Effects Of L2 On L1

Language transfer refers to certain cross-linguistic influence which derives from either the similarities or the differences between learners' second language and the language that has been acquired.Both theoretical and empirical research concerning the effects of L2 on L1 has revealed that the effects can be observed at such levels as phonology,lexical semantics,syntax,and pragmatics.The current study aims to provide necessary evidence for the effects of L2 on L1 in Chinese context.Based on the review of previous research,the current study,taking the positioning of Chinese conditional adverbial clauses as its research object,would analyze the performance of Chinese L2 learners of English on the grammaticality judgment concerning post-positioned Chinese conditional adverbial clauses before and after the intensive training of English conditional adverbial clauses from the perspective of the effects of L2 on L1.To be specific,there are two research questions in the current study:1)Will the L2 intensive training exert any impact on learners' L1 grammaticality judgment?2)If yes,will L2 proficiency modulate the L2 impact on learners' L1 grammaticality judgment?For the two research questions mentioned above,the current study,taking 41 Chinese students learning English in Grade Eight as the subjects,conducted a one-week training of English conditional adverbial clauses.After analyzing the research data at the time of right after,two weeks and three weeks after the intensive training,it was found that the intensive training of English(L2)did exert a significant impact on the subjects' grammaticality judgment concerning the positioning of Chinese conditional adverbial clauses.To be specific,the subjects tended to regard post-positioned Chinese conditional adverbial clauses as consistent with native Chinese expressions after the intensive training but all the five types of Chinese conditional adverbial clauses were equally influenced by the intensive training.The effects of L2 on L1 initiated by the intensive training showed a tendency to decrease to a certain degree immediately after the intensive training and remained stable in a long run.Besides,the effects of L2 on L1 were closely associated with the subjects' L2 proficiency.The subjects with higher L2 proficiency were more likely to be influenced.The effects modulated by L2 proficiency were more prominent in the immediate than the sustained impact.As time passed by,the modulation by L2 proficiency would finally disappear.