A Study Of The Correlation Between Second Language Skills And Reading In English As The Third Language Of Uygur Students In Xinjiang

Among numerous EFL and ESL learners, Uygur English learners in Xinjiang are a special group with unique features. They have their own language - Uygur language, in both spoken and written forms. In the process of learning their mother tongue, they are required to learn their second language - Chinese in primary school or junior middle school. After entering college or university, they begin to learn their third language - English with Chinese as a medium. Although some researchers have carried out some investigations into this unique group, the research on the role of Chinese as the medium in the process of Uygur students' third language learning still remains unanswered. This study aims to probe into the role of Chinese as the medium in the process of Uygur students' third language learning, especially third language reading. The research questions are as follows: Does transfer from second language skills to English as third language reading (ETLR) exist? Under what circumstances, does the transfer from second language skills to ETLR exist? Under what circumstances, the transfer from second language skills to ETLR doesn't exist? The author used questionnaire, language proficiency assessments and interview to collect data from 56 Uygur English learners in Xinjiang Normal University.After the analysis of the data, it is found that transfer from second language skills to third language especially ETLR doesn't take place. The second language Chinese doesn't work well as a bridge between the first and third language, and on the contrary it hinders Uygur students' third language development. The improvement of learners' L3 proficiency should be achieved by strengthening Uygur learners' L3 skills directly rather than by accentuating Uygur learners' L2 skills.Given that transfer from L2 to L3 is blocked and the difficulty of improving L3 proficiency by enhancing L2 proficiency, teachers should try to avoid using Chinese in instructional settings. There are two choices for teachers to make. (1) Both teacher and students adopt Uygur language as the instructional language, avoiding the ineffectiveness of Chinese as an instructional language. In this way, the transfer from first to third language would be possible. (2) Both teacher and students use English as the instructional language in all instructional settings, improving Uygur learners' L3 proficiency by enhancing L3 skills directly.