汉语写作能力与英语写作质量的相关性研究
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ii
ABSTRACT
Language transfer has been a central issue in second language acquisition. First language
influence in L2 writing, which is an important issue of second language learning, has
always been controversial. With the deeper research on L1 language influence, the role of
L1 in L2 writing has been viewed differently. Inspired by the theory of Common
Underlying Proficiency (CUP) in bilingual research, the writer of this thesis conducts an
empirical study on the correlation between Chinese writing proficiency and English writing
quality. Previous researches have indicated that L1 writing ability has a positive effect on
L2 writing in the aspects of L2 quality, writing strategies, and writing process. This further
proves that L1 writing ability is an important factor in L2 writing. However, there is little
research on the correlation between Chinese writing proficiency and English writing
quality at home and abroad.
The corpus of this study is from 163 argumentative essays written by senior English
majors from two universities. Three issues are addressed in this empirical investigation to
examine whether the native language writing ability is a facilitator or an obstacle to the
target language:
1. Whether English writing quality is influenced by Chinese writing ability.
2. Whether the discourse pattern of English writing is influenced by Chinese writing
ability, and how it is affected.
3. Whether the use of cohesive devices in English writing is influenced by Chinese
writing ability, and how it is affected.
After being scored on the basis of the Chinese test’s scoring rubric of college entrance
examination, the highest 22 subjects and the lowest 22 ones are picked out as Group One
and Group Two so as to investigate their English writing ability. The quality of English
writings are examined with respect to several parameters, including total scores based on
the scoring rubric in English teaching syllabus for higher grade college English majors, the
Toulmin model, the length, and T-unit length. The placement of thesis statement and topic
sentences is examined to find out the influence of Chinese writing ability on discourse
pattern. And the investigation on cohesive devices is based on the theory of Halliday and
Hasan. Then SPSS 11.5 software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 11.5) is used
to test the influence of Chinese writing ability on English writing quality and the use of
cohesive devices. The study shows there is a significant correlation between English
writing quality and Chinese writing ability. Moreover a higher significant correlation exists
between persuasive force of the English writings in the Toulmin model and Chinese writing
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ability. These analyses indicate the writing ability at cognitive level can be transferred
across languages. Besides, Chinese writing ability can help students generate more and
much deeper ideas in English writing. The test on discourse pattern shows that Chinese
writing ability has a positive effect on discourse pattern of English writing. Subjects in
Group One placed more topic sentences in the initial position of a paragraph than those in
Group Two. And all the essays have the thesis statement in Group One and all the thesis
statements are placed in the introduction of an essay. The analyses show Chinese writing
ability has a positive transfer on discourse pattern by writing English essays in a more
acceptable way through enhancing subjects’ awareness on composition skills. Meanwhile,
there are more temporal conjunction and lexical collocation used in English writings of
Group One. Higher Chinese writing ability can help subjects write in a more logic way and
with more diversified words when they get a certain high English literacy.
The hypothesis of this study is proved right. There is a correlation between Chinese
writing ability and English writing quality in the cognitive level, proved by the result
shown in the Toulmin model, discourse pattern, and the use of temporal conjunction and
lexical collocation. Higher Chinese writing ability can help subjects write in a more logic,
persuasive, and acceptable way with much diversified words. In a word, to enhance
Chinese writing ability can help improve the quality of English writings. This reminds us
that even higher grade English majors with a certain high English literacy can benefit from
their Chinese writing ability to improve their English writings’ quality.
