Positive Impact of Native Language on Second Language Acquisition

Abstract：The impact of native language （NL） on second language acquisition （SLA） is always a hot topic in linguistic field. Previous study holds that native language blocks second language acquisition， which refers to negative transfer， while positive transfer is almost neglected. However， NL plays an important role in SLA. This paper is a tentative analysis of the positive transfer mainly from two aspects， namely， grammatical transfer and lexical transfer. The paper also provides some suggestions about how to make use of the positive transfer in second language learning and teaching.

Key words：language transfer， native language， positive transfer， second language acquisition

1. Introduction

Transfer can also refer to “the carry-over or generalization of learned responses from one type of situation to another”， especially “the application in one field of study or effort of knowledge， skill， power，or ability acquired in another.”（Webster’s Third New World International Dictionary， 1986：2427）. The present popular definition of language transfer is from the American linguist Odlin. In his opinion， “transfer is the influence resulting from the similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously （and perhaps imperfectly） acquired.”（Odlin， 2001： 27）.

Language transfer can be divided into two types： positive transfer and negative transfer. When the relevant elements of NL and L2 are identical or similar to each other， it can result in correct language outcome called positive transfer. However， the interference of NL is quite obvious too， which can result in errors known as negative transfer.

This paper will analyze the positive transfer of Chinese in English acquisition in detail and give some brief suggestions on how to make full use of the positive transfer.

2. Positive transfer of Chinese in English acquisition

2.1 Grammatical transfer

Grammar is always perceived as the most difficult part in the learning process. But if we can analyze the grammar thoroughly at the very start， the learning will be much easier. At the present time， both Chinese and English adopt two analytic methods in grammar analysis.

2.1.1 Chinese grammar

Chinese is regarded as a typical analytic language. There are mainly two methods which can be used to analyze the Chinese grammar. One is the center-word analysis. It usually separates the sentence into the subject， the predicate， the object， the modifier and the complement. The other method is the analytic hierarchy process which means to divide the Chinese grammar into different levels such as the words， the phrases， the sentences and then analyze each level in detail.

2.1.2 English grammar

English is in the process from complex language to analytic language. As a matter of fact， modern English language is a comprehensive analytic language. More and more English grammar rules tend to take the analytic methods and the analysis of the English grammar also uses the above two kinds of methods just as Chinese. For example， English grammar also divides the sentence into five components including the subject， the predicate， the object， the modifier and the complement. The analytic hierarchy process also divides the sentence into five levels： the morphemes， the words， the phrases， the clauses and the sentences.

The similarity of the analytic methods is a convincing evidence of the positive transfer of Chinese grammar in the learning of English grammar and can facilitate the acquisition.

2.2 Lexical transfer

Lexical transfer is one of the most easily detected positive transfer of Chinese in English acquisition which can be reflected in the following two aspects： word category and word formation.

2.2.1 Word meaning

There are always many synonyms of an English word and they are used in different situations because they have minute differences in underlying meaning. Taking the words “collaborator” and “accomplice” for example， both share the meaning of “a person who helps another”， but they differ in that a collaborator helps another in doing something good， thus it is a commendatory term； while an accomplice helps another in a criminal act， thus it is a derogatory one. This agrees with the Chinese rule that， “合作者” referring to collaborator and “同謀”meaning accomplice in Chinese are used under different circumstances.

2.2.2 Word category

“Except the definite and indefinite articles which are specific to English， Chinese has a similar classification of words with English： nouns， pronouns， verbs， adjectives， adverbs， conjunctions， prepositions， interjections and numerals， quantifiers， onomatopoeia and auxiliary words.”（Xing， 1996） Thus， it is not difficult for learners to find a corresponding element of an English word in Chinese in the light of category to better understand the new word. For instance， in Chinese， there is a noun “作家” which means a person who writes books， stories etc， especially as a job. And in English， there is also a specific noun “writer” which has a similar definition. What’s more， there are many English words which can be used as different parts of speech， like the word “progress” can be either a noun or a verb.

（1） We have made some progress. （used as a noun）

（2） Work on the ship progressed quickly. （used as a verb）

Such case also exists in Chinese， for example， the word “成就” can be employed as a noun as well as a verb.

（3） 他在學術研究上取得了很大成就。（used as a noun）

（4） 他成就了一番偉業。（used as a verb） （下轉第73頁）（上接第69頁）

This phenomenon can offer help for Chinese learners to grasp the usage of this kind of English words more quickly by consulting the way they employ Chinese words.

3. Conclusion

From the above analysis， we can see that positive transfer of native language is quite obvious and important in second language acquisition. So it is necessary to make full use of the positive transfer and avoid the negative transfer. To achieve this goal， both teachers and students should have the consciousness of the existence of both positive and negative transfer， foster the basics of both NL and L2， make comparison between NL and L2 to distinguish similarities and differences， develop the sense of L2 as well as practise as much as possible.

【參考文獻】

[1] Webster’s Third New World International Dictionary. Beijing： The Commercial Press. 2007.

[2] Odlin， T. Language Transfer： Cross-linguistic influence in language learning [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2001.

[3]邢福義.漢語語法學[M].長春：東北師范大學出版社，1996.