The Interference of Chinese on English Vocabulary Study in Middle School.docx

The Interference of Chinese on English Vocabulary Study in Middle School.docx

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TheInterferenceofChineseonEnglishVocabularyStudyinMiddleSchool

I.Introduction

SecondLanguageAcquisition（SLA）isaverycomplexprocess.Thefactorswhichinfluencetherateandlevelofachievementofthesecondlanguagearevarious,suchasage,motivation,personalities,languageaptitude,cognitiveprocess,etc.However,themothertongueplaysaveryimportantpartinit,foritalwaysfunctionsintheprocessofSecondLanguageAcquisition,especiallyinnon-naturalisticlearningsurroundings.IntheelementarystageofSecondLanguageAcquisition,languagelearnerssimplyusetheknowledgeofthemothertongueforreference.AsRodEllis（Ellis,1999:

37-38）hassuggested,makinguseofthemothertongueembodiesacommonpsychologicalprocess,thatis,learnershavetodependonwhattheyhavelearntintheirmothertonguetohelpthemunderstandtheknowledgeofanewlanguage.Thetransferofthemothertonguereferstotheinfluencethatthelearner’smothertongueexertsovertheacquisitionofthesecondlanguage.

Thetransfertheorybelievesthat,ifthehabitsofthemothertonguearesupposedtohelptoformanddevelopthehabitsofthetargetlanguage（thesecondlanguage）,ormoreconcretelytosay,ifthemothertonguepossessescertainsimilarortotallyidenticalcharacteristicsasthetargetlanguage,themothertonguewillfacilitatethelearningofthetargetlanguage.Thiseffectisknownaspositivetransfer.Ontheotherhand,ifthehabitsofthemothertonguearesupposedtopreventthelearnerfromlearningthehabitsofthetargetlanguage,thatis,thelearnerhastototallydependonthelanguagerulesofthemothertonguetolearnthetargetlanguage,theproblemsofthenegativetransferarises.

Inmostofthewesterncountries,languagelearnerslearntheirsecondlanguagesthathavethesameoriginastheirmothertongue.Similarculturalbackgroundandlanguagecharacteristicsmakethepositivetransferappearmoreoftenthanthenegativetransferinthelearningprocess.Nevertheless,theforeignlanguagethatChinesestudentsmainlylearnintheschoolisEnglish.ComparedwithChinese,itcomesfromadifferentlanguagefamily.Itsdifferentculturaltraditionandlanguagecharacteristics（includingpronunciation,vocabularyandgrammaticalsystem）makeourChinesestudentsencountermuchmoredifficultiesthanthestudentsfromthewesterncountries.

.Demonstration

WhenChinesestudentsstartlearningEnglish,theyhavebeenequippedwiththesolidfoundationofknowledgeofChineseanddeep-rootedChinesewayofthinking,theymainlylearnEnglishintheschool,andtheyjustuseittocommunicatewiththeirChineseclassmatesandteachers.Moreover,thoserealcommunicativeopportunitiesareverylimitedforthem.ChineseinevitablyinfluencestheEnglishstudyofourChinesestudents,especiallytheEnglishvocabularystudy.AlthoughtheacquisitionofEnglishvocabularyhassomethingincommonwiththeacquisitionofChinesevocabulary,theyalsohavemanydifferences.WhenourChinesestudentsbegintolearnEnglishvocabulary,theyaredefinitelyinfluencedbythesystemofChinesevocabularythattheycanalwaysdependontoexpressthemselvesfreely.OnthebasisofconceptualsystemofChinese,theylearnnewlanguagesymbols.However,thereisagreatdistinctionbetweenconceptualsystemofEnglishandthatofChinese.Owingtothelimitationsoflearningenvironmentandthedifferencesinaimandlevelofachievement,whenmiddleschoolstudentsdon’tknowhowtotackletheproblemsonEnglishoralandwrittenexpressions,theywillnaturallyturntotheirmothertongue.Underthesecircumstances,usingtheknowledgeofChinesevocabularyinthecommunicationtoexpresstheirideasmightbringaboutthenegativetransferofChineseinEnglishvocabularystudy.

Itusuallyfallsintothefollowingthreetypes:

A.Thenegativetransfercausedbythenon-equivalentconceptualmeaningofvocabulary

Theconceptualmeaningreferstothebasemeaningoftheword（HuWenzhong,1985:

95）.Thecloserthemeaningistothebasemeaningoftheword,themorelikelyitistobetransferred.BothChineseandEnglishvocabularyhasmanynon-equivalentconceptualmeanings.However,mostofthestudentscannotdistinguishwhichwordstheyhavelearntinEnglishhavenon-equivalentconceptualmeanings,sotheyarepronetomakeerrors.Forexample,

“ItwasquitewarmwhenIgothere,buttheclimatesuddenlyturnedcoldovernight.”

Here“climate”referstotheaverageweatherconditionsataparticularplaceoveraperiodofyears,butinthissentence,thechangefrom“warm”to“cold”meanstheparticularconditionatacertaintime,so“weather”isthecorrectchoice.Tosomestudents,thesetwowordshavethesamemeaning.It’shardforthemtotellthedifferencesothattheyusuallytakeitforgrantedthatthesetwowordscouldbeusedindiscriminately.

