TheEffectsofL1UseandTransferontheL2WritingProcess—AStudyonWritinginEnglishbyaGroupofChineseNon-EnglishMajors

谷彩霞

Abstract

ThisstudyisconductedtoexploreL1useandtransferintheL2writingprocessofChinesenon-Englishmajors.ThispaperchoosesEnglishastheL2andChineseastheL1.InanattempttohelpL2languagelearnerswritemoreproficientlyaswellashaveclearunderstandingofL1useandL1transfer,thispaperintendstomeasurehowL1useinfluencesL2writing,therelationshipbetweentheamountofL1useandthewritingscoreandtherelationshipbetweentheamountofL1transferandthequalityofL2composition.

Keywords:L1use;transfer;L2writing

ChapterOne:Introduction

Writingisacomplexprocessbecauseitrequireslotsoflanguageskillsincludinglexicon,contentorganization,grammar,coherenceandcohesion.Writinghasbeenregardedasthelastlanguageskilltobeacquired,whichbaffleslotsoflanguagelearners.Actually,thedifficultyofwritingispervasivenotonlyinone’snativelanguagelearningbutalsoinasecondorforeignlanguagestudy.Itisheldthat“Learningofwritingcoherently,andinawaywhichisappropriateforone’spurposeandaudience,issomethingwhichmanypeoplenevermanageintheirfirstlanguage(L1).Throughthisstudyandexploration,itisexpectedthatthefindingsandimplicationscouldprovideusamoreclearviewofmothertonguetransfer.ResearchesregardingtotheeffectsofL1useorL1transferontheL2writinghaslongbeenahotissue.AsthegrowingimportanceandpopularizationofEnglishinthewholeworld,researchersinChinabegantoswitchtheirresearchingtopictotheL1useandL2study.

ChapterTwo:EmpiricalStudy

Thischapterpresentsindetailthemethodologyoftheempiricalstudy,includingresearchquestions,subjectsselection,instrumentsormaterials,thewholeresearchingprocedure.

2.1ResearchQuestions

What’stherelationshipbetweentheamountofL1useandtheamountofL1negativetransfer?What’sthecorrelationbetweentheamountofL1negativetransferandwritingabilityratedfromdifferentpartslikecontent,structureandlanguageuse?

2.2Subjects

Thesubjectsselectedinthisresearchwerethirtynon-EnglishmajorstudentsfromdifferentdepartmentsofXi’anInternationalStudiesUniversity.Theywereallsophomoreswiththeiragesragingfrom18-22.

2.3Instruments

Theinstrumentsusedinthisresearchincludethewritingtask,postwritingquestionnaires.

2.4ExperimentalProcedures

Therearetwostagesinthepartofexperimentordatacollection:writingstageandpostwritingstage.Thesubjectsparticipatedinthisresearchweredoingtheirwritingtaskinanadvancedlanguagelabwiththeavailabilityofrecordingmaterialinordertoletthemusethethink-aloudmethodtospeakouttheirthoughts.Apartfromtheadvancedequipment,theundisturbedenvironmentwasalsoguaranteed.Subjectswerearrangedtodothetestindifferenttimeperiodinordertomakethembefree-minded.Thequestionnairesandinterviewsweregiventoeachsubjectsaftertheyfinishedthemainwritingtask.

ChapterThree：Results

3.1TheCorrelationbetweentheAmountofL1useandtheAmountofL1negativetransfer

L1useisdifferentfromL1transfer.L1thinkingisinnateasthetimewebegantolearnourmothertongue.IntermsofL2writing,theinfluenceofL1negativetransferisreallyaseriousmatter.Numerousstudentshavebeenconfusedbyambiguity.TheirpresentEnglishlevelisnotproficientenoughforthemtothinkandwriteinEnglishdirectlywithouttheguidanceoftheirmothertongue.However,whentheyreallyuseL1tofacilitatetheirwritingprocess,somenegativetransferwouldoccur.

Chapter4Conclusions

Findingsbelowarebasedontheanalysisofthethink-aloudprotocolsandtheresults.Firstly,theuseofL1isirresistibleregardlessoftheL2proficiency.Allofthestudentwritersaredependentontheaidoftheirmothertongue.ThesubjectsusedChineseandEnglishinterchangeablyduringtheirwritingprocess.SowehavetoadmittheexistenceofL1useintheL2writing.

Secondly,theproportionsofL1useandthequalityofL2compositionarenegativelycorrelatedingeneral.AlthoughsomeofthestudentsdouseL1moreandfinallygetaverygoodmark,westillcannotrejectthenegativecorrelationofL1useandL2writingquality.

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