母语迁移对英语习得的影响研究(2)
II. The Mother Tongue Transfer Theory
2.1The Definition of Mother Tongue Transfer
Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, and cross meaning) refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language. It is most commonly discussed in the context of English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation when someone does not have a native-level command of a language, as when translating into a second language. Language transfer typically refers to the learner’s trying to apply rules and forms of the first language into the second language. The term can also include the transfer of features from one additional language to another (such as from a second to a third language), although this is less common. Contrastive analysis, discussed above, sought to predict all learner errors based on language transfer. As subsequent research in error analysis and interlanguage structure showed, this project was flawed: most errors are not due to transfer, but to faulty inferences about the rules of the target language. Language transfer occurs in second language acquisition. Second-language acquisition (often abbreviated to SLA) also refers to the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process. Second language refers to any language learned in addition to a person’s first language. Second-language acquisition refers to what learners do; it does not refer to practices in language teaching. According to the “mother tongue” theory, in the process of second language acquisition, the learner’s first language habits will influence SLA acquisition and has positive or negative interference.
2.2 The Classification of Mother Tongue Transfer
There have been different classifications of transfer from different perspectives. From the perspective of the effect transfer has on second language acquisition, transfer is pided into positive transfer and negative transfer. In the view of Lado and his followers, language learners attempt to transfer the features of their mother tongue to the second language. When the structures of the two languages are similar, we can get positive transfer. When the two languages are different in structures, negative transfer occurs and results in errors (Hu 254).
III. The Influence of Mother Tongue Transfer on English Acquisition
3.1 The Influence of Positive Transfer on English Acquisition
According to the theory of educational psychology, the positive and helpful effect on learning a foreign language is made because of the similar component between mother tongue and foreign language, which we call positive transfer. It can promote learners’ ability to perceive and use foreign language. The positive effect of mother tongue firstly represent on the cognitive level, in the understanding process. It is an important part of learning language and also the precondition of producing and forming language. The base of understanding foreign language comes from the knowledge, intelligence, ability and experience.
First, phonetic positive transfer. The Chinese phonological system differs from English on a segmental and suprasegmental level, but nobody can deny the similarities between the two languages in the position of articulation. When studying phonetics, Chinese native speakers use many substitutions for certain segments in English, replacing the similar sound in target language with a segment in their native language. It can not decrease the quality of communication, on the contrary, it supports the fluency of communication. So accent is only a linguistic mark, it can’t be the negative transfer. There are some similar features between part of English Phonetic Alphabet and Chinese Pinyin. It is easy for learners to master. For example, /p/、/b/、/t/、/d/、/k/、/g/ and /f/ can be found in Chinese as p、b、t、d、k、g and f. Therefore, in English learning, we can master the correct pronunciation through comparing the difference or similarity.
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