The Analysis of Chinese Transfer to English汉语对英语迁移现象的分析

1、毕业论文设计汉语对英语迁移现象的分析the analysis of chinese transfer to englishcontentsabstract .1key word.1i. previous research 2ii.the theoretical basis of l1 on sla.3iii. the chineses positive transfer to english learning3.1 the phonological transfer.53.2 the lexical transfer.63.3 the syntactical transfer.7iv. the

2、 chineses negative transfer to english learning4.1 the influence of differences in language style.84.2 the influence of the different ways in thought.104.3 the influences of different customs and habits.114.4 the influence of different in cultural context12v. conclusion .15notes. 16reference. 17the

3、analysis of chinese transfer to english learning摘 要：母语知识对外语学习的影响是语言学家及心理语言学家所探讨的重要问题之一。对于已经掌握了汉语的基本语音、词汇和语法结构的中国学习者来说，其外语语音、词汇和语法结构的学习必然会受到母语语音、词汇、语义和语法知识的影响。同时，不同民族有着不同的交流模式和话语结构，母语中已有的这方面知识也必然会以种种方式影响外语交流模式和话语结构的习得。这种影响称为外语学习中母语迁移（transfer）现象。迁移分为正迁移（positive transfer）与负迁移（negative transfer）两种。当母语

4、规则与外语规则相同时，产生正迁移；而当母语规则与外语规则出现差异时，往往产生负迁移。负迁移会造成语言错误及学习困难。本文以第二语言习得有关理论研究为依据分析了在第二语言或外语学习过程中母语在语言体系、思维方式、风俗习惯和文化背景几方面的差异对第二语言学习产生的正、负两方面影响,进而指出外语教学中纳入综合文化背景知识的内容将极大促进语言教学效果。 关键词： 汉语; 英语; 正迁移; 负迁移abstract: in the research of english learning, there is an important problem that numerous linguists and

5、psychological linguists probe into. that is the influence of chinese knowledge to english learning. for a chinese learner who has already mastered the pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar structure of the mother tongue, his or her english learning must be influenced by chinese language knowledge. a

6、t the same time, different languages have different communication patterns and language structures. these kinds of knowledge in chinese will also influences the communication patterns and language structures in english acquisition. this kind of influence is called mother tongue transfer phenomenon i

7、n the foreign language learning. the transfer divides into two types: one is the positive transfer and another is the negative transfer. when the rules of chinese (l1) are the same as those of english (l2), it is the positive transfer. when the rules of l1 are different from those of l2, it is the n

8、egative transfer. the negative transfer often causes mistakes and difficulties in foreign language learning. based on the theoretical research of the second language acquisition, this paper analysis the chinese positive influences and negative influence on a second or foreign language acquisition fr

9、om the similarities and differences in the language style, the ways of thinking, the customs and habits and the cultural context. then suggest that in our english teaching, adding the background knowledge of comprehensive culture in the foreign language teaching will promote the teaching efficient g

10、reatly.key words: chinese; english; the positive transfer; the negative transferthe analysis of chinese transfer to english learning i. previous research.extensive research has already been done in the area of native language interference on the target language. dulay (1982) define interference as t

11、he automatic transfer, due to habit, of the surface structure of the first language onto the surface of the target language. lott (1983: 256) defines interference as errors in the learners use of the foreign language that can be traced back to the mother tongue. bhela 23 ellis (1997: 51) refers to i

12、nterference as transfer, which he says is the influence that the learnersl1 exerts over the acquisition of an l2. he argues that transfer is governed by learners perceptions about what is transferable and by their stage of development in l2 learning. in learning a target language, learners construct

13、 their own interim rules (selinker, 1971, seligar, 1988and ellis, 1997) with the use of their l1 knowledge, but only when they believe it will help them in the learning task or when they have become sufficiently proficient in the l2 for transfer to be possible. ellis (1997) raises the need to distin

14、guish between errors and mistakes and makes an important distinction between the two. he says that errors reflect gaps in the learners knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct. mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur because, in a particular insta

15、nce, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows. 1it appears to be much more difficult for an adult to learn a second language system that is as well learned as the first language. typically, a person learns a second language partly in terms of the kinds of meanings already learned in the

16、 first language (carroll, 1964; albert & obler, 1978 and larson-freeman & long, 1991). beebe (1988) suggests that in learning a second language, l1 responses are grafted on to l2 responses, and both are made to a common set of meaning responses. other things being equal, the learner is less fluent i

17、n l2, and the kinds of expressions he/she uses in l2 bear telltale traces of the structure of l1. 2carroll (1964) argues that the circumstances of learning a second language are like those of a mother tongue. sometimes there are interferences and occasionally responses from one language system will

18、intrude into speech in the other language. it appears that learning is most successful when the situations in which the two languages (l1 and l2) are learned, are kept as distinct as possible (faerch and kasper, 1983). to successfully learn l2 requires the l2 learner to often preclude the l1 structu

