheL2learnerwereimposedbyhisorherfirstlanguage.ItwasassumedthatwherethereweredifferencesbetweentheL1andL2,thelearner’sL1knowledgewouldinterferewiththeL2,andwheretheL1andL2weresimilar,theL1wouldactivelyaidL2learning.Theprocessthatwasheldresponsibleforthiswascalledlanguagetransfer.InthecaseofsimilaritiesbetweentheL1andL2itfunctionedpositively,whileinthecaseofdifferencesitfunctionednegatively.Teacherswereencouragedtofocustheirteachingontheareasofdifficultycreatedbynegativetransfer.Theywereexhortedtoapplymassivepracticetoovercomethesedifficulties.Accordingtothis,thispapermainlyreliesontheroleofmothertongueinL2learning.Ⅱ.LiteratureReviewDifferentviewsonlanguagetransferAnimportantfunctionofhuman’slanguageispromotinginterpersonalcommunication.Usinglanguagecorrectlycanhelppromoteemotion,developingfriendship,respectingeachotherandimprovinginterpersonalrelationships.Languagetransfermeans“theinfluenceofonelanguageonanotherlanguage”(LongmanDictionaryofLanguageTeachingandAppliedlinguistics1992).Learners’L2acquisitionmaystronglybeinfluencedbytheirL1intheprocessofforeignlanguagelearning.Itisapopularbeliefthatsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)isstronglyinfluencedbythelearner’sfirstlanguage(L1).Theclearestsupportforthisbeliefcomesfrom‘foreign’accentsinthesecondlanguage(L2)speechoflearners.WhenaChinesespeaksEnglish,hisEnglishsoundsChinese.Thelearner’sL1alsoaffectstheotherlanguagelevels-vocabularyandgrammar.Thisisperhapslessimmediatelyevident,butmostlanguagelearnersandteacherswouldtestifytoit.ItisalsoapopularbeliefthattheroleoftheL1inSLAisanegativeone.Thatis,theL1getsinthewayorinterfereswiththelearningoftheL2,suchthatfeaturesoftheL1aretransferredintotheL2.Infact,theprocessofSLAisoftencharacterizedinpopularopinionasthatofovercomingtheeffectsofL1,ofslowlyreplacingthefeaturesoftheL1thatintrudeintotheL2withthoseofthetargetlanguageandsoofapproximatingeverclosertonative-speakerspeech.Corder(978)hasreferredtothisviewofSLAasa‘restructuringprocess’.Itisaviewthatisbasedonatheoryofgenerallearning,aswillbeexplainedinthenextsection.BehavioristlearningtheoryInordertounderstandtheearlyimportancethatwasattachedtotheroleofthefirstlanguage,itisnecessarytounderstandthemaintenetsofbehavioristlearningtheory.Uptotheendofthe1960s,viewsoflanguagelearningwerederivedfromatheoryoflearningingeneral.TherewerefewstudiesofSLAbasedontheactuallanguagethatlearnersproduced,andfewattemptstoexaminetheprocessofSLAempiricallybeforethis.Thedominantschoolinpsychology,whichinformedmostdiscussionsoflanguagelearning,wasbehaviorism.Therearetwokindsofnotionscanbeidentifiedinthesediscussions:‘habits’and‘errors’.C.HabitsBehavioristpsychologistsattributedtwoimportantcharacteristicstohabits.Thefirstwasthattheywereobservable.AsWatsonargued,thetruebasisforpsychologicalenquiryexistedonlyinobjectsthatcouldbetouchedandactionsthatcouldbeobserved.Watsondeniedtheexistenceofinternalmentalprocesses,dismissingthemas‘superstition’and‘magic’.Thesecondnoteworthycharacteristicwasthathabitswereautomatic,thatis,theywereperformedspontaneouslywithoutawarenessandweredifficulttoeradicateunlessenvironmentalchangesledtotheextinctionofthestimuliuponwhichtheywerebuilt.Thelearningofahabit,then,couldoccurthroughimitation(i.e.thelearnercopiesthestimulusbehaviorsufficientlyoftenforittobecomeautomatic)orthroughreinforcement(e.g.theresponseofthelearnerisrewardedorpunisheddependingonwhetheritisappropriateorotherwise,untilonlyappropriateresponsesaregiven.Theoriesofhabitformationweretheoriesoflearningingeneral.Theycouldbeandwereappliedtolanguagelearning.InL1acquisitionchildrenweresaidtomastertheirmothertonguebyimitatingutterancesproducedbyadultsandhavingtheireffortsatusinglanguageeitherrewardedorcorrected.Inthiswaychildrenweresupposedtobuildupknowledgeofthepatternsorhabitsthatconstitutedthepatternsorhabitsthatconstitutedthelanguagetheyweretryingtolearn.ItwasalsobelievedthatSLAcouldproceedinasimilarway.Imitationandreinforcementwerethemeansbywhichthelearneridentifiedthestimulus-responseassociationsthatconstitutedthehabitsoftheL2.Languagelearning,firstandsecond,wasmostsuccessfulwhenthetaskwasbrokendownintoanumberofstimulus-responselinks,whichcouldbesystematicallypracticedandmasteredoneatatime.D.ErrorsAccordingtobehavioristlearningtheory,oldhabitsgetinthewayoflearningnewhabits.WhereSLAisconcerned,therefore,thegrammaticalapparatusproprammedintothemindasthefirstlanguageinterfereswiththesmoothacquisitionofthesecond(BrightandMcGregor236).Behavioristlearningtheorypredictsthattransferwilltakeplacefromthefirsttothesecondlanguage.Transferwillbenegativewhenthereisproactiveinhibition.Inthiscaseerrorswillresult.Transferwillbepositivewhenthefirstandsecondlanguagehabitsarethesame.Inthiscasenoerrorswilloccur.Thusdifferencesbetweenthefirstandsecondlanguagecreatelearningdifficultywhichresultsinerrors,whilethesimilaritiesbetweenthefirstandsecondlanguagefacilitaterapidandeasylearning.InbehavioristaccountsofSLA,errorswereconsideredundesirable.Theywereevidenceofnon-learning,ofthefailuretoovercomeproactiveinhibition.Somelanguageteachingtheoristsevensuggeststhattherewasadangeroferrorsbecominghabitsintheirownrightiftheyweretolerated.However,aserrorsweretheresultofthenegativetransferoffirstlanguagehabits(i.e.werehabitsalready);itisdifficulttoseehowtheycouldbecomehabitssimplybytoleratingthem.Errors,accordingtobehavioristtheory,weretheresultofnon-learning,ratherthanwronglearning.Butineithercasetherewasalmosttotalagreementthaterrorsshouldbeavoided.Tothisendattemptsweremadetopredictwhentheywouldoccur.Bycomparingthelearner’snativelanguagewiththetargetlanguage,differencescouldbeidentifiedandusedtopredictareasofpotentialerror.Inthiswayclassroompracticecouldbedirectedontheproblemareasinordertohelpthelearnerovercomethenegativeeffectsoffirstlanguagetransfer.Abbottputsit,‘TheaimofanyEAistoprovideapsychologicalexplanation’(124).ThefollowinglistcanshowusaclearexplanationofEA.TransferTransferIntralingua(Intralingua(E.g.overgeneralization,transitionalcompetence)Competence(Errors)UniqueUnique(E.g.induced)ErrorsePProcessingproblemsPerformancePerformance(Mistakes)CCommunicationstrategiesThedistinctionbetween‘errors’and‘mistakes’,whichhasalreadybeendiscussedwithregardtotheidentificationstageofEA,isalsorelevantinexplainingdeviations-demonstratingtheinterdependenceofthesetwostepsinEA.Anydeviationfromtarget-languagenormsmayreflecteitheraprobleminperformanceorincompetence.Itishelpfultorecognizetwodifferentkindsofperformancemistakes.Thesemistakesresultfromsuchstrategiesascircumlocutionandparaphrasewhichalearnerusestoovercomethelackofknowledge.Thelatterareknownascommunicationstrategies.Aswehavealreadyseen,itiscompetenceerrorsthathavebeenconsideredcentraltothestudyofL2acquisition.