第二外语学习与英语学习及汉语的互相影响——以德语作为第二外语为例.docx
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第二外语学习与英语学习及汉语的互相影响——以德语作为第二外语为例摘要:
第二外语学习研究是一个相对较新的年轻领域。
与此同时,却有越来
越多的人参与到第二外语学习中来。
目前,并没有关于第二外语学习的完整系统的理论体系,相关研究也相对较少。
本论文主要以二语习得现有的语言迁移和中介语为理论基础,以词源学、词汇学基本知识为辅佐,探讨了第二外语学习中词汇与语际距离之间的关系。
首先,问卷设计调查了英语为外语的学习者对第二外语学习的感受。
其次,对英语、中文和德语(第二外语)进行了词汇水平上的对比分析。
最后,从这些探究中得出结论,发现第二外语(德语)学习的效率和英语与德语之间语际距离的负相关性。
关键词:
第二外语学习;语言迁移;中介语;语际距离
TheInteractionamongSecondForeignLanguageLearning,EnglishandFirstLanguage---TakeGermanasaSecondForeignLanguageasanExample
Abstract:
Studyonsecondforeignlanguagelearningisarelativelynewfield.Atthesametime,moreandmorepeoplestarttolearnasecondforeignlanguage.Atpresent,thereisnocompleteandsystematictheoryinthisfield.Andfewstudieshavebeenmaderelatingtoit.BasedonthetheoriesoflanguagetransferandinterlanguageintheSecondLanguageAcquisition(SLA)andsomebasicknowledgeofetymologyandlexicology,thispaperstudiestherelationshipbetweenvocabularyandlanguagedistanceinthesecondforeignlanguagelearning.QuestionnairesaredesignedfirsttoknowfromEFLlearnerswhattheirexperiencesareandthencontrastiveanalysisonwordlevelaremadeamongEnglish,ChineseandGerman(asasecondforeignlanguage).Finally,aconclusionhasbeendrawnfromfindingsthattheeffectivenessoflearningsecondforeignlanguage(German)hasanegativecorrelationwiththelanguagedistancebetweenEnglishandGerman.
Keywords:
secondforeignlanguagelearning;languagetransfer;interlanguage;
interlanguagedistance
TheInteractionamongSecondForeignLanguageLearning,EnglishandFirstLanguage---TakeGermanasaSecondForeignLanguageasanExample
1.Introduction
Withtherapiddevelopmentofglobalization,moreandmoreChinesepeopleare
realizingtheimportanceoflearningasecondforeignlanguagebesidesEnglish.AsthebiggesteconomicentityinEuropeandanimportantpoliticalmemberininternationalsociety,GermanyhasbuiltmoretradeconnectionswithfastdevelopingChina.Therefore,moreandmoreChinesearestudyingGerman.However,fewlinguisticstudiestargetongroupofpeoplewhohavefullyacquiredtheirfirstlanguage(Chinese),havecertainlevelofEnglish,andaregoingtolearnasecondforeignlanguage(German).ThosegroupsofpeoplehavedifferentEnglishlanguageproficiencies.Therefore,ifwecanmakesomeresearchontheinteractionamongthesecondforeignlanguage,English,andone’sfirstlanguage,wewillhavesomenewideasandfindingsinthesecondlanguageacquisition,boththeoreticallyandpractically.Moreover,withthefindings,wecanprovidelanguagelearnerswithmoreefficientstudystrategies.
Comparedwiththegrowingdemandforthesecondforeignlanguagestudy,the
supplyoftheforeignlanguageeducationinChinaisvariousinqualities.NotonlyuniversitiesprovideforeignlanguageclassesfortheirEnglishmajorsandotherlanguagemajorsasthesecondforeignlanguage,someprivateeducationsystemsalsogivesuchkindofcourses.Althoughthefadoflearningasecondforeignlanguageandestablishingeducationinstitutionscancontributetothenurturingoflanguagetalents,thesystemofstudyandevaluationandthesupervisionofeducationqualityarestillnotestablishedyet.So,thestudyontheinteractionamongthesecondforeignlanguage,English,andourfirstlanguage,willprovideatheoreticalbaseonthethirdlanguagelearning.Andinturn,theoriesofthirdlanguagelearning,ortheoriesofthesecondforeignlanguage,willbroadenthescaleoflanguageacquisitionandgiveanextensiontothesecondlanguageacquisition.
Inaddition,thestudyofasecondforeignlanguageiscompulsoryforEnglishmajors.IthasbecomeaproblemforEnglishmajorsonhowtochooseapropersecondforeignlanguageandhowtolearnthesecondforeignlanguageefficientlywithoutinterveningEnglish.Therefore,forthosespecialgroupsofEnglishmajorswhoarealreadygoodusersofEnglish,thestudyofthethirdlanguageacquisitionwilltellthemwhatinfluencewillbewhenlearningathirdlanguage.Inthisway,wecanoffer
thoseEnglishmajorsbettersuggestionsandlearningstrategies.
Inthepresentstudy,firstly,previoustheoriesandhypothesiswillbegivengenerallythroughliteraturereview.Thispartshowswhatearlyscholarshavedone,whatquestionsstillremainedunsolved,andwhatthemostcontroversialproblemis.
Thosetheoriesandhypothesishavebeenclassifiedaccordingtotheirnatureandfocus.Theywillbedividedintotwomainparts:
theoriesthatsupportinnatelearningdeviceandtheoriesthatsupportacquiredlearningmodel.