19、res from the l2 learning process, if the structures of the two languages are distinctly different. 3beardsmore (1982) suggests that many of the difficulties a second language learner has with the phonology, vocabulary and grammar of l2 are due to the interference of habits from l1. the formal elemen

20、ts of l1 are used within the context of l2, resulting in errors in l2, as the structures of the languages, l1 and l2 are different. 4 the relationship between the two languages must then be considered. albert and obler (1978) claim that people show more lexical interference on similar items. so it m

21、ay follow those languages with more similar structures (e.g. english and french) are more susceptible to mutual interference than languages with fewer similar features (e.g. english and japanese). 5on the other hand, we might also expect more learning difficulties and thus more likelihood of perform

22、ance interference at those points in l2 which are more distant from l1, as the learner would find it difficult to learn and understand a completely new and different usage. hence the learner would resort to l1 structures for help. dechert (1983) suggests that the further apart the two languages are

23、structurally, the higher the instances of errors made in l2 which bear traces of l1 structures. in both cases the interference may result from a strategy on the part of the learner, which assumes or predicts equivalence, both formally and functionally, of two items or rules sharing either function o

24、r form. 6ii. the theoretical basis of l1 on slathe study of l1 on sla can roughly be categorized into two stages, through which status of the l1 has been identified. the first stage is denial domination. up to the end of the1960s, the overwhelming belief was in the negative transfer that l1 can give

25、 sla. in which most of the difficulties facing l2 learners, i.e., the strong influence of l1 is to blame for the possible failure to learn an l2 successfully. marton summarized this situation thus: “there is never peaceful co-existence between two language systems in the learner, but rather constant

26、 warfare” (marton, 1981:150). 7based on this behaviourist theory, linguists and language teachers alike treat errors not as learners indication of learning, but as unwanted forms, which were largely the result of interference or as to avoid learning mistakes in the process of learning a language, l2

27、 teachers did a lot in contrasting the two languages. for them, it seems there is a logical relationship between difficulties and mistakes. with this assumption in mind, language teachers insisted that classroom practice be completely directed on the “problem areas” in order to help the learners ove

28、rcome the negative effects of l1. briefly, at this period the role of the l1 was nothing but negative and interference. the second is the stage of reappraisal development. from the early 1970s, l1 has been restudied and some fresh ideas different from the earlier dominant assumption established. som

29、e of the findings are very surprising as ellis put it “that transfer errors do not always occur when they are predicted to occur. that is, differences between the target and native language do not always result in learning difficulty”(rod ellis, 1997:52). 8 a substantial evidence offered in an empir

30、ical study by dulay and butt (1973), which shows that the frequencies of these error types in the speech data of spanish-speaking children learning english were very small, only 3 per cent interference. what dulay and butt found in their research has greatly shaken the world, especially linguists an

31、d language teachers, because their findings unquestionably constitute a serious challenge to the existing language learning theory. besides, the findings strongly indicate that learning difficulties do not necessarily match mistakes and errors sla. it is these findings that encouraged researchers to

32、 re-examine the role of l1 in sla. as a result, the reappraisal of the role of l1 in sla becomes a norm. one of the leading conceptions is focused on the psychological basis, which shows that “l1 can be viewed as a kind of input from the inside , and, transfer is not interference but a cognitive pro

33、cess” (rod ellis, 1997:52).9 ellis interpretation is not hard to follow, for it is self-evident that prior knowledge of a learner facilitates new knowledge, and our l1 is such an existing knowledge that benefits everyone of us. therefore, we feel no doubt to say that our existing l1 knowledge can ce

34、rtainly do something positive in sla. the problem facing us is that we have to find the conditions under which the type of l1 knowledge (inside input) can be utilized. take linguistic universal theory for example, which shows us that all language learners are provided with core grammar rules that ar

35、e common to learners with different language background. in other words, we language learners, whether our first language is chinese or spanish or any other one in the world, can learn naturally a second language, because of the core grammar of his language, the universal grammar form. l1 knowledge,

36、 like l2 is armed with these unmarked core grammar rules. it is this gift, an input from our mind, helps and aids and facilitates subconsciously and effortlessly our learning process. it really functions positively although it is known that not all grammar rules are core and universal, and some of t

37、hem are so called periphery rules, which are different from language to language and it is these periphery rules that from our difficulties in the learning process. therefore l1 is not responsible for the learning difficulties but the marked periphery rules that are to be learned cognitively and con

38、sciously at various stages in the process of sla are. english learners with chinese background may find it appropriate even to ask a baby “how old are you?” instead of “how young are you?” because the core grammar rules told them that the word “old” is unmarked and universal here to all language, wh

