An Analysis Of Chinglish In The English Writings Of Non-English Majors

Chinglish refers to a type of errors mainly resulting from interference of Chinese language, thought or culture. Chinese and English are two quite different languages that belong to two language families. They are poles apart. However, when Chinese EFL learners study English, they do not lay enough stress on the differences between the two languages. As a result, Chinglish can be frequently found in their writings. Improper words, unidiomatic expressions and so on puzzle the readers who do not understand what the author means.Chinglish is a very common phenomenon in Chinese non-English majors'writings. Indeed, a certain amount of Chinglish is inevitable at certain points of the English-learning process. However, it is still one of the stickiest problems that cry out for solution. In the English writing teaching activities, teachers should learn how to analyze the Chinglish in student s'writings, take effective teaching strategy and help students gradually to overcome Chinese negative influences, so as to reduce Chinglish in writing and promote their writing skill.In applying the theories of language transfer, interlanguage, contrastive analysis and error analysis, this thesis is an attempt to discuss the manifestations and the causes of Chinglish by citing a large number of examples in the writings of non-English majors. In addition, some implications are worked out with an aim to better college English teaching and learning in China.The thesis is composed of six chapters.Chapter I firstly gives us a general account of the present situation of English teaching and learning in college, and then points out the significance and the overall structure of the study.Chapter II consists five parts. First of all, it proposes the definition of Chinglish and gives a brief review of the historical development of Chinglish. Then, two terms, Chinglish and China English, are differentiated, which helps to clear up the way for the study of Chinglish. Phenomenon of Chinglish in publications and daily communications are listed to illustrate its universality and urgency of the research. At the last part of this chapter, a brief survey of previous studies on Chinglish is conducted.Chapter III introduces some relevant theories, which are used as the theoretical framework of the thesis and will be employed in the study, including the theories of language transfer, contrastive analysis, error analysis and interlanguage.Chapter IV is the research design and the analysis of the research results. Taking the Chinglish of the compositions of non-English majors as examples, this chapter is aimed to analyze the various manifestations and causes of Chinglish.Based on the empirical study, the author proposes some constructive pedagogical implications on college English teaching and learning and explores how to reduce Chinglish in SLA to the largest extent in chapter V.Chapter VI serves as a conclusion, summing up the major findings as well as the limitations of the research.