Secondly,thispaperwilldemonstratethedetailedresearchmethodsthatIhaveusedinthispaper.Theyarequestionnairesandwordscontrast. Inthispart,therawquestionnairewillbeshowed,andtheprocessofhowtochoosetheresponders,howtodesignthequestionsandhowtoanalyzethedatawillalsobedemonstrated.ThewordcontrastpartwilldiscusswherethemodernEnglishwordsandmodernGermanwordscomefromandinwhatwaythesewordsareclassified.
Thelastpartisthemostimportantone.Itwilldemonstratealltheanalysisresultsofthequestionnairesandgiveadetailedwordcontrastwithspecificwords(mainlyEnglishwordsandGermanwords).Accordingtotheresultsofanalysisandwordscontrast,theauthorwillgiveherownhypothesisonthefieldofthirdlanguageacquisitionandlanguagedistance.
2.LiteratureReview
Secondforeignlanguagelearningstudyisarelativelynewfieldofresearch.Throughtheoverviewofthefieldofsecondlanguageacquisition,includingbasicdefinitionsandbasictheories,manybooksandpapersonthisfieldprovideuswithnewideas,newtheoriesandnewresearchmethods.
Accordingtothemainresearchesaroundtheworldinthefieldofsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA),wecanknowthemostpopulartheoriesandthemostconductedresearchmethods.Herecomethemaintheories,mainresearchmethodsandthelatestassumptionsinthisfield.
2.1TheoriesthatSupportingInnateLearningDevice
Linguistsaredividedintotwopartswhenitcomestothequestionthatwhetherthelanguagelearningabilityisbornwithusorisakindofhabitdevelopment.
Followingprevioustheoriessupportthebeliefofinnatedevice.Thatis:
youngchildrenandadultsareequippedwiththeabilitytolearnhumanlanguagefromthetimewhentheywereborn.Itislikeaphysicaldevicethatisimplantedinhumanbrains.Withoutthatcertaindevice,peoplecanneverlearnalanguagenomatterhowhardhe/shetries.
2.1.1UniversalGrammar
UniversalGrammar(UG)firstputforwardbyChomskyandsomeotherlinguistsinearly1980s.Theythinkuniversalgrammarisakindofspeciallanguagesystemthatexistsinallhumanbrains.WikipediadefinesUGas:
Universalgrammar(UG)isatheoryinlinguistics,usuallycreditedtoNoamChomsky,proposingthattheabilitytolearngrammarishard-wiredintothebrain.Itissometimesknownas'mentalgrammar',andasopposedtoother'grammars',e.g.prescriptive,descriptiveandpedagogical.Thetheorysuggeststhatlinguisticabilitymanifestsitselfwithoutbeingtaught,andthattherearepropertiesthatallnaturalhumanlanguagesshare.Itisamatterofobservationandexperimentationtodeterminepreciselywhatabilitiesareinnateandwhatpropertiesaresharedbyalllanguages(Wikipedia:
UniversalGrammar)
Universalgrammarthinksthereissomethingincommonamongallthehumanlanguagesaroundthewholeworld.Forexample,mostlanguagesdivide wordsintonouns,verbsandsoon.UniversalgrammarisrelatedtotheLanguageAcquisitionDevice(LAD)ofChomsky.LADthinksthatthereisaspecialbiologicalsysteminhumanheadsthatenablesustolearnhumanlanguage.Andtheprerequisiteofthisdeviceisthattheremustbeasetofcertainfeaturesinallhumanlanguagesthatonlykidscanlearn.Andthatsetoffeatureisuniversalgrammar.
2.1.2LanguageTransfer
Thisconceptisfirstestablishedin1950s,andexperiencedwindingdevelopmentoverthepastseveraldecades.AndthemostaccepteddefinitionoflanguagetransferisfromTerenceOdlin(LanguageTransfer,1989).Itisanassumptionthattheinfluencefromlanguagelearners’mothertongueandanyotherlanguages(fullyacquiredorhalfacquired)willplayapartintheprocessofacquiringtargetlanguages.Andthis
influenceiscausedbythesimilaritiesordifferencesamongotherlanguagesandtargetlanguages.
Languagetransferisaveryimportanttheoryinthestudyofsecondlanguageacquisition.Thistheorythinksthatone’smothertonguewillhaveaninfluenceonthelearningoftargetlanguage.Iftheinfluenceispositive,thenwecallitpositivetransfer.Iftheinfluenceisnegative,wecallitnegativetransfer.Andlanguagetransferisnotonlyaresult,butalsoaprocess.Whenwearegoingtodecidewhetherthetransfer
willbepositiveornegative,wehavetolookatthedistancebetweenone’smothertongueandtargetlanguage.Thisdistanceincludesinterlanguagedistanceandpsychologicaldistance.Interlanguagedistancemainlyreferstoclosenessoflanguageslikesyntaxandlexicon.However,psychologicaldistanceisalwaysrelatedtoculture.
2.1.3InterlanguageandLanguageLearnerLanguage
ThistheoryisfirstbroughtupbyL.Selinker(1969).AccordingtoSelinker’sdefinition,interlanguagereferstotheseparatenessofasecondlanguagelearnersystem,asystem,thathasstructurallyintermediatestatusbetweenthenativeandtargetlanguages.
Thistheorythinksthatthelanguagealearneracquiresisdifferentfromboththeirmothertongueandthetargetlanguage.Interlanguageistheintermediatelanguagethatalearneruseintheprocessoflearningthetargetlanguage.Interlanguageisnotfixe