Research-Proposal

1ResearchProposalTitleoftheProjectInfluencesfrommothertongueuponwritingamongtheChineseEnglishlearnersSummaryAlearner’smothertonguethatwealsocallone’sfirstlanguage(L1)alwayshasgreatimpactonhisorhersecondlanguage(L2).Therefore,transferisacommonphenomenonforeignlanguagelearning.Itresultsfromthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenatargetlanguageandanyotherlanguagethathasbeenpreviouslyacquired.TheresearchinthisthesisisundertakentoexploretherelationbetweenthenativelanguagetransferandtheEnglishwritingsbyChinesestudents.ThisthesislistsmanifestationsoflanguagetransferandputemphasisonmakingacontrastivestudyofthedifferentcharacterbetweenChineseandEnglishwhileanalyzingthevariouserrorsinChinesestudents’EnglishwritingscausedbynegativetransferofChineseatthelevelsoflexisandsyntaxaswellasChineseexpression.Finally,correspondingcertainstrategiesareputuptohelpachievethepurposeofavoidingnegativetransferandtopromotetargetlanguageacquisitionandteachingaswell.OverallProposeoftheProjectThisresearchattemptstoinvestigatethemaintypesoferrorsmadebyChinesestudentsintheirEnglishwriting,thentoexplorethesourcesoftheidentifiederrors,andfinallytofindouttheinterferenceofmothertonguetransferandthestrategiestoavoidnegativetransferandtopromotetargetlanguageacquisitionandteachingaswell.2RelevantBackgroundLiteratureIthasbeenassumedthatwheretherearedifferencesbetweentheL1andL2,thelearners’L1knowledgewouldinterferewiththeL2,andwheretheL1andL2aresimilar,theL1wouldactivelyaidL2learning.Theprocessthatisheldresponsibleforthisiscalledlanguagetransfer(RodEllis,1999).EarlierunderstandingandpredictionoftheL1-L2relationshipanditsroleinSLAareproposedlargelyinabehavioristparadigmandareencapsulatedmostpopularlyandinfluentiallyinFries’andRobertLado’sstudy(Fries1945,Lado1957).ThebehavioristBloomfield(1933)believesthaterrorsoccurprimarilyasaresultofinterferencewhenthelearnertransfersnativelanguagehabitsintothesecondlanguage.Whereverthestructureofthetargetlanguagediffersfromthatofthemothertongue,acquisitionofL2willbemoredifficultandtakelongerbecauseofthe“newness”oftheL2structure,hencewecanexpectbothdifficultyinlearninganderrorinperformance,whichiscallednegativetransfer(Lado,1957).Teachersareencouraged(e.g.byBrooks,1960andLado,1964)tofocusteachingontheareasofdifficultycreatedbynegativetransfer.ContrastiveAnalysisisawayofcomparinglanguages(e.g.L1andL2)inordertodeterminepotentialerrorsfortheultimatepurposeofisolatingwhatneedstobelearnedandwhatdoesnotneedtobelearnedinasecondlanguagelearningsituation(GrassandSelinker,2001).Thegoldofcontrastiveanalysisistopredictwhatareaswillbeeasytolearnandwhatareaswillbedifficulttolearn.However,notallerrorsareexplicablebyCAresultedinadisillusionmentwithcontrastiveanalysis.Intheearly1970s,theinterlanguagenotionwasintroducedintotheresearchofSecondLanguageAcquisition.AccordingtoSelinker(1972),interlanguageisaseparatelinguisticsystemresultedfromthelearner’sattemptedproductionoftargetlanguageItidusedtorefertolearner’ssystematicknowledgeaboutalanguagewhichisindependentofboththeirfirstlanguageandsecondlanguagesystemtheyaretryingtolearn(Ellis,1999).InterlanguagetheoryiscloselyassociatedwithErrorAnalysis,(Ellis,1994)amajorclaimofwhichisthatmadebyL2learnersarecausedbyfactorotherthanL1interference.Intheliteratureonerror3analysis,errorsandmistakesareoftendifferentiated.Corderassociateserrorswithfailuresincompetenceandmistakeswithfailuresinperformance,makinguseofChomsky’sdistinction(1965).AccordingtoChomsky(1965),competenceconsistsofthementalrepresentationoflinguisticruleswhichconstitutethespeaker-hearer’sinternalizedgrammar.Performanceconsistsofthecomprehensionandproductionoflanguage.Languageacquisitionstudiesareinterestedinhowcompetenceisdeveloped.MuchoftheworkinthefieldofErrorAnalysisisattributedtoCorder,who,in1967,firstsuggestedthatabetterunderstandingoflanguagelearningwouldcomefromamoresystematicinvestigationoflearner’serrorsErrorAnalysisexaminestheactualerrorsproducedbythelearnerinthetargetlanguage.Itviewsbothfirstandsecondlanguageacquisitionsasaprocessinvolvingheactiveparticipationoftheleaner.TheapproachofErrorAnalysisisthemindofthelearner.Inthisapproach,errorsareseenasanaturalphenomenonthatoccurswhenlearningthefirstorsecondlanguagebeforecorrectlanguagerulescompletelyinternalized.TheprocedureforErrorAnalysisisspelledoutbyCorder(1974).Itconsistsofthreestepsthatarerecognition,descriptionandexplanation.Thesourcesoferrorsarecomplicated.Interlingualerrorsandintralingualerrorsarethemajortwotypes.(Richard,1971)).Inthisthesis,wewillnotonlydiscussthehistoricaldevelopmentofviewsonerrorsbutalsoanalyzetheerrorsinthecompositionsofChinesestudentsindetail.Finally,somestrategiestoimprovetheChinesestudents’Englishwillbegiven.SignificanceoftheProjectThisresearchcanhelpEnglishteachersinChinagetafurtherunderstandingoftheerrorsmadebyChinesestudents,andinthemeanwhile,itenablesbothteachersandstudentstobemoreawareoftheeffectmothertonguetransferontheEnglishwritingofChinesestudents,hencestimulatethemtotreattheerrorsproperlyandimprovetheirEnglishteachingandlearning.4Rese