Ⅲ.AnImportantProcedureintheStudiesExplanationofcontrastiveanalysisContrastiveAnalysiswasrootedinthepracticalneedtoteachaL2inthemostefficientwaypossible.Lado(416),oneoftheprimemoversofContrastiveAnalysis,makesclearthat‘Theteacherwhohasmadeacomparisonoftheforeignlanguagewiththenativelanguageofthestudentswillknowbetterwhattherealproblemareandcanprovideforteachingthem’.TheoriginsofContrastiveAnalysis,therefore,werepedagogic.ThiswasreflectedincomparisonsofseveralpairsoflanguagesbyscholarsintheUnitedStates,alldirectedatestablishingtheareasoflearningdifficultythatwerelikelytobeexperiencedbyEnglishspeakerslearningotherlanguages.Inadditiontothesepedagogicallyorientedstudies,therehavebeenanumberofmoretheoreticalcontrastivestudiescarriedoutinEurope,someofwhichhavenotbeenconcernedwithSLAatall.ClearlyContrastiveAnalysisisanareaofconsiderabletheoreticalinterestforgenerallinguistics.ContrastiveAnalysishadbothapsychologicalaspectandalinguisticaspect.Thepsychologicalaspectwasbasedonbehavioristlearningtheory,andthelinguisticaspect,inthefirstplaceatleast,onstructuralismlinguistics.ThepsychologicalaspectofcontrastiveanalysisThepsychologicalrationtakestheformoftheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesis.Thisexistsinastrongandaweakform.ThestrongformclaimsthatallL2errorscanbepredictedbyidentifyingthedifferencesbetweenthetargetlanguageandthelearner’sfirstlanguage.AsLee(180)notes,itstipulatesthat‘theprimecause,oreventhesolecause,ofdifficultyanderrorinforeignlanguagelearningisinterferencecomingfromthelearner’snativelanguage’.ThestrongformofthehypothesiswascommonbeforeresearchbegantoshowthatmanyoftheerrorsproducedbyL2learnerscouldnotbetracedtotheL1.Theweakformofthehypothesisclaimsonlytobediagnostic.AContrastiveAnalysiscanbeusedtoidentifywhicherrorsaretheresultsofinterference.Thus,accordingtotheweakhypothesis,ContrastiveAnalysisneedstoworkhandinhandwithanErrorAnalysis.Firstactualerrorsmustbeidentifiedbyanalyzingacorpusoflearnerlanguage.ThenaContrastiveAnalysiscanbeusedtoestablishwhicherrorsinthecorpuscanbeputdowntodifferencesbetweenthefirstandsecondlanguage.Implicitintheweakversionistheassumptionthatnotallerrorsaretheresultofinterference.TheweakformclaimsalesspowerfulrolefortheL1thanthestrongformofthehypothesis.Thestrongformofthehypothesishasfewsupporterstoday.ItisnowevidentthattheL1isnotthesoleandprobablynotevenintheprimecauseofgrammaticalerrors.Nevertheless,theweakformisnotverysatisfying.Itmakeslittlesensetoundertakealengthycomparisonoftwolanguagessimplytoconfirmthaterrorssuspectedofbeinginterferenceerrorsareindeedso.AsJames(280)pointsout,thisisa‘pseudoprocedure’.Inordertohypothesizethattheerrorsinacorpusareinterferenceerrors,adefactocontrastiveanalysismusthavetakenplace.Itmakeslittlesensetoconductacomplicatedcontrastiveanalysissimplytoconfirmwhatadefactoanalysissuggested.IdeallythepsychologicalaspectofContrastiveAnalysisshoulddealwiththeconditionsunderwhichinterferencetakesplace.Thatis,itshouldaccountforinstanceswhenlinguisticdifferencesbetweenthefirstandsecondlanguageleadtotransfererrorsandinstancewhentheydonot.Itisbecauseitisnotpossibletopredictorexplainthepresenceorabsenceoftransfererrorssolelyintermsoflinguisticdifferencesbetweenthefirstandsecondlanguagesthatapsychologicalexplanationisnecessary.ThelinguisticaspectofcontrastiveanalysisMostcontrastiveanalyseshavecomparedphonologicalsystems,probablyasrecognitionoftherolethattheL1playsin‘foreign’accents.However,theContrastiveStructureSeriesprovidedfull-lengthstudiesofthecontrastivesyntaxofthemajorEuropeanlanguagesandEnglish,whilethe1970ssawanumberofstudiesinEuropean(seeJames1980:205foralist).AsSridhar(681)notes,therehavebeenrelativelyfewstudiesofvocabulary,whileLado’s(428)suggestionthatcontrastivestudiesofculturesshouldbecarriedouthasnotbeentakenup.ThereareseveralproblemsconcerningthelinguisticaspectofContrastiveAnalysis.However,iftheproblemswithContrastiveAnalysiswereonlylinguistics,theywouldbeamenabletoalinguisticsolution.Asthetoolsofcontrastivelinguisticsgrowmorerefined,theproblemswouldbegraduallyresolved.Themajorproblems,however,havetodowiththerelationshipbetweenthepsychologicalandthelinguisticaspectsofContrastiveAnalysis.ThereislittlepointincomparinglanguagesiflearnersmakeonlylimiteduseoftheirfirstlanguagesinSLA.TheaccuracyofpredictionwillalwaysbeopentodoubtifContrastiveAnalysisfailstospecifytheconditionsthatdetermineifandwheninterferencetakesplace.The‘hierarchyofdifficulty’wasanattempttosolvethisproblemlinguistically,butunlessthesolutionhaspsychologicalvalidity(e.g.correspondstowhatlearnersactuallydo),itwillbeinadequate.ContrastiveAnalysisconstitutedahypothesis,andlikeallhypotheseswasopentoempiricalinvestigation.Therealfailureofthe1960swastorelyonextrapolationfromagenerallearningtheoryinsteadofgettingdowntothebusinessoftestingouttheorybyexaminingthelanguagethatlearnersproduce.Ⅳ.TheInfluenceofL1onL2learningTheresultsoftheinfluenceofL1onL2learningcanbedividedintotwoaspects—positivetransferandnegativetransfer.A．PositivetransferMostChineselearnerslearnEnglishthroughinstructionsthattheygetinEnglishclass.WeseldomspeakoruseEnglishoutofclass.InEnglishlearning,ourmothertonguehasmanynegativeinfluencesonEnglishlearningwhileitcanalsohavemanypositiveinfluences.Itwassaidthat“alllanguagesintheworldhavesomecommonfeaturessuchasthesameclassificationofwordsandsentences(e.g.allwordscanbedividedintonoun,verb,adjectiveandsoon),differentexpressionsaboutthesametimeandsameplaces(e.g.wecansay‘7点’inChinesewhilewesayseveno’clockinEnglish)”(Yang122).Onthiscondition,wemayputthesecommonprinciplesintooursecondlanguagelearningunconsciouslywhichcanmakegreatcontributiontooursecondlanguagelearning.ForChineselearnersofEnglish,itcandousafavorinourEnglishlearningifwehavelearntBopomofo;EnglishgrammarlearningcanstandonChinesegrammarlearning;SkillsofreadingandwritingChinesecanalsobeusedinEnglishreadingandwriting,soexistentknowledgeandskillsarehelpfultothesecondlanguageacquisition.Corder(956)outlinesonewayinwhich“interference’canberecastasalearner‘strategy’.Hesuggeststhatthelearner’sL1mayfacilitatethedevelopmentalprocessoflearningaL2,byhelpinghimtoprogressmorerapidlyalongthe‘universal’routewhentheL1issimilartotheL2.