关于英语学习中的负迁移

1、关于英语学习中的负迁移摘要：迁移最早是一个心理学术语。语言迁移现在成为语际语用学的一个重要的研究范畴，它是指已有的语用知识在目的语的习得和使用中所产生的影响。迁移分为正迁移和负迁移。正迁移，顾名思义，在语言的习得中起无理解的促动作用。负迁移则对目的语的习得起防碍作用。负迁移详细体现在语音、句法和思维等方面，所以为制止负迁移的负面影响，应遵循以下几点：（1）鼓励学生用目的语思维。（2）加深老师和学生对负迁移的理解和理解，正面克服负迁移。（3）引导学生准确使用语言工具（比如英英字典等）。关键词：迁移负迁移语语言习得策略IntroductionMoreandmoreChinesestarttolea

2、rnEnglishlanguageinthefrequentinternationalcommunicationforthedevelopmentoftheglobalization.Inevitably,ourChinesenativelanguageplaysanimportantroleintheEnglishlearningprocess.Bothpositiveandnegativerole,whicharedefinedaspositivetransferandnegativetransfer,existbecausebothcommongroundsanddifferencesa

3、refoundbetweenEnglishandChineselanguages.Asthisisknown,thisthesisattemptstofindsomemethodstoreducethenegativeinfluenceofChinesenativelanguageinEnglishlearningandtofindsomeeffectivemethodsinEnglishleaning.Firstofall,Imakeabriefviewonthedevelopmentofthetheoryoflanguagetransfer.Thetheoriesaredevelopedi

4、ndifferentaspectsandevaluatedfromdifferentpointofviewinthisthesis.NextImakeadetailedresearchonthelearners?outputwhichareinfluencedbyChinesenativelanguageinEnglishlearning.Theresearchescoverall-sided,referstoquiteafewaspects,e.g.,pronunciationhabit,syntaxandeventhinkingmodeandhabitofthenativespeakers

5、ofthetwolanguages.Contrastiveanalysisisappliedinthecomparisonofthetwolanguagesindifferentaspects.AtlastIproposeanumberofsuggestionsonhowtodealwithChinesenativelanguagetransferandstudyEnglishwithefficiency.Ononehand,itstressesonnegativetransferavoidanceandproposethelearnerstoenhancetheirownEnglishcom

6、prehensiveability,emphasizeEnglishculturalinformationinput,encouragethelearnerstothinkinEnglishways,enforcetheteachersandlearners?understandingofnegativetransferandencouragethelearnerstouseproperdictionaries.Ontheotherhand,itissuggestedthatthelearner?smotivationshouldberousedandfavorable.Lastly,prac

7、ticemakesperfect.Practiceisalwaysaneffectivemethodinlearningaskill,andlearningEnglishlanguageisnoexception.1. TransferTheories1.1 DefinitionoflanguagetransferTheterm,transfer?isfirstdefinedbypsychologiststorefertotheprocessofautomaticandsubconscioususeoflearnedbehaviorintheattempttoproducenewrespons

8、es.Accordingtothem,themainobstacletolearningwasinterferencefromthepriorknowledge.Proactiveinhibitionoccurredwhenoldhabitsgotinthewayofattemptstolearnnewones.Psycholinguistsusethetermtorefertotheinfluenceimposedbyalearner?spossessedlinguisticknowledgeandskilluponthesubsequentlearningofnewlinguistickn

9、owledgeorskill.AccordingtothecognitivetransfertheorybyAusubel(1968),transferisacognitiveactivityandanembodimentoftheinnerprocessingcourseoflearners.Someresearchersconsidertransferastheinfluenceofanobtainedexperienceonthenewlearning,orconformityofthenewandpastexperience.Thecourseofconformityisachieve

10、dbymeansofassimilation,acclimationandrecombination,theessenceofwhichisthemutualinfluenceandreciprocityoftheexistedcognitivestructureandnewknowledge,andtheformingofnewcognitivestructure.Transferisthereciprocityandmutualinfluence,whichexistindifferentformsofstudies,includingEnglishlanguagestudy.Chomsk

11、y(1979)theorizedthatthereareunderlyingprinciplesofgrammarthatchildrenacquirenaturally(universalgrammar),accordingtowhichhumanbeingsproducelanguagethroughadeepstructurethatenablesthemtogenerateandtransfertheirowngrammartoanyotherlanguage.Peoplelearnlanguages,theydevelopcertainskills.Theynaturallytran

