On Transfer Of Chinese Topic-prominent Structures In English Writing Of College Students In China

First language transfer is a common phenomenon in the process of second language acquisition owing to the fact that the learners have had first language system in their mind when they acquire second language. In English teaching, the writer finds that the transfer of Chinese topic-prominent structures often occurs in English writing of college students in China.Based on the Interlanguage Theory, the research is carried out by collecting the compositions written by 240 first-year students who are non-English majors in Hainan University. The data of the transfer of Chinese topic-prominent structures are drawn from the samples. The results of data collection indicate that the transfer of Chinese topic-prominent structures accounts for 62.8% in English writing of college students in China, and there are usually four types of transfer of Chinese topic-prominent structures which are namely overusing of"there be"structure, substituting topic for subject, nominalizing of verb and fronting of adverbial.The results indicate that the similarities between Chinese topic-prominent structures and English topic-prominent structures generally facilitate English learning, but some of the similarities may lead to interference. And the differences between Chinese topic-prominent structures and English subject-prominent structures may often result in errors in English writing of college students in China. One of the most important findings is that transfer may serve as a learning strategy in the interlanguage development of college students in China. Since the dependence of college students in China on mother tongue causes the occurrence of transfer in English writing, in the development of their interlanguage, the transfer plays a significant role. Although errors which result from the interference occur frequently in the beginning stage, they will gradually be reduced and avoided by college students in China with improvement of the language proficiency. Therefore, some pedagogical implications can be drawn from the research that teachers should pay much attention to the differences between Chinese topic-prominent structures and English subject-prominent structures and have a proper attitude towards transfer. It is hoped that this research may be useful for further research of the related issues and helpful for foreign language teaching.