摘 要

本文主要研究英法双语学习过程中两种外语相互影响的语言迁移现象，启发对当今热门的双语甚至多语培养模式的思考。虽然国内外已有针对二语习得的研究，但三语习得领域的研究成果和实验数据仍然较为稀缺，实验方法也以对比分析法居多。本文的创新之处在于将采用访谈法收集武汉理工大学2014级、2015级英法班的数据进行案例分析，再通过假设论证：正迁移和负迁移可以同时存在，他们不仅会对双语学习效果产生促进作用和抑制作用，还呈现出特定的时间规律性。这种规律性恰是前期研究所忽视的因素，若能有效认识到语言迁移的规律性，并以此优化专业培养计划，将有助于英法班的发展，提高第二外语教学效果，为多语学习开创新的视角。

关键词：英法双语学习；语言迁移；访谈法；英法班

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to study the language transfer of two languages’ mutual influence in the process of English-French bilingual learning, to stimulate the thinking of the popular bilingual or even multilingual teaching model. Although there are already relevant studies of two language acquisition at home and abroad, the research results and experimental data in the field of three language acquisition are still scarce, and the experimental methods used are mostly comparative analysis. My research is original in that it has adopted focus-group interview and hypothetical analysis, taking grade 2014 and 2015 English-French Classes of Wuhan University of Technology as an object for in-depth interviews and case studies, and using hypothetical analysis to prove that positive and negative transfer can co-exist at the same time, such effects not only promote or inhibit the effect of bilingual learning, but also present a specific time regularity which is neglected by previous research. If we can effectively recognize the regularity of language transfer and optimize the major cultivation plan, it will assist the development of English-French Classes, improve the effectiveness of second foreign language teaching and open up a new perspective for multilingual learning.

Key Words: English-French bilingual learning; language transfer; focus-group interview; English-French Classes

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Innovation 2

1.3 Research Objectives and Significance 3

2 Theoretical Framework and Research Methodology 4

2.1 Theoretical Basis 4

2.2 Interview Design 5

2.3 The Main Process of the Interview 6

3 Data Analysis 10

3.1 Influence by Cognate Words 10

3.2 Influenced by Language Learning Tendency 11

4 Conclusion 16

4.1 Research Findings and the Main Argument 16

4.2 Limitations and Outlook 17

References 18

Acknowledgements 19

A Study on the Language Transfer of the Mutual Influence in English-French Bilingual Learning

1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background

From a historical perspective, language transfer studies can be traced back centuries. In the course of its rise and fall, with the development of the theories in the field of second language acquisition, the research on language transfer has been through three stages: the first stage is the boom period from 1950s to 1960s, with studies dominating the comparative analysis of hypotheses in the framework of structuralism linguistics and behaviorism, playing an important role in theories of second language acquisition; the second stage is its decline between the late 1960s and 1970s, influenced by Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar and the theory of interlanguage, the behaviorist’s view of language was criticized so heavily that the theory of contrastive analysis as well as language transfer was abandoned, and the role of language transfer in second language acquisition was devalued or even denied; the third phase began in the early 1980s and continued to the moment now. At this stage, with the formation and development of the two opposing camps, the Cognitive School and the Sociological School, the study of language transfer has been extensively expanded, from the initial study of language itself to the study of language learners, cognitive psychology, social culture and neurophysiology. These new theories and groundbreaking perspectives have led to the resurgence of language transfer research.

There are two prevailing views on how language transfers occur: behaviorists regard second language acquisition as a process of acquiring a new set of habits, considering that similar entries in the mother tongue can be spontaneously transferred to the newly learned language. They recognize that the mother tongue plays a role in the acquisition of a second language, but overstates its role, especially its interference. The view of the Cognitive School, however, is the opposite. They are faithful defenders of the non-spontaneous mechanism of language transfer, that only when the learner’s target language is inadequate and needs to be remedied, or when they believe that the acquired language can be used to infer the characteristics of the target language, will learners transfer knowledge. There are differences between the two theories here, behaviorism theory holds that the process of language transfer is spontaneous, the theory of cognition claims that the language transfer is chosen by consciousness. Both theories all focus on the process, but this thesis focuses on the result, the effects and law of language transfer. By actively avoiding the debate about the formation mechanism of language transfer, we can focus more attention on the study of the advantages and disadvantages of the language transfer.

Odlin has also made it clear that "while there has been a lot of research on language transfer, each theory of research is different, even contradictory, and there is no comprehensive theory of the language transfer so far." (cf. Cross-Linguistic Influence, 2003) Thus, the most urgent need for the current study of language transfer is a comprehensive theory with strong data support, otherwise, it will only fall into greater chaos. For instance, in the narrow sense, language transfer refers to the influence of the mother tongue on the acquisition of a second language, including linguistic influences such as pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and semantics. Accordingly, in the past, the study of language transfer at home and abroad focused too much on the second-language acquisition aspect, in other words, the study of the effect of mother language A on the acquisition of foreign language B. This led to frequent conflicts between different schools in the research field of two language acquisition.