An Exploration Of Negative Transfer In The Acquisition Process Of English Morphology By Mongolian Junior High School Students

This study intends to explore negative transfer of mother tongue in English morphology learning by Mongolian junior high school students The result of the study provides some practical and specific suggestions on how to improve the quality of English teaching and learning in ethnic minority area.To achieve the research purpose, a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research was adopted by using morphology test and interview. The study was conducted in two steps. In the first step, morphology test and individual interviews were carried out to answer the first research question. In the second step, both individual and group interviews were carried out to answer the second research question. 511 students from two Mongolian schools in Inner Mongolia participated in morphology test. According to the results of test analysis, 20 students were individually interviewed and 16 students were chosen for group interviews.By analyzing the morphology tests and interviews, the author found that the phenomenon of negative transfer of mother tongue existed in most of Mongolian junior high school students' acquisition process of English morphology. The results also suggest that five factors including the differences in writing and pronunciation styles, the differences in morphological features, the influence of thinking patterns of mother tongue,the influence of language habits and the influence of direct translation could help explain the negative transfer of mother tongue on Mongolian students' English learning.Based on research findings, the author has provided some suggestions for foreign language teaching of Mongolian students. For example, teachers should choose suitable teaching methods and apply reasonable contrastive teaching between English and Mongolian to improve students' level of English. Moreover, students should try to develop language awareness through reading English materials and writing articles in English.Furthermore, national and local education departments as well as schools should cultivate Mongolian teachers who are proficient in English. In addition, it is essential to make more investment in the education of ethnic minority area.