Key Words: Chinese writing proficiency, English writing quality,
language transfer, discourse pattern, cohesive devices
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摘 要
母语对二语学习的影响一直是二语习得研究的一个热点问题。作为二语习得的重
要部分，在二语写作研究中，母语的作用一直是个争论不休的问题。随着母语迁移理
论的发展，各派从各自的角度出发，得出了不同的结论。本论文回顾了语言迁移的相
关理论，并在 Cummins 提出的语言深层共享理论的启发下，探讨中国英语学习者汉
语写作能力与英语写作能力的关系。以往的研究表明，母语写作能力对二语写作能力
有正面迁移作用，在写作质量、写作策略、写作过程方面均有正面影响。这使我们有
理由相信，母语写作能力是影响二语写作的一个重要因素。但具体有关汉语写作水平
对英语写作质量影响的研究较少，而且先前的研究也不够具体完善。
因此，本论文将开展一次对 163 名英语专业三年级学生英语议论文文本的实证研
究。文中拟从三个方面考察汉语写作水平与英语写作质量的关系：
（1）汉语写作能力与英语写作能力是否存在一定的相关性并对英语的写作质量产
生怎样的影响；
（2）汉语写作能力对英语作文中语篇修辞模式的影响，并如何体现；
（3）汉语写作能力对英语作文中语篇衔接的影响，并如何体现。
本文借鉴前人的研究方法，对汉语写作能力高低两组各 22 名学生，用《高等学
校英语专业高年级英语教学大纲》中写作测试评分标准，图尔敏的非形式推理分析模
式，文章的长度，Hunt 的最小终结单位理论共同分析英语议论文写作的质量。然后采
用Kaplan 的语篇分析模式和 Halliday & Hasan 的衔接理论分别对英语作文的语篇修辞
模式和语篇衔接手段的使用进行量化研究。并运用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS 11.5）
对汉语写作能力与英语写作质量、语篇衔接手段使用的相关性，以及衔接手段的分布
情况进行对比分析。研究结果表明，汉语写作能力与英语写作能力存在正相关，汉语
写作能力高的学生，其英语作文的篇幅越长，文章的说服力更强，并且作文质量更高。
在对英语作文语篇的调查中发现，汉语写作能力高的学生虽然有受到中国文化和修辞
模式的影响但在英语作文中更倾向于演绎式的英语论说文传统修辞模式，并且在英语
作文中使用了更多的时间连接词和词汇搭配。该结果证实了在母语和二语之间存在语
言深层共享，提高母语写作能力可以有效地改善二语写作的质量。
通过提高汉语的写作能力可以帮助学生提高英语作文的内在逻辑性、说服力和语
篇意识。同时调查还显示，高年级英语专业的学生在已具有一定英语水平的基础上，
提高汉语写作能力可以提高他们英语作文的词汇丰富性，从而提高英语作文的质量。
该调查说明，已具有一定英语水平的高年级英语专业学生仍然可以受益于汉语写作能
力的提高以改善英语写作的质量。这给教学带来的启示是，在通过提高英语水平来提
高英语写作质量的同时，提高汉语写作能力也可以是一种有益的帮助。
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关键词： 汉语写作水平 英语写作质量 语言迁移 修辞模式 衔接手段
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………...ⅰ
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………ⅱ
摘要…………………………………………………………………………………..ⅳ
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES………………………………………………..ⅷ
Chapter One Introduction…………………...............................................................1
§1.1 Background of the Research…………………………………………………..1
§1.2 Overview of the Thesis………………………………………………………...3
Chapter Two Literature Review…………………………………………………….5
§2.1 Terminology of Language Transfer……………………………………………5
§2.1.1 Definition of Language Transfer……………………………………….5
§2.1.2 Types of Language Transfer……………………………………………7
§2.2 Three Roles of Language Transfer…………………………………………10
§2.2.1 Negative Transfer and Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis……………..10
§2.2.2 Neutral Transfer and CC Hypothesis…………………………………12
§2.2.3 Positive Transfer and CUP Hypothesis……………………………….15
§2.3 Previous Researches Concerning the Influence of L1 on L2 Writing and
Limitations…………………………………………………………………………18
Chapter Three A Quantitative Study of Correlation between Chinese Writing
Proficiency and English Writing Quality…………………………………….… 21
§3.1 Research Design……………………………………………………….…… 21
§3.1.1 Purpose of the Research………………………………………………21
§3.1.2 Subjects……………………………………………………………….21
§3.1.3 Writing Tasks………………………………………………………….22
§3.2 Methodology…………………………………………………………………22
§3.2.1 T-unit………………………………………………………………….23
§3.2.2 The Toulmin Model...…………………………………………………23
§3.2.3 Thesis Statement and Topic Sentence…………………………………27
§3.2.4 Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesive Devices……………………………...29
§3.3 Procedures……………………………………………………………………34
§3.3.1 Data Collection………………………………………………………..34
§3.3.2 Sorting…………………………………………………………….…..35
§3.3.3 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………35
§3.3.4 Sample Analysis………………………………………………………37
Chapter Four Findings and Discussions…………………………………………..41
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§4.1 Findings………………………………………………………………………41
§4.1.1 Regarding the Whole Quality of Essays………………………………41
§4.1.2 Regarding the Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences………………..44
§4.1.3 Regarding the Cohesive Devices……………………………………..46
§4.2 Discussions…………………………………………………………………..55
§4.2.1 Correlation from the Perspective of Whole Quality………..…………55
§4.2.2 Correlation from the Perspective of Discourse Pattern……………….57