12、sfertheskillslearnedinthefirstlanguagetothesecondlanguage.Thelevelofproficiencyreachedinfirstlanguageinfluencesthedevelopmentoftheirproficiencyinsecondlanguage.Languagetransfercausesthelearnertoprojectthefeaturesofhisownlanguageontothetargetlanguage.AccordingtoCorder(1981),acquiringalanguageisacreat

13、iveprocessinwhichlearnersareinteractingwiththeirenvironmenttoproduceaninternalizedrepresentationoftheregularitiestheydiscoverinthelinguisticdatatowhichtheyareexposed(languageinput).Thisinternalrepresentationistheirinterlanguagecompetence.Aslongaslearnerscontinuetolearn,thisinternalrepresentationisch

14、anginganddeveloping.Thestudyoflanguagetransferstrategiesmayhelpustobetterunderstandthepositiveinfluencethefirstlanguageknowledgehasinthelearningofanotherlanguage.1.2 CurrentstudyoftransferAllthetheoriespresentedabovearewell-developedrepresentativesinthestudyoftransferconcerningsecondlanguageacquisit

15、ion,eachhavingitsownmeritsanddrawbacks.Theyallenjoyedgreatpopularity,butwerefacedwithchallengesaswellfortheirincompleteness.Theyhaveprobedintothelanguageproblemsfrombehaviorismandcognitiveperspective,andtrytoexplainallthelanguageproblemswithonesingletheory,whichprovesimpossibleandarousescontroversie

16、s.Butwhatisimportantisthatsomemoreaccurateandspecifictheorieswereputupbyresearchers,givingproperconsiderationtomanyothernewfactorsoftransferinlanguageacquisition,namelytheenvironmentalfactor,thesocialfactor,theindividual?semotionalfactor,themotive,andthecognitivefactor.Thisenablesthestudyoftransfert

17、ogofurther-fromsimplyanalyzingthelanguagestructuredeeplytodiscussingthecognitivesystemoflanguage,andeventurningtoothermultifoldnon-linguisticfactors.This,toagreatextent,widensthefieldofstudyinlanguagetransfer,anddeepenstheresearchonlanguagetransferandsecondlanguageacquisition.Duetotheinfluenceofcogn

18、itivescience,ecophysiology,anthropology,andsociology,togetherwiththedissatisfactionmanyresearchersfeltwiththecurrentstudy,theirstudyoftransferandsecondlanguageacquisitiongraduallyturnsfrompurelinguisticsandthecognitivecharacteristicsoflanguagetoawiderfield,saythecircumstance,thelearners?difference,a

19、ndthethinking.Thecircumstancetheoryconcernswiththeindividual?sinteractionwiththephysicalcircumstanceandsocial-culturalcircumstancesinwhichtheindividuallearnerslive.Theyclaimthatwhenseparatedfromthespecificcircumstances,languagelearningisimpossible.Thatistosay,circumstanceisanirreplaceableelement.Dif

20、ferentcircumstanceswilldefinitelyleadtodifferentlearningresults.Forexample,whenthecultureofthelearner?snativelanguagediffersgreatlyfromthatofthetargetlanguage,theexperiencethelearnergetsfromthemothertongueworkslittleinthetargetlanguageacquisition,butrather,itimpedestheacquisitionoftargetlanguage.Int

21、hiscase,wecansaynegativetransferhappensoften.However,whentheculturesofthenativelanguageandthetargetlanguageoverlapgreatly,thelearner?sexperiencemayhelpthetargetlanguageacquisition,thatistosay,positivetransferoccurs.Seenfromthereviewabove,itissafetosaythatthestudyoftransferhasliterallygonebeyondthesc

22、opeofpurelinguisticsandcognition.Itcombinesthesocialfactorswithindividual?spsychologicalfactors,which,byallmeans,helpstogiveamorethoroughandreasonableexplanationfortheroleofnativelanguageinsecondlanguageacquisition.Furthermore,itprovideshelpfulinformationforsecondlanguageteaching.Nowthephenomenaoftr

23、ansferinlearninghavebeenuniversallyaccepted.Buttheyareinitiallyassociatedwiththeinterferenceinbehavioristtheoriesofsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA).However,itisnowwidelyacceptedthattheinfluenceofthelearner?snativelanguage(NL)cannotbeadequatelyaccountedforintermsofhabitformationasthebehavioristputsit.T

24、ransferhasbeenusedbyeducationalpsychologistsandeducatorstodescribetheuseofpastknowledgeandexperienceinnewsituations.InSLA,transferreferstotheeffectofonelanguage,usuallytheNLonthelearningofanother,usuallythetargetlanguage(TL).ThisisalsoacommonstrategyemployedbytheSLAlearners.Agoodmanylinguistshavevar

