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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Studies on language transfer

2.1.1 Definition of language transfer

Robert Lado (1957) is the first one to propose the concept of language transfer.He believes that since the languages exist the differences in aspect of the form,meaning and grammatical structures, language learners will learn the target languagewith their native language structure. If the target language is similar to the mothertongue, it’s easy for language learners to acquire the new language. Otherwise, it willbe difficult for learners to acquire and learn because of different language structures.

Vygotsky (1962) points out that the researches on the cross-language transferproves that the knowledge and skills of the mother tongue can transfer to secondlanguage learning.

There are many different definitions about language transfer. Gass and Selinker(1983) present at least 17 definitions about language transfer. It suggests thatresearches on this issue are not mature enough and researchers haven’t reach aconsensus of the definition.

The definition put forward by Odlin is acknowledged as the mostauthoritative definition. Odlin (1989) holds that language transfer is “the influenceresulting from similarities or differences between the target language and any otherlanguage that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly) acquired”.

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2.2 Studies on error analysis theory

Error analysis refers to the analysis and research of some mistakes often made bylearners in learning new languages, analyzing the causes and types of errors, andfinding the corresponding rules, so as to make the second language teaching moretargeted.The founder of error analysis is Corder, whose paper 'The Significance of TheLearner's Errors' has generated a sensation in The field of second languageacquisition (Corder 1967). In the 1980s, Corder (1981) proposes that errors andmistakes are the main types of language errors. Compared with irregular mistakes,errors are regular and can reflect from the side that learners do not really master thenew language.

In his book, James (2001;1) defines that “Error Analysis is the process ofdetermining the incidence nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessfullanguage.” Corder (1974) suggests five steps in error analysis research. Step 1, collecta sample of learner language. Step 2, identify the errors. Step 3, describe the errors.Step 4, explain the errors. Step 5, evaluate the errors.

Richards (1974) distinguished between intralingual and interlingual errors.Intralingual error is an error which results from faulty or partial learning of the targetlanguage. It may be caused by the influence of one target item upon another. However,interlingual error is an error which results from language transfer, which is caused bythe learners’ native language. It mainly results from cross-linguistic interference atdifferent levels such as phonological, lexical, grammatical or discoursal, etc.

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CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................20

3.1 Research questions........................20