§4.2.3 Correlation from the Perspective of Cohesive Devices……………….59
Chapter Five Conclusion…………………………………………………………...62
§5.1 Summary……………………………………………………………………..62
§5.2 Implications…………………………………………………………………..64
§5.3 Limitations……………………………………………………………………66
AppendixⅠ….…………………...………………………………………………….68
AppendixⅡ..........................................................................................................…...69
AppendixⅢ..........................................................................................................…...70
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………71
Publication…………………………………………………………………………..77
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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
TABLE
Table 4.1 The interrater reliability……………………………………………………41
Table 4.2 The correlation between Chinese and English writing quality…………….41
Table 4.3 Comparison in length and T-unit length…………………………………..42
Table 4.4 Independent Samples T-test of the differences between the two groups in
length and T-unit length………………………………………………………………42
Table 4.5 The correlation among length, T-unit length, English and Chinese writing
scores…………………………………………………………………………………43
Table 4.6 Comparative presence and placement of thesis statement in Group One and
Group Two……………………………………………………………………………44
Table 4.7 Comparative presence and placement of topic sentences in Group One and
Group Two……...………………………...…………………………………………..45
Table 4.8 Number and percentage of cohesive devices used by the subjects………..46
Table 4.9 Frequency of each class of cohesive ties by Hoey………………………..47
Table 4.10 Independent Samples T-test of the differences between the two groups in
using cohesive devices……………………………………………………………….47
Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics: reference…………………………………………..49
Table 4.12 Independent Samples T-test of the difference between the two groups in
using reference………………………………………………………………...……..49
Table 4.13 Descriptive statistics: conjunction………………………………………..50
Table 4.14 Independent Samples T-test of the differences between the two groups in
using conjunction…………………………………………………………...………..51
Table 4.15 Descriptive statistics: lexical cohesion…………………………………..52
Table 4.16 Independent Samples T-test of the differences between the two groups in
using lexical cohesion………………………………………………………………..53
Table 4.17 The correlation between the use frequency of cohesive devices and English
writing quality………………………………………………………………………..54
Table 4.18 The correlation between the use frequency of two sub-categories of cohesive
d ev ic e s a n d E ng l i s h wr i t i n g q u a l i ty … …… … … …… … … … … … … … … . .5 5
FIGURE
Figure 3.1 The core of the Toulmin model…………………………………………..24
Figure 3.2 The complete Toulmin model…………………………………………….25
Figure 3.3 An example of the Toulmin model………………………………………..26
Figure 3.4 Criteria for judging the judging the quality of claim, data, and warrant….36
Figure 3.5 Composition 19…………………………………………………………...38
Figure 3.6 Toulmin analysis of composition 19……………………………………...39
Figure 3.7 Cohesive devices analysis of composition 19…………………………….40
Chapter One Introduction
1
Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Background of the Research
Among the four skills in language learning, writing is usually considered to be the
last acquired skill because it is the most difficult one. Even some English major
students can not write a complete and appropriate English article after learning English
for a long time. However, it is very important for foreign language learners to develop
their abilities to write. Writing is not only a helpful method to master a foreign
language through reinforcing the grammatical structures, phrases, vocabulary, etc, that
we have learned, but also an important and useful communicative ability in the future,
such as to write a resume in English, or to have an interview in a foreign enterprise, etc.
