Language Transfer And English Writing Teaching In High School

Language transfer has long been a key issue in second language acquisition research. The topic of the first language influencing on the second language is mostly focused on by language teaching researchers. Recently people attach greater importance to English writing; however, the result of English writing exam is far from satisfactory. This paper starts with making a brief introduction of the significance of English writing and the reasons for the low quality of students' English compositions in China. Then it reviews the stages that transfer theory has experienced, the different interpretations of language transfer, as well as the definition of language transfer. Through the analysis of frequent mistakes in students' writing, the author has found that language transfer occurs at all levels: from lexis to syntax, from sentence to thinking mode to discourse. Then she argues that special instructions are needed in order to facilitate positive transfer and reduce negative transfer. Finally, the author works out some pedagogical implications for the EFL learning and teaching in China.