On the Influence of Mother Tongue in Language Learning 英语专业毕业论文.doc

PAGE  PAGE 11 On the Influence of Mother Tongue in Language Learning Abstract: People learn English as their foreign language in China. As we know, the foreign language learners are developing their second language (English) competence and performance based on their previous knowledge of mother tongue (Chinese). To a large extent, English is different from Chinese in many ways, such as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, the learners have to face the potential influence of their mother tongue in their foreign language learning. Generally speaking, there are positive impact and negative impact of mother tongue in foreign language learning. Through discussing the two kinds of effects, the purpose of this paper is to help the teachers and students find the most effective way to study foreign language and get success of foreign language learning. Key words: influence; mother tongue; foreign language learning; students; teachers I. Introduction As we all know, the mother tongue is our first language. And there are two meanings to the mother tongue. The first is that mother tongue is one’s native language. And the second is that mother tongue is a parent language. A Chinese people will use mother tongue more or less in foreign language learning. The adults regard the mother tongue as the foundation of foreign language learning. Nowadays, thousands of students and teachers still use mother tongue in foreign language learning, especially in lots of poor and distant countries. If the teachers use English to have a class to primary school students or high school students in the rural areas, they will not understand the teachers’ meanings. However, according to education department’s requirement, most of teachers should use English to have a class in many developed areas or cities. Some researches prove that when the teachers try their best to use English in the classroom, it is good for improving students’ English level or adding their English kn