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Negative Transfer Of Native Language In College Students' English Learning

Posted on:2012-08-18Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:L QuanFull Text:PDF
GTID:2215330368997209Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Transfer is a common phenomenon in foreign language learning. It results from the similarities and differences between a target language and any other previously acquired language and occurs when learning in one context enhances or undermines a related performance in another context. Therefore it is generally classified into two categories: positive transfer and negative transfer. While negative transfer is a real and often problematic phenomenon of learning, it is of much less concern to education than positive transfer. However, previous studies did not yield satisfactory results.The research in this thesis is undertaken to explore the negative transfer of native language in college students'English learning. The thesis tries to answer the following two questions: (1)What are the aspects in which negative transfer of the native language is manifested in college students'English learning? (2)What extent will negative transfer of the native language decrease to as the language learners'knowledge of the target language increases? This thesis lists manifestations of negative transfer and puts emphasis on making a study of the college students with different English proficiency while analyzing the various errors in Chinese students'English learning caused by the negative transfer of Chinese at the levels of phonetics, vocabulary, syntax and discourse as well as pragmatics and some implications of this study are concluded.Sixty second-grade English major students in Huaqiao Foreign Languages Institute are the subjects in the study of this thesis. They are divided into basic and advanced groups in accordance with their different proficiency of English and whether they have passed TEM4. Through the quantitative and qualitative study that involves analysis of the sample writings, English speech, the questionnaire and interviews about how and how much does their native language influence English study, the results of the study reveal the following findings:(1)Negative transfer of the native language is manifested in the aspects of phonetics, vocabulary, syntax, discourse and pragmatics in college students'English learning.(2)Negative transfer of the native language will decrease to some degree as the language learners'knowledge of the target language increases.The whole thesis falls into five chapters. In the introduction part, the research background, the necessities to investigate transfer, the organization of the dissertation are stated explicitly. Chapter two is the literature review, in which transfer in SLA is stated, the study of language transfer at home and abroad is summarized, the types of language transfer and contrastive analysis are illustrated. This chapter also serves as the theoretical basis of the thesis. Then in Chapter Three, the research design was introduced, including the research questions, the subjects involved in the investigation, the instruments and the process in which the investigation was carried out. In Chapter Four, the quantitative analysis of the data and the qualitative analysis of the data on the levels of phonetics, vocabulary, syntax, discourse and pragmatics were made. In the fifth chapter, the main findings are concluded based on the data analysis, some implications are concluded to help avoid negative transfer in the process of English learning and teaching, the limitations of the present study and suggestions for future study are pointed out.Based on previous researches, the present dissertation makes an analysis of the current situation of negative transfer in college students'language learning in accordance with true data collection. The difference lies in the subjects of the study are all college English majors with certain level of language proficiency. The dissertation enriches the study of language transfer. The findings show the college students'weak points in language learning and offer pedagogical implications. It's believed that it may be of help to both English learners in China in increasing language ability and improving language proficiency and English teachers in China in tackling students'errors and making adjustments in teaching methods.
Keywords/Search Tags:Language Transfer, Negative Transfer, Native Language, English Language Learning
PDF Full Text Request
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