25、iousdefinitionsfortheterm.2. TransferPhenomena2.1 phoneticsSpeechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflanguagecommunication.Mostlanguagesinthewordhavebothspokenandwrittenforms,andofthetwomedia,speechismorebasicthanwriting.Thenaturalorprimarymediumofhumanlanguageissound.Thusinthestudyoflanguagetransfer,res

26、earchonsoundisessential,namelythestudyoflanguageatthephoneticlevel.EnglishandChinesebelongtodifferentphoneticsystems,whichmakesphonesdiffer,inabigwayactually.Accordingly,negativetransferatphoneticlevelisquiteapparentindiversifiedways.First,EnglishandChinesephonesystemsdonotmatchcompletely.Inotherwor

27、ds,somesoundsthatarepronouncedinEnglishdonotactuallyexistintheChinesesoundsystem,whichleavesagapbetweenthetwolanguagesoundsystems.ThusitimposescertainlimitationsontheChinesestudents?learningEnglish.Andasaresult,ChineselearnersofEnglishwillalwaysfindasimilarsoundinChineselanguagetosubstitutefortheEng

28、lishsound.Forexample,thefollowingincorrectsoundscanbeobservedinthestudents?pronunciation.g?udforgoodgud,hei(like“黑”inChinese)forhehi:,becausethereisnolongvowelsintheChinesesoundsystem.,aft?：n?unforafternoon,afut?：nun,becauseintheChinesepronunciationsystem,theydonotdistinguishlongandshortvowels.Secon

29、d,thereareafewpronunciationsinEnglishthatrequiregreateffortofChineselearnerstoutterthem.Theyarethefrontvowels?,thediphthongs£?auaiei,thenasal?,thefricativesqe,andtheglidej.Forinstanee,wefindthefollowingincorrectsoundsinthestudents?spokenenglish.sinkforthink0i?k,sinforsingsi?,sanksforthanks0?ks.

30、TheChinesesound/shai/(muchlike晒)forshy£i.Third,someChinesestudentsareobservedtobeapttoaddsomesoundstotheEnglishpronunciation,especiallyaftertheplosivespbtdkandg.ThisisbecauseintheChinesesoundsystem,thereisnosuchpronunciations.Thustheyliketolengthentheabovepronunciationswhichsoundlikeaddingashor

31、tvowel?totheoriginalone.Forinstance,theywillpronouncesp?lendidforsplendidsplendid,rest?forrestrest,andmAst?mustmAst.NegativeinthisaspectresultsmainlyfromthefacttheChinesedependsonpitchestochangethemeaningofwords,forinstance,whenthepronunciation/tang/isutteredinthefourpitches,theywillrefertofourcompl

32、etelydifferentwords:tmg(汤meanssoup),tng(糖meanssugar),t4ig(躺meansliedown),tng(烫meanshot).ButinEnglish,nomatterthewordsarepronouncedinrisingorfallingpitch,themeaningsremainthesame.2.2 SyntaxBesidesnegativetransferatphoneticsleveldiscussedabove,itexistsatsyntacticlevelaswell.Negativetransferconcernings

33、yntaxwillbediscussedinthreeaspectsinthisdissertation,namelythestructureofsentences,thetenseofsentences,andthevoiceofsentences.2.2.1 StructureofsentencesIthasbeenobservedthatitisquitecommonforChinesestudentsofEnglishtowritesentenceswithastructurethatdoesnotfollowtheEnglishsentencepattern.Andathorough

34、studyrevealsthattheycomeaboutduetothelearners?Chineselanguagebackground.Forinstance,wefindsentenceslikethefollowingintheinvestigation:(1) Forthosechildrenliveintheremoteareas,theycannotaffordtheeducation.MaybethemeaningofthesentenceisunderstandabletomostChinese,butitisbynomeansacorrectEnglishsentenc

35、easfarasitsstructureisconcerned:“fori”ntroducesaphraseinthesentence,andthenwithinthephrase,“children”isonlytheobjectofthepreposition“for,after“children,”thereshouldbenofiniteverbsthatcanstandalone.Thatistosay,takeaninfiniteformlike“living.We”observethatthisisgreatlyinfluencedbythelearner?sChineselan

