Abstract:

This study is aimed to discuss the relationship between negative language transfer and Chinese non-English majors’ English writing. Based on language transfer and error analysis the author analyses errors occurring in 90 writing samples collected from the first-year non-English majors in University. The study mainly shows the influence of mother language transfer and varied forms of error in the aspects of substance，lexis，syntax and discourse. Besides, there are some suggestions are given with the hope to improve English writing and teaching in college.

Key words: non-English majors; English writing; native language transfer 

摘要：

本文旨在探讨大学非英语专业学生英语写作与母语负迁移之间的关系。作者以语言迁移理论和错误分析为理论基础，分析了所在大学90篇非英语专业大一学生的英语作文中的错误。本文从形态、词汇、句子、语用方面发现母语负迁移对非英语专业大学生英语写作所产生的影响及其具体表现。并在研究和分析之后提出一些相应的英语写作建议，以促进英语写作教学和学生写作水平的提高。

关键词：非英语专业; 英语写作; 母语负迁移

1.    Literature Review
1.1    Theoretical Background
1.1.1 Language Transfer
Transfer is a concept derived from psychology and it usually appears in language learning process that the previous knowledge has a long-time effect on the subsequent learning process. Language transfer is also called cross-linguistic influence, referring to apply the previous learned language to other language. According to Odlin (1989:27), transfer refers to the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously acquired. This is his "working definition" of transfer.
The concept of transfer once had a close relationship with behavior, but nowadays people usually agree that the influence of learners’ mother tongue attribute to the habits. According to Lado (1957:2), similarities between first language and second language can facilitate the second language learning process, while differences between them can interfere with this process. Generally speaking, when it comes to the type of language transfer, it is usually classified into two types: positive transfer and negative transfer.