| As an under-explored field, the research on third language acquisition still lags behind that on second language acquisition. Yet in recent years more and more scholars both in China and abroad have paid attention to its development. Jorda (2005) has stated "third language acquisition is a unique phenomenon that deserves consideration as a subfield within the global area of applied linguistics"(p.9).This paper attempts to investigate the cross-linguistic influence of LI (Chinese) and L2(English) on Chinese L3(Japanese) beginners’ lexical acquisition. Totally40second-year English majors from Dalian University of Foreign Languages participated in this study. The students were divided into two proficiency groups (N=20for each group) according to their scores of English Majors Band-4. Moreover, each group were asked to fill in the L3sentences’blanks using the borrowed words either Kanji (L1-origin) or Katakana (L2-origin) corresponding to the pictures. This study also involves questionnaire and interview. Both quantitative and qualitative study methods are involved in this paper.The major findings show:1. L2(English) serves as the main factor influencing L3(Japanese) lexical acquisition on those Chinese university students;2. it is proved that L2(English) has greater impact on L3(Japanese) oral acquisition than that on written acquisition due to the factors of perceived language distance, recency as well as the foreign language effect of L2status;3. L2has more influence on higher English proficient students in their acquisition of L3.The findings have significance in both theory and practice. On one hand it can help linguists have a better understanding of third language acquisition in China, and on the other hand it may help teachers make teaching strategies to improve the acquiring of Japanese vocabularies. Moreover, the findings may help the students raise their linguistic awareness so as to improve their third language acquisition. |
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