36、guagebecauseinChinese,thereisnoretraintotheformsofaverbaslongasitcanachievethesemanticmeaning.ThustheChineselearnerofEnglishtransfershisorhernativelanguageintothetargetlanguage.ThefollowingisanotherinstanceonnegativetransferofChinese.(2) Itreallymakeschildrencannothaveanagreeablepersonality.这使得孩子不能拥

37、有宜人的性格。ThissentenceseemstocompletelyreflectitsChineseexpressionatfirstsight,butathoroughexaminationofitwillrevealitsincorrectness.ItisobservedintheinvestigationthatChinesestudentsarelikelytoapplytheword“can”wawnthteonexvperetshseytheideaof“能(neng,meanscan,beableto,orbecapableof)”2.2.2 Tenseandaspect

38、ofsentenceStudiesrevealthatmostChinesestudentswillencounternodifficultywhenaskedaboutEnglishinagiventense,saypresentperfectorpastprogressive.Butproblemswillcomeupwhentheyaretousetensesfreelywithouttheteacher?sdirections.Andthemostfrequentlycommittedinappropriatenesshasalottodowiththeinfluencefromthe

39、irChineselanguage,namelya“mixtureo”ftenses.Tomakeitclearer,theyalwaysunnecessarilyuseseveraltensesinonesentenceoralargerlanguageunit,sayparagraph.Forinstance,wehaveobservedthefollowingsentence:(3) InForrest?slife,hedidn?tknowwhatisfrightening,andhejustknowsrunningandrunning.Forthispoint,Ithinkthisis

40、thechiefreasonwhyhesucceeded.Thestudentusesbothsimplepastandsimplepresenttensesinasinglesentence,andwhatmattersisthatthisshiftoftenseisactuallyunnecessaryanditwillonlyconfusereaders.Wesaythismixtureoftensescomesfromtheinfluenceofthespeaker?snativelanguagebecauseinChinese,thetenseofasentence(literall

41、yinChinese,nospecialdefinitiongoestotense)isnotindicatedbytheformoftheverb,nordoesitdependontheadverbialoftimeinmostcases.Thetenseisrealizedbytheuseoffunctionalwordslike“了(le/liao)”,whichindicatesperfecttense(theydonotcallittenseinChinese),anditjusthelpstoidentifythattheactionhasbeendone.Asecondexam

42、pleistheuseoftheword"正在(zhengzai)”whichindicatesaprogressivetense-theactionisbeingdone.Ashasbeenmentionedabove,theChineselanguagedoesnotdependontenseoraspecttoachievetheexpressionofverbsconcerningtimeorcompletion.Instead,itintroducessomefunctionalwordstohelprealizethisnotion.Justduetothisdiffer

43、encebetweenEnglishandChinese,manyChinesemaytakeitforgrantedtofeelfreetoapplyanyverbforminEnglish,whichleadstonothingbutnegativetransferinEnglish,andevenerrorssometimes.Negativetransferinthisaspectisobservedtooccurquiteoften,butnotthatmanyinthetranslation.AlsoChinesedoesemphasizetoomuchonthetensesinm

44、ainclausesandsubordinateclauses.AndthisalsoresultsinnegativetransferinChinesestudents?useofinappropriatetensesinsubordinateclausesinEnglish.2.2.3 ThevoiceofsentencesTheuseofvoicesinasentencealsorevealsthenegativetransferofChinesetoEnglish.ThereliesgreatdifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseconcerningthe

45、useofvoices,activeorpassive.ItisobservedthatChinesestudentsseemtoprefertouseactivevoiceallthetimeunlessanabsoluteideaofpassivesenseistobeexpressed.ItismoreappropriatetosaythatitistheirhabittodosobecauseChinesedoesnotapplypassivevoicesofreelyasEnglish.InEnglish,passivevoiceisusednotonlywhenanideaofut

46、terlypassivevoiceisdesired,butalsoincaseswhenthesubjectofasentenceisunknowntothespeaker,orwhenthespeakeristostresstheobjectofthesentence.ThisreallyleadstoChinesestudents?inappropriateuseofvoicesinEnglish,especiallytotheiroveruseofactivevoice.WehaveobservedthefollowingExample:(4) Someonesaidthatwewou

47、ldhavealongholiday.有人说咱们将会有一个长假。Ofcoursetheabovesentenceisgrammaticallycorrectbutnotinanidiomaticway.OrevenitwillresultinmisunderstandingforinEnglish,“someone”woisrdaannadsistemrtaivyerefertoadefiniteperson.Intheabovesentence,ifitisusedinthatway,itmaymostprobablyindicatethat“somenoe”isapersonwhombot

