English Teaching And Learning In Hakka Setting

Foreign language learning (FLL) is often done in the background of a certain language and culture. The differences between native language and target language tend to exert influences on target language learning. Hence, the study of native language transfer in the process of foreign language learning has been a central issue to linguistics and foreign language teachers. In China, the study of the contrastive analysis between the English language and the Chinese language is always based on Standard Chinese (putonghua, PTH for short), little research work is done on how a regional dialect and culture influence dialectal speakers'English learning. Actually, everyone of us was born in a particular dialectal region. It's the variety of a language that a child was first exposed to when he began his language learning, the effects of which may not be wiped out throughout his life. The writer, from her teaching experience in a local-run college, deeply feels the impact of regional dialect on the students'foreign language learning. It's for this reason that the thesis devotes to the study of English learning in Hakka setting. Through contrastive analysis, it endeavors to explore the problems encountered by Hakka dialectal learners in the process of their English learning from perspectives of both language and culture. The purpose is to explore the traits and disciplines of English teaching in Hakka setting so to improve English level of Hakka students.The thesis, first of all, explores the inseparable relationship between culture and language to reveal the fact that language is a part of culture and that language learning and culture learning complement each other. Conversely, while approaching the problems resulting from the influences of one's native language on FLL, we can obtain a general view of the problems only when we see the problems from the aspects of both language and culture. Similarly, regional dialect and culture, as the varieties of language and culture, are bound to exert influences on dialectal learners'foreign language learning. To explore influences of Hakka dialect and culture on English learning, the thesis conducts the study on the basis of the previous studies on'language transfer'. According to the language transfer theory, it is assumed that where there are differences between the native language and foreign language, the learner's native language knowledge will interfere with the foreign language learning, thus negative transfer appears, whereas there are similarities between the native language and foreign language, the native language will facilitate foreign language learning, thus the transfer functions positively. Native language transfer can't be avoided in foreign language learning.Through contrastive analysis, the thesis investigates the differences and similarities between the Hakka dialect and the English language and explores the influences produced by them from the perspectives of phoneme, grammar, syntax, and pragmatics. It reaches conclusions as followings: In phoneme, the negative influence of the Hakka dialect weighs more on English phonematic learning than positive, which is especially displayed in the cases: 1) when there are no equivalents in the Hakka dialect to the English sounds, learners are confused about the ways of pronouncing them, they turn to rely on their old pronunciation habits. 2) when differences are covered by apparent similarities between English and Hakka sounds, learners will also turn to their old habits. Therefore, it's quite necessary for learners to make clear physical characteristics, including both acoustic characteristics and articulatory characteristics, of one's native language and of the target language, and to make contrastive analysis of the differences between them so to better their English pronunciation. In grammar and syntax, being a variety of the Chinese language, the Hakka dialect bears a lot common charateristices of the Chinese PTH, on the other hand, there are numerous interesting similarities between the Hakka dialect and the English language in various aspects of language form and function, some of the similarities cannot be found between the Chinese PTH and English. Making reasonable use of these similarities will not only arouse learners'interest in English learning but help them improve their English learning through the comparison and contrast between the Hakka dialect and the English language. The thesis also probes into pragmatic transfer, including pragmalinguistic failure at word level due to lexical gap and different connotations in English and the Hakka dialect, and sociopragmatic failure from aspect of addressing and value-orientation resulting from cultural differences between the Hakka culture and English culture, so to alert learners to the fact that the mastery of correct forms of language does not guarantee appropriate use of the language and that one should not ignore the cultivation of the pragmatic competence and cultural awareness in his FLL. At the end of this chapter, based on the preceding chapter's study and analysis of some features of the Hakkas'cultural psychology resulting from their unique history, migratory experiences and isolated living environment, the thesis discusses positive and negative influences produced by these features on English learning in Hakka setting. On the one hand, the Hakkas'diligent pursuit of knowledge, their being hard-working and well motivated, which are also displayed in the Hakka students'study, exert positive function in their English learning. On the other hand, the highly treasured collectivism among Hakkas and their advocating the doctrine of the mean, called Zhong Yong in Chinese, go against their English learning, for they, to some degree, prevent students from making responses to questions and from being active in class; their clan ethics with a strong feeling of'filial piety'and'respect for the elderly', which easily transfers to the over-deference of students to teachers, can be disadvantage to the transition of teaching center from being'teacher-centered'to being'student-centered'; their highly cherishing of saving face makes some students restrain from speaking English and joining in class activities; their being reserved and introverted, not initiating conversation with those whom they meet for the first time may result in negative influence on fostering their communicative competence in English learning. All those above-mentioned characters implicate influences on Hakka students'English learning.In the end, the thesis provides implications for teaching and learning. Implications for teaching involve: 1) arousing awareness of culture and linguistic transfer; 2) making full use of positive influences and averting negative influences; 3) being familiar with the regional dialect and culture of the students; 4) being concerned for the students'Hakka cultural psychology; 5) enhancing foreign culture teaching. Implications for learning involve: 1) raising sensibility to cross-lingual and cross-cultural differences 2) developing target culture empathy 3) engaging in cultural experience 4) surmounting negative factors in Hakka cultural psychology.