On The Influence Of Explicit Inductive And Deductive Writing Instruction On Negative Transfer Of Mother Tongue

China builds closer ties with English-speaking countries in the context of globalization,which demands a higher quality of English majors’ listening,speaking,reading,writing,and translation.In writing,negative transfer of mother tongue(MT)is one of the main factors impacting English majors’ writing proficiency.To alleviate it,it is required to cultivate language awareness on the thinking level and reduce interlingual errors on the language level.Considering explicit induction’s potential of cultivating learners’ language awareness in authentic language analysis and explicit deduction’s potential of reducing learners’ interlingual errors in rule application,the present study applies EI&ED—explicit induction combined with deduction to English majors’ writing classes to testify if it can alleviate negative transfer of MT by raising their language awareness and decreasing their interlingual errors and further improve their writing ability.Accordingly,three research questions are proposed as follows:(1)What influence does EI&ED have on English majors’ interlingual errors in their writing?(2)What influence does EI&ED have on English majors’ language awareness in their writing?(3)Is there correlation between English majors’ interlingual errors and their writing scores in EI&ED teaching mode?Two classes,including 51 English majors from a university in northwest China,are randomly chosen as the research participants of the study.The experimental class is instructed with EI&ED and the controlled class is taught with a traditional deductive approach.Writing tests,a questionnaire,and a semi-structured interview are adopted to collect data about interlingual errors,writing scores and language awareness,and quantitative and qualitative analyses are conducted to answer the research questions.The study proves the effectiveness of EI&ED on alleviating negative transfer to develop English majors’ writing ability,for the teaching method reduces their interlingual errors in writing and improves their language awareness,and the amounts of interlingual errors are negatively correlated with the writing scores.In terms of interlingual errors,its effect is more significant in lexis and discourse than in syntax,and more profound for advanced learners than intermediate and lower-level learners.In terms of language awareness,its effect is more significant on syntax and discourse than lexis,and more profound for advanced and intermediate learners than lower-level learners.The research further explores the reasons for the holistic alleviation effect and the diversified influence across different linguistic aspects and proficiency levels.