48、hthespeakerandthehearerareawareof.AndacarefulstudyandcomparisonoftheEnglishandChineseexpressionswilltellthattheaboveEnglishsentenceisproducedunderclearinfluenceofitscorrespondingChineseone,inwhichtheapplicationofaactivevoicewillappeartobemorenaturalandacceptable.IfweputthatChineseexpressionintopassi

49、vevoice,itmaysoundawkwardandevenunacceptable,like“被有人说我们会有一个长假”.2.3 ThinkingmodeandhabitsDuetothedifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseinhistory,geography,religion,custom,andvalue,thewaysinwhichinformationiscarriedoutandexpressedinthetwolanguagesystemsdiffergreatly.AlthoughthedifferencebetweenChineseand

50、Englishmayaffectthesyntacticstructureorwordorder,itwon?taffectthewaypeoplethink.Englishlearningmustbecarriedoutbymeansofassistanceofalanguagethathastobethelearners?nativelanguage,Chinese.Inthisway,ChineseplaysapositiveroleinEnglishlearning.DuetothedifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseinhistory,geograph

51、y,religion,custom,andvalue,thewaysinwhichinformationiscarriedoutandexpressedinthetwolanguagesystemsdiffergreatly.Throughobservationandanalyseswefindthatnegativetransferconcerningwaysofthinkingfallsintotwodifferentaspects,namelytheculturalimplicationandthesubjective-objectiveissue.Informationconveyed

52、bythesamewordindifferentlanguagescanvarygreatly.Differentculturesendowadditionalreferencetowords,especiallywordsreferringtocolor,animals,andnumbers,andthisiscalledtheculturalimplicationofwords.Neitherthinkingnorlanguagecanbecomeanindependentrealmitself.Botharemerereflectionsofreality(Krashen,1982).S

53、incealanguageisatoolofthinking,atooltoreflectreality,itsfundamentalcharacteristicsarenecessarilycommandedbythinking;likewise,thinkingreflectsreality,anditsessentialcharacteristicsarenecessarilydeterminedbyreality.Therefore,alanguageisshapedaccordingtothesubstantialstructureofreality.Realityisdecisiv

54、e.Ontheonehand,human?sabilitiestothinkandcommunicateinlanguageareestablishedanddevelopedinawayofcloselycrossinfluenced(Ellis,1987).Thestructureandcharacteristicsofalanguage,therefore,areboundtobereflectedinthethinkingmodeandhabitofthepeopleusingthelanguage.Ontheotherhand,specificcharacteristicsofana

55、tioninthethinkingmodeandhabitcanbebroughttolightbymeansoflanguagecomparison.TheorderbywhichthethinkingmodeoftheEnglishpeoplereflectstheelementsofrealityandtheirinternalspeechstructureis:doer+action+objectofaction+markersofaction(Sprinthall,1974).ThesyntacticstructureoftheEnglishlanguageexpressingthi

56、sthinkinghabitis:subject+predicate+adverbial,forexample,Tom(subject)likes(predicate)playingfootballverymuch(adverbial)?.Thisfundamentalsyntacticstructure,inturn,bringsupaseriesofchain-reactions,suchastheposteriorityofalongattribute,sentencelike,Janelivesintheoldmansionwhichwasdesignedawell-knownarch

57、itectin1906?,thelongattributeisputattheend.However,theorderbywhichthethinkingmodeoftheChinesepeoplereflectsisdoer+markersofaction+action+objectofaction.ThesyntacticalstructureoftheChineselanguageexpressingthisthinkinghabitissubject+adverbial+predicate.Forinstanee,thesentence'汤姆(subject)非常(adverb

58、ial)喜欢(predicate)足球isanexample.3. EnglishLearningStrategy3.1 Negativetransferavoidance3.1.1 ToenforceunderstandingofnegativetransferAshasbeenmentionedinlastpart,negativetransferisnotsimplyanerror,thoughitmayresultinerrorsinmostcases,grammaticallyornon-grammatically.Basedonthispoint,weshouldadvocatet

59、hattheteachersandthestudentsholdaproperattitudetowardsnegativetransfer.Tobespecific,whenteachersfindstudentstocommitnegativetransferintheirprocessofsecondlanguageacquisition,theyareexpectednotonlytopointitout,butalsotomakethestudentsawareofthefactthatitisnotsimplyamistake.They,dbetterletthestudentsknowthatitisliterallynegativetransferresultingfromthestudents?nativelanguage.Ifpossible,theyshouldenablethestudentstohavea