The Influence Of L1Thinking On L2Writing

Since1980s, many linguists have agreed to the opinion that L1thinking has positiveinfluence on L2writing. Based on Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and error analysis, this studymainly explores the influence of L1thinking on L2writing process.The subjects of the research are30non-English majors from Shandong EconomicManagement Institute. In the process of research, the researcher uses composition writingfrom a picture to train the participants and asks them to complete a think-aloud taskwhile writing a composition from CET4. The researcher mainly adopts think-aloudmethod and also uses a post-writing questionnaire to collect data.The aims of the research are mainly to explore the proportion of L1thinking in L2writing process, the positive influence of L1thinking on L2writing process, and whetherthe proportion of L1use has a direct relation to the proficiency of L2learning invocational college.The research findings are given as follows:1) It can be seen from the proportionof L1use in the L2writing process that all the three groups use L1(Chinese) thinking inthe process of L2writing, but the proportion of L2(English) for the subjects stillaccounts for most in the process of L2writing;2) activities related closely to the contentof the topic involve more L1in the process of L2writing, including idea-generating,idea-organizing and sentence-forming activities. In process-controlling andtask-examining activities, proportion of L1use accounts for less. The percentage of L1use in idea-generating activities accounts for most;3) the proportion of L1use relatesdirectly to the proficiency of L2learning.To conclude, L1thinking accounts for a large proportion and has positive influenceon L2writing process to a certain extent. What’s more, the influence of L1thinking onL2writing process has negative correlation with the proficiency of L2learning.