39、ose meanings cover an age continuum from a newly born baby to an aged dying man. again, no chinese interviewer with english as target language ever asks a piano learner “how short is your little finger?” but “how long is your little finger?” evidence shows that in case of unmarked core grammar, l1 d

40、oes not interfere with our learning of an l2, but offers us help to learn, to acquire l2 with ease. in fact, l1 can be beneficial in many other domains besides the existing knowledge of universal grammar rules in terms of unmarkedness. situational context, which governs the variability and appropria

41、te use of learner language, is a case in point. our l1 knowledge tells us that language use varies, according to the situation-taking place. it follows that we are not likely to confuse the different styles of private and business letter writing. when we begin a letter with “dear sir”, we are not he

42、sitant to continue our formal way of writing with something like “i am very pleased to have received your letter dated april 9, 2003, and i” educated letter-writers find it a norm to go on writing “thank you for your recent letter inviting me to your place, and i.”following a “dear tom” addressing.

43、why is it natural for us to accept such variability in using the language? the answer is that of the context of discourse, where the positive role of our l1 knowledge comes in. psychological context provides us with the same similar evidence showing that l1 may contribute to sla.iii. the chineses po

44、sitive transfer to english learning.english and chinese belong to two different kinds of the language family, and there are great differences between two languages. so when the chinese students learning english, they cannot get rid of the interference of chinese all the time. for example: you are ve

45、ry beautiful. no, no. / where, where. (“哪里哪里” is a word for modesty in chinese; here we should say “thank you” in english.)another example: when the chinese students write composition, they always like translate word by word or sentence by sentence. look at the following example: some students go on

46、line is not in order to study.有些 学生 上网 不是 为了 学习。（） some students do not go online for study. ( )it is obvious to see that some students use the chinese thinking modes while learning english. for example: “how long can i keep this book?” chinese character “借” is “borrow” in english, so a lot of chine

47、se students say “how long can i borrow this book?” this kind of phenomenon calls chinglish or chinese english. we can easily find that the chinglish phenomenon is a typical result of the negative transfer. and the negative transfer has already influenced english learning seriously and led to the ine

48、fficiency of learning english. however, when we learn english shall we be able to forget all about our own learning? the answer is certainly not. although the english and the chinese differ enormously, the common fact that both two languages belong to the human language decides that there are some s

49、imilar parts between two languages. that is to say the chinese transfer to english learning not only has the negative influences but also has the positive influences. so this paper firstly will talk about the chineses positive transfer to english learning form three respects of pronunciation, vocabu

50、lary and grammar.3.1 the phonological transfer.the chinese characters pronunciation is composed of the pinyin constitution syllable. the pinyin divides into the initial consonant and the final syllable, and the final syllable has the single final and the duplicate final. english words pronunciation

51、is composed of the phoneme constitution syllable. the phonetic symbol divides into the vowel and the consonant, and the vowel has the monophthong and the diphthong. in the chinese syllable, it cannot lack the final syllable. just like in the english syllable it would not work to lack the vowel. ther

52、e are the nasals /m/、/n/，the lateral / l / and the retroflex / r / in the chinese pronunciation. and the english consonant also has the nasals /m/、/n/，the lateral / l / and the retroflex / r /. there are many similar parts in the place of the articulation and the pronunciation methods between the ch

53、inese pinyins initial consonant and the english phonetic consonant. so most of the chinese students have no barrier on the following phonemes. the consonant phonemes / p /、 / b /、 / t / 、/ d /、 / k / 、/ g / and / f /may be corresponding with p、b、t、d、k、g and f in chinese syllable. the vowel phonemes

54、/ i:/、 / u: / and / a:/ also can correspond similarly found in chinese i、u and a. we may grasp the correct pronunciation through the comparison the similarities and the differences of the two kinds of pronunciations.3.2 the lexical transfer.the vocabulary is the most active and essential factor in t

55、he language. the meaning of vocabulary includes the conceptual meaning (rational meaning) and the cultural meaning (associative meaning). the conceptual meaning is the words direct surface meaning and the cultural meaning is the words extended meaning. only when we understand the words cultural mean

56、ing can we comprehend the words true implication and help the people communicate with each other accurately and smoothly.generally speaking, the conceptual meaning of the english word mostly can find the corresponding word from the chinese expression, such as china (中国) 、america (美国)、sun (太阳)、earth

57、(地球)、flower (花)、water(水) and so on. before learning english, we have already used chinese for communication and the concepts of time、place and space have been formed. what we need is only a new kind of mark or the expression form. so we can memorize english words with the aid of chinese in order to

58、rapidly understand and grasp. although the humans mode of thinking、the habits and the customs between chinese people and englishman are different, some words cultural meanings are actually the same. for example, fox is regarded as “sly” both in chinese and english, and “an old fox” means 老狐狸精。another example: (1) go to stamp sales and buy whatever you can afford. you can often pick up