A Study of Influence on L1 Transfer in Second Language Acquisition

（哈爾濱師范大學西語學院，黑龍江 哈爾濱 150025）

Abstract

In second language acquisition， there is a universal phenomenon that L1 influence a foreign language learning. It is known as the L1 Transfer phenomenon. According to L1 transfer theory， mother tongue will directly affect learning a second language， and it has played a dual role in promoting or interfering learning a second language. This paper makes a simple analysis of the positive and negative transfer of L1 in second language acquisition.

Key Words： second language acquisition； L1 transfer； positive transfer； negative transfer

1 The Definition of L1Transfer and Two Main Classifications

Language transfer is from an analysis which presented in 1940s. Language transfer is a psychological term， refers to people who use the previous learning knowledge to learn another new language. It is a beneficial topic in second Language acquisition. Language transfer is the influence resulting from the similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously acquired. Language also has generality to express statement. In other words， these differences are so limited to notice. Linguistic Universal Grammar is related to all languages， so it’s easy to have common in learning languages. So these principles constitute of Universal Grammar that is the foundation of every specific language grammar. According to the research of language types， different languages have so many features in common， but the structure of specific rule is not the same.Similarities are easy to learn， and differences are hard in second language acquisition. What we have talked about positive transfer is the same or similar place between mother tongue and the second language. One of the reasons in causing negative transfer is that the formation of language is a long and complex process.

2 The Influence on English Learning by Positive Transfer and Negative Transfer

Sentence pattern is the structure of sentence as a whole or a part of speech that determines the name of word class. The basic sentence structure in English and Chinese languages are about the same， so Chinese students will master these basic sentence patterns easily. For example：

（1）subject+ predicate（S+V）

Ben likes painting.

（2） subject+ predicate + object （S+V+O）

He is running for president of the student union.

（3） subject+ predicate + double object （S+V+O+O）

Ben gave her an apple.

（4）subject+ verb + predicative（S+V+C）

It is beneficial for us.

（5）subject+ Verb + adverb （S+V+A）

The plane arrived at Shanghai airport.

According to the mood of the sentence， there are declarative sentence， interrogative sentence， imperative sentence and exclamatory sentences. Learners can use their existing knowledge of mother tongue to speed up learning.

For example：

Declarative sentence： I’m a Chinese teacher.

Interrogative sentence： Do you like reading poem？

Imperative sentence： Let’s go to party.

Exclamation： What a great idea it is.

However， no subject is a big difference between English and Chinese， and it is very important in syntactic structure. Except special situation， all sentences need a dominant subject， while in Chinese sentences， if the subject is a pronoun， but through the grammar and pragmatic clues can find the subject， then subject pronouns can be omitted. Some people think that English is a language emphasizes the relationship between subject and predicate， while Chinese is a topic prominent language， emphasizes the entire discourse.

3 Suggestions of Promoting Positive Transfer and Reducing Negative Transfer

Error Analysis rises in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The founder of Error Analysis theory is British applied linguists Corder. Error analysis unlike comparative analysis is that errors may occur due to interference of mother tongue， rather than focus on second language itself. Thereby， to detect causes of errors， and to understand the situation of learners in learning a new language. These error types should be classified into： inter-lingual errors， mistakes and language error in developing stage.

Error analysis also needs the comparative analysis in order for students to amend errors in interpretation. Therefore， comparative analysis and error analysis can not replace each other. There are three principally available strategies in the following：

Firstly， comparing different meanings of vocabulary between Chinese and English， next try to avoid negative transfer. Every word has a special meaning in a limited context. There are many differences in people’s value， aesthetics， religion， geographical and cultural customs between Chinese and English. We must find out these differences in learning. In order to enhance the acceptability of different ethnic and cultural similarities knowledge， improve sensitivity to social background is the best method to avoid involving negative transfer.

Secondly， make a comparison analysis between Chinese and English sentence structure to understand the different thinking mode between English and Chinese. This way can prevent to produce negative transfer. Meanwhile， pay attention to errors that are possible to make in language learning and decrease the interference of the first language.

Thirdly， take notes of the chapter structure to expand your recognition structure. Avoiding knowing a particular sentence out of context is a good case. This requires language learners to grasp the whole text especially the central idea. We should understand the correct meaning in translations， thus reduce the negative impact.

In Second language acquisition， in order to learn English better we should understand the causes of negative transfer， then put a correct attitude toward the existence of negative transfer.

Bibliography

[1] Ellis， Rod. The Study of Second Language Acquisition [M]. London： Oxford University Press， 1994.

[2] 唐振華.論漢譯英文的文化負遷移 [J]. 外語與外語教學， 2000.

[3] 俞理明.語言遷移與二語習得 [M]. 上海： 上海外語教育出版社， 2004.

作者簡介：孫彥彤（1992—），女，山東滕州人，哈爾濱師范大學2015級碩士研究生，院系：西語學院，研究方向：文化語言學。