A Brief Analysis of Positive Transfer of English to Acquisition of German

A Brief Analysis of Positive Transfer of English to Acquisition of German

By

Ji Chaofeng

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May 2016

Acknowledgements

It is not until through unrelenting endeavors of more than three months that I eventually put my finishing touch to the thesis. While a wealth of impediments held back the writing process, I managed somehow to pull through with the keen support both of my bosom friends and teachers. Special acknowledgements must go to my supervisor Mr. Lu Huaguo whose cordial guidance and rectifications as well as instrumental suggestions went a long way in the course of my writing. But for his ardent backing, this thesis wouldn’t have been made even remotely possible. Beyond that, I am also obliged to the teachers and professors of the English Department: Mr. Zheng Youqi, my head teacher, who has always been impassioned in instructing me and Zhang Jun, my advanced English teacher who proves to be competent, professional and ready to help.

I, on this account, would like to dedicate this piece to the aforementioned earnest proponents, and yet words seem to fail me when I try to extend my innermost gratefulness to them all again.

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Historical affinity of English and German 1

1.2 Periods of drifting apart 2

1.3 Literature review 2

2. About Language Transfer 3

2.1 An Overview of Language Transfer 3

2.2 Classification of Language Transfer 4

2.2.1 Negative Transfer 3

2.2.2 Positive Transfer 4

2.3 Positive Transfer under Universal Grammar(UG) 4

2.3.1 Pragmatic examples 5

2.3.2 Methods of Positive Transfer facilitation 5

2.3.3 Factors impinging on the understanding of Language Transfer 6

3. Comprehensive Analysis of Positive Transfer 6

3.1 Three Facets of Positive Transfer 6

3.1.1 Functions of Positive Transfer 6

3.1.2 Implications of Positive Transfer 7

3.1.3 Positive Transfer and acquisition of a second language 7

4. A Specific Contrast of English and German 7

4.1Alphabets and Pronunciations 8

4.2 Vocabulary 8

4.2.1 The same or similar nouns and adjectives 8

4.3 Grammatical Structure and Tense 10

4.3.1 The simple present tense 10

4.3.2 The simple past tense 11

4.3.3The present perfect tense 11

4.4 Grammatical Voice 11

4.4.1 The active voice 11

4.4.2 The passive voice 12

5. Conclusions and Suggestions 12

References 14

A Brief Analysis of Positive Transfer of English to Acquisition of German

Ji Chaofeng

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: In the context of globalization, there is a tendency that we are more exposed to the diversification of manifold cultures and languages than ever before, entailing the enhancement of our multilingual capacity. The main purpose of this study is to tentatively explore the Positive Transfer, i.e. positive implications of English for the acquisition of German as a second language. In the course of the study, we garnered the desired materials via the Internet, library, consultation from German teachers. It is indicated that a comparatively proficient grasp of English can smooth the whole process of German acquisition. In the light of these findings, there is a dearth of study in this field, and hence it is both necessary and viable to carry out the study.

Key words: English; German; Positive Transfer

摘要;在经济全球化的大背景下，我们比以往任何时候都更多地面临着文化以及语言多样性，故提升我们自身的多语言能力很有必要。本研究的主要目的在于英语对德语作为第二外语学习产生的“正迁移”，即积极作用。研究过程中，我们借助于互联网、图书馆、以及咨询德语授课教师获取所需材料。研究结果表明，相对较好地掌握英语有助于德语的掌握。鉴于以上结果以及在本研究领域缺少相应的研究，进行本研究很有必要性与可行性。

关键词：英语；德语；正迁移

1. Introduction

This part serves as a succinct introduction to the overall relations between English and German. It’s universally assumed that German is such an intimidating language that a proficient mastery of it is anything but possible. By contrast, however, English and German share the same origins, known as the West Germanic languages of Indo-European languages. Nonetheless, over a long period of separate evolutions, this two languages also bred their own distinctive vocabularies and grammatical structures. This paper intends to revolve around the Positive Transfer of English on the acquisition of German, in a bid to provide some cogent and instrumental advice and improvements for English majors in learning German as a second language.

1.1The historical affinity of English and German

Linguists have classified some 5000 languages and dialects across the globe into several ramifications, the Indo-European family being the most far-reaching and widespread one. Both English and German pertain to the West Germanic languages Indo-European family. As the most all-important of the Indo-European family, Germanic group can be divided into three language families, the East Germanic languages, the West Germanic languages and the North Germanic languages, while the West one encompasses Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, English and German. On top of that, throughout history with the burgeoning ambitions of European invaders, the Germans in particular, Britain was under incessant attack of these barbarians. In the mid of the fifth century, the Germanic tribes living in the northwestern Europe captured the British Isles, historically known as The Germanic Conquest. Following the capture, by the end of the sixth century, the indigenous Celts were on the brink of extinction, rendering the languages of the invaders, the Low West Germanic, prevalent, which later evolved into a new type of language, the Anglo-Saxon from which the modern English springs.

During the World War I , a detached analysis of data related to language shift and language loss across generations supports the view that linguistics assimilation into English has been routine(Wiley, 2013).

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