Let’slookatanotherexample:

“HealsostudiesFrenchexceptEnglish.

“Except”means“butnot,leavingout”.Here“exceptEnglish”meansEnglishisnotthesubjectheislearning,butwhenwelookatthesecondword“also”,it’sobviousthattheword“except”isnotcorrect.Therightansweris“besides”whichmeans“aswellas”.Studentseasilymixuptheconceptualmeaningsofthesetwowords.Theycan’tperceivethedistinctionbetweenthemsothattheymightmakesucherrors.

B.Thenegativetransfercausedbythenon-equivalentconnotativemeaningofvocabulary

Connotativemeaningreferstothemeaningsuggestedbyawordinadditiontotheformalmeaningornatureoftheword（thatistosay,themeaningexcepttheconceptualmeaningoftheword）,suchasthecommendatoryorderogatoryimplicationofaword,thetoneofaword,etc（HuWenzhong,1985:

96）.MostChinesestudentsfindithardtounderstandtheconnotativemeaningofaword,especiallywhenitrelatestothespecificculturalbackgroundandlanguagetraditions.Theyfeeltoopuzzledtograspit.Forinstance,

“Johncanbereliedon.Heeatsnofishandplaysthegame.”

Whenmoststudentsfirstlookatthesetwosentences,theymightwonderwhatistherelationbetweenthem,asitseemsthatthetwophrases“toeatnofish”and“toplaythegame”havenoconnectionwiththemeaningofthefirstsentence.ActuallyinEnglishhistory,Catholicscouldeatfishinthefastdays,butwhentheProtestantismwasestablished,theProtestantsfoughtagainsttheCatholics.Theyrefusedtoeatfishinthefastdaystoshowtheirroyaltyfortheirnewreligiousbelief.So“toeatnofish”meansroyaltyandfaithfulness.Asforthephrase“toplaythegame”,itoriginallymeans“tocontestaccordingtotherules”.Hereitrefersto“justiceandhonesty”.Thus,thesecondsentencecanbeexplainedinthisway:

“Johnisfaithful,fairandhonest.”Studentsignoretheculturalmeaningofthisphrase,sotheyjustjudgethesentencefromthesurfacemeaningofthewordssothattheymightmisunderstandit.

TherearemanysynonymsinEnglishvocabulary.Withthedevelopmentoflanguage,particularlyintheaspectofEnglishvocabulary,theconnotativemeaningsofmanysynonymshavemoreorlessbeenchanged.Somewordsareoftenusedderogatorily.SinceourChinesearenotfamiliarwiththesechanges,theyeasilyusetheimproperwordsinsomeoccasions.Forexample,somejuniorstudentsarepronetousetheword“peasant”（thesynonymof“farmer”）intheircompositions.Infact,inthepresentEnglishdictionary,“peasant”hasderogatorymeaning.Itreferstoapersonwithouteducationormanners（nowusedespeciallyinsomedevelopingcountries）.Ifsomeoneusesthiswordinthecommunication,itmaybemeansahumiliationorcontempt.Therefore,nowwesternersprefertheword“farmer”to“peasant”.

Fromthepointofviewofphysics,thecolorwordsofChineseandEnglishshouldnotmakemuchdifference,butwhentheyareusedintheirrespectiveculturalenvironments,theconnotativemeaningsofthesewordswillbedifferent.Forinstance,inthewesterncountries,“white”meanspureandsacred,soabride’sweddingdressisalwayswhite,whileinChina,“white”isthecolorofthemourningapparel,sothebridewouldwearredweddingdressinherweddingdayratherthanawhitedress.Chinesepeoplebelievethatwhitecolorwillbringthembadluck,evendisaster.Thedifferencesofcolorwordsintwocultureswilldefinitelyresultinthemisunderstandings.TomostofChinesestudents,itisreallydifficultforthemtotacklethisprobleminEnglishvocabularystudy.

Besides,inChineseandEnglish,someconnotativemeaningsofwordsofanimalsarenon-equivalent.Taketheword“dragon”forexample,itisthegoodsymboloftheChinesenationwhichstandsforthegoodomenandprosperity,butinEnglishcultureitsymbolizesthefierceandevilforce.InBible,theDevilSatanwhowasagainsttheGodiscalled“thegreatdragon”,andthosesaintswhokilledthedragons（suchasSt.George）aretreatedasheroes.InmodernEnglish,“dragon”usuallyreferstoabrutal,harshandsavageperson.Therefore,inordertodistinguishbetweenChineseword“Long”andEnglishword“dragon”,Chineseword“Long”istranslatedinto“Chinesedragon”.Moreover,Korea,Taiwan,HongKongandSingaporethesefourcountriesofsoutheasternAsiaareoftencalled“fourtigers”insteadof“fourdragons”.Thus,it’snowondersomeChinesestudentswouldmisunderstandthisphenomenon.ThereasonstillliesintheculturaldifferenceinChineseandEnglishvocabulary.

C.Thenegativetransfercausedbythenon-equivalentgrammaticalmeaningofvocabulary.

ChineseandEnglishbelongtodifferentlanguagefamilies,sothegrammaticalmeaningoftheirvocabularyisdifferent.Chinesestudentsareusedtomechanicallyapplyingthegrammaticalrules