1Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Need for the Study As Rod Ellis said, no theory of second language (L2) is complete without anaccount of L1 transfer, and there is clear evidence that first language (L1) acts as amajor factor in SLA (Ellis, 1994: 297). The study of the role of L1 in second languagelearning has been a central and controversial issue ever since the study on languagetransfer began in the 1960s. Studies on language transfer has undergone two periods:contrastive hypothesis period and inter-language hypothesis period. And manyempirical studies on the role of L1 in second language learning have been conductedduring those periods. Thus, major theories related to L1 transfer have also beengenerated. However, the study on language transfer in China began much later than inwestern countries and empirical researches so far are not many. As the learning ofEnglish in China becomes more and more important nowadays, there is a need tomake a systematic study on the influence of Chinese on SLA so as to find ways toavoid negative transfer and meanwhile promote positive transfer in SLA process.
1.2 Purpose of the Study This paper is to give a detailed analysis of the L1 interference errors incompositions of senior high school students. Two theories which have had greatimpact on the study of language transfer comprise theoretical framework: ContrastiveAnalysis Hypothesis and Error Analysis Theory. Corder’s error analysis was designedto give a systematic study and analysis into the errors made by the learner in hislearning of a foreign language in an attempt to account for the linguistic andpsychological origin of the errors, and the regularity, predictability and variability ofthem. Behaviorist view and its Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis emphasizes theprediction and description of modes of difficulties L2 learner may/may not encounterduring the learning process by systematically comparing and contrasting nativelanguage and its culture with that of target language. Based on those two theories, theauthor tries to analyze systematically transfer errors in the English compositions ofchosen subjects and provide reasonable explanation to errors caused by L1 transfer.Moreover, implications on teaching of English writing will also be given.
1.3 Overview of the Thesis This paper can be divided into five parts. Chapter one makes a brief introduction ofthe whole thesis. It includes 1) need for the study; 2) purpose of the study; 3)overview of the thesis. Chapter two is about literature review which introduces thedefinition of language transfer and its manifestations as positive transfer and negativetransfer at different language levels. Moreover, diachronic studies on languagetransfer as well as domestic studies on language transfer are also discussed. Chapterthree is about empirical research. In this chapter, two research questions have beenidentified: 1) What types of errors exist in students’ English writing; 2) What are thecauses of interference errors in students’ English writing. To answer those questions,58 Grade Two senior high school students in No 101 Senior High School ofZhengzhou are chosen and are required to write a short essay of 120 words within 20minutes. All types of errors in students’ compositions are identified, described andclassified on the basis of the standard of translation equivalence, which was，英语毕业论文，英语论文 |
