On The Negative Transfer Of Mother Tongue In Chinese Non-English Majors' English Writing

Language transfer has been a central issue in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and foreign language teaching for at least a century. The transfer of native language is a phenomenon that cannot be denied in the acquisition of a learner's second language due to the fact that the learner has had a rather developed prior L1 system in his mind. The author noticed that the phenomenon of native language transfer can be clearly traced in non-English majors'English writing.In this thesis, the author presents the concepts of language transfer, states the classifications and manifestations of language transfer and various constraints on transfer. At the same time, a historical perspective on transfer studies can be found in the thesis, which reveals the several ebbs and flows of transfer theory development.The author carried out a study on transfer errors by collecting the compositions written by 120 sophomores in Jilin University and Changchun University. The errors in the compositions are identified and those resulting from Chinese influence are discussed in detail. The study shows that negative transfer of native language is one of the major sources of the errors, and the main reason is the differences between the two languages.Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications are drawn in English learning and teaching. The author hopes that this thesis can enrich the study of language transfer and it may be helpful for both Chinese learners and teachers of English. The learners can increase their writing ability and improve their language proficiency. The teachers can tackle the students'writing errors and make adjustments in their teaching methods.