Implication Of ESL To EFL

This dissertation discusses the relationship between ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) and attempts to apply ESL findings to guide EFL teaching in China.In pedagogical field, some linguists emphasize the differences of the two, while others take similarities as more significant. Nowadays the worldwide enthusiasm of studying English brings language learning into a new era. Duo to this, the dissertation hypothesizes the approximating tendency of ESL and EFL, while acknowledging the remaining differences. Accordingly, it is not unreasonable to apply the principles related with ESL to EFL. The dissertation is divided into five chapters.Chapter One briefly introduces English context and defines second and foreign. Chapter two explains the demonstrating labels that divert the two into two different subfields. They are acquisition/ learning, subconscious/conscious, implicit/explicit, and automatic/controlled. The dichotomies are valuable but are also dubious.Chapter three considers the common features, mainly from the perspective of English situation in China, verifying that the gap between ESL and EFL is decreasing. The common language and universal route, convergence in needs and goals and environmental support are all convincing proofs for the view.Chapter four reviews the natural approach and provides a review of the principles on the implication of ESL to EFL , covering automaticity, autonomy, maximum exposure, authenticity, error tolerance and first language avoidance.Chapter five moves from theoretical level to empirical studies. A questionnaire and an experiment were conducted and analyzed respectively. The questionnaire surveyed the hypothesis of the approximating tendency, clearing grounds for the experiment. And the experiment tested the feasibility of applying ESL findings to EFL teaching in China.From the above analysis, the dissertation comes to the conclusion that many principles pertinent to ESL can be applied into EFL teaching situation in China and the experiment has produced positive results.