Effect of Mother Tongue Transfer on English Learning and
Concerning Strategies
【Abstract】In language learning，language transfer refers to the influence of mother tongue on the second language acquisition. Language transfer can be classified into positive transfer and negative transfer. Positive transfer refers to the facilitating effects of the language already obtained by individual，especially mother tongue，on the second language acquisition. Conversely，negative transfer refers to the detrimental effects of mother tongue on the second language acquisition. The exemplification of negative transfer is presented to show the factors（i.e. the differences between Chinese and English languages and the influence of the logic tendency to mother language）that produce negative transfer.
【Key words】positive transfer;negative transfer;the differences between English and Chinese;the logic thinking of mother tongue
1. Introduction
For a long time，language transfer has been the main issue discussed among linguists，psychologists and English teachers. In recent years，it is well acknowledged that language transfer works in the process of second language acquisition. Although there have been a large number of studies on language transfer，the issues about language acquisition in daily life are in suspense，and more practical studies and methods to solve these problems are needed. My paper aims to analyze negative transfer and factors of causing negative transfer in English learning.
This paper is composed of four parts：the theory of transfer，the exemplification of negative transfer in English learning，and factors of causing negative transfer in English learning.
2. The theory of transfer
2.1 The definition and classification of language transfer
Language transfer refers to the effects of mother tongue on second language acquisition，including effects such as on word etc. The effects of mother tongue also exist in aspects such as thinking mode，cultural tradition and history.
Language transfer can be divided into positive transfer and negative transfer. Positive transfer facilitates the second language acquisition when similarities are between mother tongue and the second language. Negative transfer appears the interference of language learning and the causes of language errors. So，we should
pay more attention to negative transfer.
3. The analysis of negative transfer
3.1 The exemplification of negative transfer
3.1.1 Lexical aspect of negative transfer
Firstly，negative transfer in meaning. For example，“lover” means a significant other to whom you are not related by marriage. But Chinese students regard it as “wife” or “husband”. This mistake comes from students’ misconception of “lover”，because the meanings of a word between the two languages can’t be entirely matched.