But the fact is that the present situation of Chinese EFL (English as foreign language)
learners’ writing proficiency does not seem to meet the need on English writing ability.
It still appears to be students’ weakest point in English learning. For a long time,
researchers at home and abroad have been working hard to solve problems in ESL
(English as second language) writing from different perspectives, such as L1 use in the
L2 writing process, features of L2 texts, factors in L2 writing competence development,
teaching and testing of L2 writing, etc. Among all these researches, first language as an
important factor in L2 writing learning has always been controversial. Different views
on L1 role would influence teaching and learning methods in second language writing,
maybe even the official education policy. With the deeper research on L1 language
influence, the role of L1 in SLA (second language acquisition) and ESL writing has
been viewed differently.
Language transfer has been a central issue in applied linguistics, second language
acquisition, and language teaching for at least a century (Odlin, 2001). During the last
few decades, the study in language transfer had undergone a complicated process with
its prime from fifties and the early sixties in the twentieth century, and the decline
during seventies and regaining of its prominence in the late eighties (Yu, 2004).
Language transfer has been viewed differently during this course. There are three main
types of theories concerning the role of L1 in L2 language learning. The first type
holds that L1 has more negative than positive effect on L2 learning. The most
representative theory of the first type is Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH), which
proposes that L1 transfer causes difficulties to L2 learning. This hypothesis is based on
the behaviorist
A Study of Correlation between Chinese Writing Proficiency and English Writing Quality
2
framework which indicates that old habits get in the way of learning new habits. The
behaviorists hold that language acquisition is a product of habit formation. And the
process of language learning is a process of overcoming the habits of the native
language in order to acquire the new habits of the target language. Thus the more
different L1 is from L2, the more difficult L2 is to be learned. With the development of
psycholinguistics and the emergence of Chomsky’s LAD (language acquisition device),
a new type of theory claims that L2 learning process has its own order and sequence
and is not influenced by L1 at all. The representative theory is Creative Construction
(CC) which emphasizes that L2 learners universally employ the innate mechanism and
L2 learning is not influenced by L1 transfer. Therefore, in the process of language
learning, the important thing is to give learners enough exposure of the target language.
Then the innate mechanism of human beings will help learners acquire L2 gradually.
With the involvement of cognitivism in language transfer, the third type of theory
argues that L1 facilitates L2 learning. The representative theory is the Hypothesis of
Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP), which favors that an underlying ability
common to all languages exists. L1 facilitates rather than impedes L2 learning.
According to different views on language transfer in SLA, the role of L1 in ESL
writing has been treated differently. And it mainly focuses on whether the effect is
negative or positive. Under the CA Hypothesis, many errors appearing in English
learners’ writings are treated as the products of negative L1 transfer in linguistic
aspects, such as lexicon, syntax, discourse, etc (e.g. Ellis, 1985; Liu & Wang, 2003). In
order to avoid these errors, teachers are more inclined to show good articles written by
native speakers and analyze them in rhetoric, grammar, writing patterns, etc. Then
students will be asked to imitate these to form a new habit in L2. Through empirical
investigations, Kaplan (1966) pointed out that there are differences in writing patterns
among different languages because of different thinking patterns and this will influence
the understanding between different language speakers. Therefore, in the process of
teaching or learning L2 writing, the effect of L1 is needed to be reduced as much as
possible. In the prime time of the CA Hypothesis in some countries, especially in
Northern America, teachers took the immersion approach to teach non-native English
speaking children. During the class or school, children were not allowed to speak or
even think in native languages. But under this education policy, the achievement of
children at school was bad. This phenomenon inspired Cummins (1980) to introduce
摘要：
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iiABSTRACTLanguagetransferhasbeenacentralissueinsecondlanguageacquisition.FirstlanguageinfluenceinL2writing,whichisanimportantissueofsecondlanguagelearning,hasalwaysbeencontroversial.WiththedeeperresearchonL1languageinfluence,theroleofL1inL2writinghasbeenvieweddifferently.InspiredbythetheoryofCommon...
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作者：牛悦
分类：高等教育资料
价格：15积分
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时间：2024-11-19
