The Negative Transfer of Grammar in Second Language Acquisition

楊春媛

【Abstract】Transfer， as an important factor influencing English learning， has been the focus in the research of the second language acquisition. From some homework of middle school students， the author analyzes the problems in tense， cohesion of sentence， and explains the reasons why the Chinese students always have such errors. In the end， the author makes some suggestions about English learning and hope these will help the English learners.

【Key words】negative transfer； suggestions； English learning

1. Introduction

Transfer refers to “The phenomenon of previous knowledge being extended to the area of new knowledge. i.e. the influence which the learning or remembering of one thing has on the learning and remembering of another thing.”（雷龍華，2005） Transfer falls into two types， namely positive transfer and negative transfer. This article introduces the phenomenon of negative transfer in different grammar aspects. And the author uses a plenty of examples to prove the influence of Chinese in English learning.

2. Negative Transfer in Grammar

2.1 Tenses

Tense is an important characteristic of grammar in English.There are three tenses （present tense， past tense， future tense） and three aspects （simple aspect， progressive aspect， perfective aspect）. However， tense in Chinese is not obvious. There are only a few words to express the tense， such as “正在”“經常”“了”“已經”“曾經”. Most of tense are showed by the whole sentence or context， but not by marks of tense. So students always confuse the tense when they are expressing the sentences.

（1） False： I joined the army for five years.

True： I have joined the army for five years.

（2） False： I wrote a report in my room when somebody knocked the door.

True： I was writing a report in my room when somebody knocked the door.

（3） False： I will retire by the year 2010.

True： I will have retired by the year 2010.

From these examples， we find students can not use tense correctly， especially perfect tense. Moreover， when they meet “when”， “before”， “for” and such clauses and phrases which have special tense forms， students will not know how to choose tense. In the example （1）， there is obvious prepositional phrase representing tense “by”， so students should use the corresponding perfect tense. And in example （5）， although there is the phrase representing the present perfect tense “for two years”， there is also another phrase “before”. Because there is no concept of tense in Chinese and students have used this Chinese thought for a long time， they are difficult to judge which tense should be used.

2.2 The Cohesion of Clauses

The influence of Chinese in Grammar is also shown in the cohesion of clause. Look at the example below， we will find the influence from Chinese.

（1） False： Because he sat up all night with patients， so the doctor looks tried and sleepy.

True： Because he sat up all night with patients， the doctor looks tried and sleepy.

（2） False： Although the task was difficult， but they managed to complete it in time.

True： Although the task was difficult， they managed to complete it in time.

Obviously， these students are influenced by Chinese. In Chinese，“因為”and“所以”could be used together in one sentence. But there is only one word which could appear in one sentence in English. “although” and “but” also obey this rule. Although students are easy to remember this rule， they still make such Chinglish sentence above due to the habit.

3. Suggestions

Transfer is an inevitable phenomenon in English learning， for Chinese thoughts have been fixed in mind for a long time. Here are some suggestions on changing students mind.

Translation is a good way. By the translation， students will find the differences between the two languages， and then they will be more aware of the differences when they use English. Students could also read some original English books. Magazine and newspaper are the important ways to show the new expressions， for language is developing.

On the other hand， teachers play an important role in the English teaching. When teachers find transfer phenomenon in students English learning， they should not only point it out， but also make the students aware of the fact that it is negative transfer which is caused by their native language. Meanwhile， teachers should summarize the negative transfer occurred in students learning and make comparison of English with Chinese to make students understand the differences. Only when students know clearly what negative transfer is and which one is negative transfer， they will try to avoid them.

References：

[1]賈冠杰.應用語言學高級教程[M].上海外語教育出版社，2004.