‘Interference’errorsresultnotfromnegativetransferbutfrom‘borrowing’.Thatis,whenlearnersexperiencedifficultyincommunicatinganideabecausetheylackthenecessarytargetlanguageresources,theywillresorttotheirL1tomakeuptheinsufficiency.ThisexplainswhytheL1isreliedonmoreatthebeginningofthelearningprocessthanlater-thelearnerhasgreaterinsufficiencyoftargetlanguageresourcestosurmount.Whereasinterferencehasbeentraditionallyseenasafeatureoflearning,intercessionistobeconsideredasastrategyofcommunication.ArathersimilarproposalismadebyKrashen(981),whenhrsuggeststhatlearnerscanusetheL1toinitiateutteranceswhentheydonothavesufficientacquiredknowledgeofthetargetlanguageforthispurpose.BothCorder’sandKrashen’sproposalsviewtheL1asaresourcewhichlearnerscanusetoovercometheirlimitations.B.NegativetransferForlearnersofEnglishinChina,Englishislearntasasecondlanguage.SointheprocessofEnglishlearning,manyteachersandlearnersthinkthatthereismorenegativetransferthanpositivetransferinEnglishlearningbecauseofthedifferencesinlanguageandculturebetweenChineseandEnglish.Asaresult,“manyresearchersareholdinganopinionthatlearnersshouldlearnEnglishastheirmotherlanguageandspeakinEnglishinsteadofspeakingChinesefrequently”(Krashen573).Astheresearcherssaid,theremustbenegativeinfluenceofL1onSLAwhichcanberepresentedinmanydifferentaspects.Learners’L2acquisitionmaystronglybeinfluencedbytheirL1intheprocessofforeignlanguagelearning;asaresult,featuresoftheirnativelanguageareprobablytransferredintothetargetlanguageandcausetheeffectofnegativetransfer.Forexample,inEnglishwriting,becauseofthedifferentculturebackground,Chineseandforeignershavethedifferentthoughtsinwritingstructure,soChineselearnersmaywriteanEnglisharticleinChineseway.Also,therearesomedifferentwaysofpeople’sthinkingexceptgrammarandwordswriting.InChina,peoplepaymoreattentiontotheconnectionofthewholearticlewhileforeignersfocusondirectionandbrevity.Chineselearnerswhodon’tknowthedifferencewillbecontrolledbytheirmotherlanguageandwritea“Chinglish”article.What’smore,learningenvironmentcanalsoplayanimportantroleinnegativetransferinEnglishlearning.Ⅴ.TheRelationshipbetweenL1andL2AsisshowninpartⅢ,weshouldhaveabriefcomprehensionontherelationshipbetweenL1andL2.Firstly,secondlanguagelearningcannotexistwithoutL1.WearebornwithL1learningandlaterL2learning,soL2learningcanbeoperatedonthebaseofL1.WecanregardL1astheknowledgespringhead,werelyonittocompletetheinputprocessofforeignlanguageknowledgeunconsciously.Infact,itisverycommonthatL1caninfluenceL2learning,becausewhilelearningasecondlanguage,wejustlearnthelinguistryandotherknowledgeisconnectedwithitinsteadofapperceivingtheworldagain.Becauselanguagelearningandlanguageacquisitionaretwodifferentprocesses,theycannotbedivorcedfromeachotherinsecondlanguagelearning.Inaworld,L1playsanimportantroleinL2learningandL2learningshouldbeoperatedonthebaseofL1.Ⅵ.ConclusionAlthoughinpopularbeliefSLAisstronglyinfluencedbythelearner’sL1,thereisconsiderabledisagreementamongresearchersabouttheextentandnatureofroleoftheL1.TheexplanationforthisliesmainlyinthechangesthathavetakenplaceinthepsychologicalbaseforexaminingSLA.TheroleofL1wasfirstseenintermsoftransfertheoryandwascloselylinkedtobehaviorism,whichsawSLAasaprocessofhabit-formation.Errors,accordingtothistheory,weretheresultofinterferencefromtheentrenchedhabitsoftheL1.ContrastiveAnalysiswasdevelopedinordertopredicttheareasofdifficultythatlearnerswithspecificL1swouldexperience,sothatteachingcouldprovidemassivepracticetoeliminatethechanceoferrorsinducedbythefirstlanguage.Uptothispoint,however,therewerefewempiricalstudiesofSLA.ContrastiveAnalysiswasbasedonanextrapolationfromgenerallearningtheory.Thebeginningsofthe1970ssawanumberofattemptstovalidatetheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesis.TheseshowedthatmanyoftheerrorspredictedbyContrastiveAnalysisdidnotinfactarise.Alsomanyerrorswhichwerenotpredicteddidoccur.Asaresultofthisresearch,theimportanceofL1interferencewasquestionedandfellintodisfavor.Theoreticalattacksonthevalidityofbehavioristaccountsoflanguagelearningalsohelpedtocreatea‘crisis’inContrastiveAnalysis.Gradually,however,theroleoftheL1wasreappraisedratherthanrejectedoutofhand.Thereappraisaltooktwoforms.TheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesiswasmodifiedtotakeaccountofavoidance,theneedfortheretobea‘degreeofsimilarity’betweenthefirstandsecondlanguageitemsforinterferencetotakeplace,andthemulti-factornatureoflearnererror.AlsotheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesiswasincorporatedintoacognitiveframeworkbyreinterpreting‘interference’as‘intercession’,astrategyforcommunicatingwhentherewereinsufficientL2resources.Morerecently,interestinContrastiveAnalysishasshiftedtoreflectcurrentdevelopmentsinlinguisticswhichemphasizethecommunicativeusesoflanguage.Thisdevelopmentisknownas‘ContrastivePragmatics’.Thelearner’sL1isanimportantdeterminantofSLA.Itisnottheonlydeterminant,however,andmaynotbethemostimportant.Butitistheoreticallyunsoundtoattemptaprecisespecificationofitscontributionoreventotrytocompareitscontributionwiththatofotherfactors.TheL1isaresourceofknowledgewhichlearnerswillusebothconsciouslyandsubconsciouslytohelpthemsifttheL2dataintheinputandtoperformasbesttheycanintheL2.Preciselywhenandhowthisresourceisputtousedependsonawholehostoffactorstodowiththeformalandpragmaticfeaturesofthenativeandtargetlanguage(e.g.linguisticfactors)ontheonehand,andthelearner’sstageofdevelopmentandtypeoflanguageuse(e.g.psychoandsociolinguisticfactors)ontheotherhand.TheinfluenceoftheL1islikelytobemostevidentinL2phonology-the‘foreign’accentisubiquitous-butitwilloccurinallaspectsoftheL2.PerhapsthemostunsatisfactoryaspectoftraditionalContrastiveAnalysiswastheassumptionthatthisinfluencewasanegativeone.IfSLAisviewedasadevelopmentalprocess,thentheL1canbeviewedasacontributingfactortothisdevelopment,whichinthecourseoftime,asthelearner’sproficiencygrows,willbecomelesspowerful.WorksCitedAbbott,G.InternationalReviewofAppliedLinguistics.Oxford:OxfordUniversityBright,J.AndG.McGregor.TeachingEnglishasaSecondLanguage:TheoryandTechniquesfortheSecondaryStage.ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1970.Cook,Vivian.LinguisticsandSecondLanguageAcquisition.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,2000.Corder,S.P.Language-learnerlanguage.Oxford:OxfordUniversityCrystal,D.TheStatisticsofEnglishToday.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1985.Eckman,F.MarkednessandTheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesis.Oxford:OxfordEllis,Rod.TheStudyofSecondLanguageAcquisition.Oxford:OxfordGass,S.TheRevolutionofConflictsAmongCompetingSystems.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1987.Jackson,H.ContrastiveAnalysisAsAPredictorofErrors,withReferencetoLearnersofEnglish.Shanghai:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1981.James,C.ConreastiveAnalysis.Oxford:OxfordKrashen,S.LanguageTransferinLanguageLearning.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1983.Lado,R.LiguisticsAcrossCulture.Michigan:UniversityofLarsen-Freeman,Diane.AnIntroductiontoSecondLanguageAcquisitionResearch.Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandR