Negative Language Transfer in Chinese Learner’s English Learning

Abstract

In China, learning English has grown in popularity as a second language, and it now plays a significant role in the country’s language education. In such a context, a noteworthy phenomenon exists that many Chinese English learners are easily influenced by their native language, which causes them to always make mistakes when they output English. This is a popular area for second language acquisition research. Based on the theories of negative language transfer and error analysis, this paper focuses on the effects of negative language transfer on Chinese second language learners. By summarising existing research and literature theories and analyzing specific examples, this paper attempts to summarise the various outcomes of negative language transfer on Chinese L2 learners and the reasons for it. This paper focuses on the review of domestic research, especially on the errors caused by negative language transfer, and tries to make suggestions for Chinese learners to avoid negative transfer when learning English.