Syntactic Transfer

Language transfer has a unique place in the research of second language acquisition. Rod Ellis (1994: 341) claims that no theory of L2 acquisition is complete without an account of L1 transfer. Much evidence collected in English teaching has shown that language transfer at the syntactic level is very common. Research into syntactic transfer, therefore, would be highly significant. In this thesis, we look at the issue of syntactic transfer in terms of the acquisition of English passive voice. The reason is that passive voice is used commonly in English and it would be easier for us to find out how typological differences between English and Chinese influence language learning by studying the acquisition of English passive voice by Chinese learners.The present study is carried out within a theoretical framework composed of two theories:(a) The theories about typological differences between Chinese and English. This part of the framework is based on the research conducted by many scholars (e.g., Chao Yuan Ren, 1979; Charles N. Li & Sandra A. Thompson, 1984; Xu Tongqiang, 1998, 2001).(b) The Transfer Hypothesis proposed by Schachter (1992).Typological theories in the framework predict what would be transferred from one language to another. Schachter's hypothesis explains how transfer takes place from a cognitive and psychological perspective.Two hypotheses about the acquisition of English passive are put forward in the present study based on the theoretical framework.(a) Hypothesis 1 Chinese learners of English tend to be influenced by the Chinese Topic-Comment construction. As a result, the noun phrase (NP) at the initial of a passive sentence is often viewed as a topic instead of a subject.(b) Hypothesis 2 Chinese passive markers bei ("被"), jiao ("叫") etc play a suggestive role in the use of English passive. When the L1, in language learning, carries out one of its functions, transformation (Wen Qiufang & Guo Chunjie, 1998), and when the markers bei etc are present in the process, the relationship between the markers and English passive would be built up in the learner's mind. In this case, it is quite possible for him to use English passive. A series of tests including Grammaticality Judgment Task and Answering Questions of...