母语在英语学习中的作用

母语在英语学习中的作用

The Role of Mother Tongue in English Learning

Abstract: Learner’s L2 acquisition may strongly be influenced by their L1 in the process of foreign language learning. The influence can be also called language transfer.

Language transfer can be divided into two aspects-positive transfer and negative

transfer. In respect of this, this paper will briefly discuss the role of L1 in L2

acquisition by reviewing some linguists’point of view. Referring to the study

results of some linguists and researchers, the author will further investigate the

positive transfer and negative transfer, the relationship between L1 and L2. On the

basis of analysis, L1 plays an important role during the process of L2 acquisition.

In order to identify the area of language transfer, a procedure called Contrastive

Analysis was development which will be also explained in this paper.

Key words: second language acquisition; mother tongue; language transfer

摘要: 在外语学习过程中，学习者通常会把母语知识迁移到外语学习中去，语言的迁移可以分为正迁移和负迁移。根据一些语言学家者对母语在二语习得中的影响研究，本文讨论了母

语在二语习得中的正迁移和负迁移作用及母语和第二语言的关系。在理论分析的基础

上，母语在二语习得的过程中确实扮演着很重要的角色。为了更好地了解语言的迁移，

本文将对错误分析做进一步的分析。

关键词: 二语习得; 母语; 语言迁移

Contents

I.Introduction (1)

A. Background (1)

B. Reasons (1)

Ⅱ. Literature Review (2)

A.Different views on language transfer (2)

B.Behaviorist learning t heory (2)

C.Habits (2)

D.Errors (3)

Ⅲ. An Important Procedure in Language Transfer (5)

A.E xplanation of contrastive a nalysis (5)

B.The psychological aspect of contrastive a nalysis (5)

C.T he linguistic aspect of contrastive a nalysis (6)

Ⅳ. The Influence of L1 on L2 learning (7)

A．P ositive t ransfer (7)

B．Negative t ransfer (8)

Ⅴ. The Relationship between L1 and L2 (8)

Ⅵ. Conclusion (9)

Works Cited (10)

Ⅰ. Introduction

A.Background

Different researchers have given very different interpretations of the definition of second language acquisition. As Cook mentioned “People have been interested in second language acquisition since antiquity, but in modern times much of the research emphasis was in fact placed on language teaching”(Cook 23). Many comparative studies of language teaching methods were conducted. As was mentioned “In the 1960s, as a result of the inconclusive findings from the comparative studies, a debate in psychology over the nature of learning and a revolution in linguistics, a challenge to the dominance of research on language teaching was to take place”(Larsen-Freeman 5). Since Hatch’s book was published in 1978, there have been hundreds more studies conducted, several new journals begun, and numerous conferences convened. Raimes (535) offers an additional indicator of the birth and growth of the SLA field. In recent years, more and more researchers are devoting themselves to second language acquisition.

B.Reasons

During the process of English learning, there are many factors which can influence our English learning. Among all the factors, L1 plays an important role in L2 learning which is also a hot topic in recent years. Beginning in the post-war years and carrying on into the 1960s, there was a strong assumption that most of the difficulties facing the L2 learner were imposed by his or her first language. It was assumed that where there were differences between the L1 and L2, the learner’s L1 knowledge would interfere with the L2, and where the L1 and L2 were similar, the L1 would actively aid L2 learning. The process that was held responsible for this was called language transfer. In the case of similarities between the L1 and L2 it functioned positively, while in the case of differences it functioned negatively. Teachers were encouraged to focus their teaching on the areas of difficulty created by negative transfer. They were exhorted to apply massive practice to overcome these difficulties. According to this, this paper mainly relies on the role of mother tongue in L2 learning.

Ⅱ. Literature Review