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A Corpus-Based Study on the Influence of Ethnic Language on Zhuang English Learners in China

Received: 30 December 2014     Accepted: 6 February 2015     Published: 14 February 2015
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Abstract

This study built a rare kind of interlanguage corpus of English compositions from middle school students of Zhuang ethnic group, exploring language transfer on English writing output of the students from their mother-tongue—Zhuang. Another interlanguage corpus is used as the reference corpus with English compositions by Chinese students of non-specific ethnic identity (but assumedly of Han majority) using Chinese as their mother tongue. Through comparison between the self-built Zhuang-Chinese-English learners’ corpus and Chinese-English learners’ one, this study found that not only are there distinctive differences between the spelling, negation, and auxiliary errors in English writing of Zhuang minority and Han majority students, but also mother-tongue transfer and training transfer have influence on Zhuang students’ English output.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 1-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Teaching English as a Foreign / Second Language--tayebeh asgari

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12
Page(s) 7-12
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Interlanguage Corpus, Spelling, Negation, Auxiliary, Transfer

References
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[3] Granger, S.. "From CA to CIA and back: An integrated approach to computerized bilingual and learner corpora. 37-51, 1996.
[4] Gries, S. T. Some Current Quantitative Problems in Corpus Linguistics and a Sketch of Some Solutions. Language and Linguistics, vol. 16.1, 2015. pp. 93-117.
[5] Gries, S. T. & Deshors, S. C. Using regressions to explore deviations between corpus data and a standard/target: two suggestions. Corpora, vol. 9.1, 2014. pp. 109-136.
[6] Zheng, L. The Development of Metalinguistic Awareness of Hmong Learners in Third Language Acqusition. Doctoral Dissertation, Southwest University, 2010.
[7] He, X. On the Transfer in Third L anguage Acquisition: A Case Study of Tibetan Undergraduates' English Vocabulary Learning in Sichuan Province. Foreign Language and Literature, vol.01, 2014. pp. 140-144.
[8] Zhang, C. Third Language Acquisiton and the Implication for English Teaching of Mongolian Middle School Students. Chinese Journal (Foreign Laugage Teaching and Education), vol.11, 2011. pp. 135-138.
[9] Liu, M. & Li, Y. A Study of the Influence of Mother-tongue for English Pronunciation of Zhuang College Students. Guangxi Education, vol.21, 2011. pp. 37-38+54.
[10] Luo, H. & Zeng, J. An Analysis of the Negative Transfer of Mother Tongue on English Pronunciation of Chuang College Students. English Square, vol.Z4, 2011. pp. 50-53.
[11] He, A. Spelling Error Analysis on Students' Writing. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, vol.03, 2001. pp. 199-205.
[12] Abu-Rabia, S. & Sammour, R. Spelling Errors’ Analysis of Regular and Dyslexic Bilingual Arabic-English Students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, vol. 03.01, 2013. pp. 58-68.
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[14] Li, X. & Huang, Q.. The introduction and development of the Zhuang writing system. Language Policy in the People’s Republic of China.: Springer. 239-256, 2004.
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[16] Anthony, L. AntConc: A Learner and Classroom Friendly, Multi-Platform Corpus Analysis Toolkit. An Interactive Workshop on Language e-Learning. (2004). pp. 7 - 13.
[17] Wei, M. Analysis on Negative Transfer from Mother-tongue Zhuang to English Learning. New Western, vol.10, 2011. pp. 166.
[18] Zhang, B. The Effects of Phonological Awareness in Word Spelling. Overseas English, vol.02, 2011. pp. 228-229.
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  • APA Style

    Ming Yue, Yingzhu Chen. (2015). A Corpus-Based Study on the Influence of Ethnic Language on Zhuang English Learners in China. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(1-1), 7-12. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12

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    ACS Style

    Ming Yue; Yingzhu Chen. A Corpus-Based Study on the Influence of Ethnic Language on Zhuang English Learners in China. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2015, 3(1-1), 7-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12

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    AMA Style

    Ming Yue, Yingzhu Chen. A Corpus-Based Study on the Influence of Ethnic Language on Zhuang English Learners in China. Int J Lang Linguist. 2015;3(1-1):7-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12,
      author = {Ming Yue and Yingzhu Chen},
      title = {A Corpus-Based Study on the Influence of Ethnic Language on Zhuang English Learners in China},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1-1},
      pages = {7-12},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.s.2015030101.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.s.2015030101.12},
      abstract = {This study built a rare kind of interlanguage corpus of English compositions from middle school students of Zhuang ethnic group, exploring language transfer on English writing output of the students from their mother-tongue—Zhuang. Another interlanguage corpus is used as the reference corpus with English compositions by Chinese students of non-specific ethnic identity (but assumedly of Han majority) using Chinese as their mother tongue. Through comparison between the self-built Zhuang-Chinese-English learners’ corpus and Chinese-English learners’ one, this study found that not only are there distinctive differences between the spelling, negation, and auxiliary errors in English writing of Zhuang minority and Han majority students, but also mother-tongue transfer and training transfer have influence on Zhuang students’ English output.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AU  - Yingzhu Chen
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    JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    AB  - This study built a rare kind of interlanguage corpus of English compositions from middle school students of Zhuang ethnic group, exploring language transfer on English writing output of the students from their mother-tongue—Zhuang. Another interlanguage corpus is used as the reference corpus with English compositions by Chinese students of non-specific ethnic identity (but assumedly of Han majority) using Chinese as their mother tongue. Through comparison between the self-built Zhuang-Chinese-English learners’ corpus and Chinese-English learners’ one, this study found that not only are there distinctive differences between the spelling, negation, and auxiliary errors in English writing of Zhuang minority and Han majority students, but also mother-tongue transfer and training transfer have influence on Zhuang students’ English output.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1-1
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Author Information
  • School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

  • School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

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