The Influence of the First Language Negative Transfer on the C—E Translation

唐敏

【Abstract】It is generally believed that language transfer affects the effective acquisition of ESL learners Chinese-to-English translation in different aspects， especially the negative transfer at the levels of subject and syntax. Many researches proved that the most effective way to avoid negative transfer of mother tongue is to make a scientific contrastive analysis of L2 and the native language and analyze the elements that lead to the differences. This paper mainly discusses the differences between English and Chinese at the levels of subject and syntax respectively and the difficulties they may have brought to Chinese learners in translation， and then try to give suggestions to Chinese learners in this field.

【Key words】negative transfer of mother tongue； Chinese-to-English translation； subjects and topics； sentence structure

Introduction

Translation is one of the basic skills that are demanded in ESL learning. Many scholars believe that negative transfer from various aspects of mother tongue affect the effective acquisition of ESL learners Chinese-English translation. It is accepted that the most effective way to avoid negative transfer of mother tongue is to make a scientific contrastive analysis of L2 and the native language and analyze the elements that lead to the differences. This paper mainly discusses the differences between English and Chinese at the level of subject and syntax respectively and the difficulties they may have brought to Chinese learners in translation， and then try to give suggestions to learners in this field.

Translation of Subjects

English and Chinese are both classified into languages with SVO structures， but there are still many differences between them in syntax. It is generally accepted that English is a subject-prominent language and that Chinese is a topic-prominent language.“A subject-prominent language is a language in which the grammatical units of subject and predicate are basic to the structure of sentences and in which sentences usually have subject-predicate structure； while a topic-prominent language is one in which the information units of topic and comment are basic to the structure of sentences.” （Jack C. Richards， 2000）

Ⅰ. The Loss of Subjects

1.這儿将修建更多的摩天大楼。

（A） Here will build more skyscrapers.

（B） More skyscrapers will be built here.

The mistake in （A） is due to the different thinking patterns between Chinese and English. Chinese sentences focus on meaning rather than structure， and accordingly the subject of the doer is usually omitted； while English sentences pay much more attention to the complete and close form， therefore subjects cant be omitted in most cases. So it is necessary for learners to replenish a proper subject by using passive structure in translating the whole sentence as （B）.endprint

2.使我国五亿多农民实行社会主义改造这样一种惊天动地的事，不可能是在一种风平浪静的情况下出现的。

（A） Getting some 500 million peasants to undertaking socialist transformation is an earth-shaking task and can not be carried out in an atmosphere of tranquility.

（B） It is impossible to carry out in an atmosphere of tranquility such an earth-shaking task as getting some 500 million peasants to undertaking socialist transformation.

In this case， in order to avoid the loss of subjects， some students choose to change the original verb into its –ing form to be taken as the subject， however， it is found that it still does not accord with English formulations well since it has a too long subject. Accordingly， （B） is considered as the best way to deal with this problem by using“it” as the formal subject of the whole sentence.

Sometimes we can not find any subject in a Chinese sentence， or if any， it cant be directly used as the subject in English. In this case， we have to find another word in other parts of the sentence for the subject in translation.

3.各民族之间建立了平等、团结、互助的新型关系。

（A） A new type of relationship characterized by equality， solidarity and mutual assistance between different ethnic groups has been established.

（B） We have established a new type of relationship characterized by equality， solidarity and mutual assistance between different ethnic groups.

In the Chinese sentence above， since the subject is a prepositional phrase， we can not translate it as a subject in English. However， if is translated into a passive structure as （A）， the subject is too long to conform to English formulating rules. Therefore we choose another way like （B） to add the implying subject“we” so as to grasp the meaning as well as get rid of the restrictions of the original sentence.

Ⅱ. Subject versus Topic

Since Chinese attaches great importance to the topic instead of the subject， learners are usually confused about them in Chinese-English translation， and can not transform into one another properly.

4.这件事不用你操心。

（A） This matter doesnt need your worry.

（B） You dont need to worry about this.

5.中国古代有个寓言， 叫做“愚公移山”。

（A） Ancient China has a fable called“The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains”.

（B） There is an ancient Chinese fable called“The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains”.

6.有好多種方法可以解这道数学题。

（A） There are many ways to solve this math problem.

（B） This math problem can be solved in many ways.endprint

As Lu Shuxiang （1990） points out that Chinese has a tendency to place an element which they consider is the most important in an initial position as the topic. Affected by the Chinese topic-comment structure， Chinese learners tend to regard the topic in Chinese as the subject in English in Chinese-English translation.

Sentence structure

In the field of languages， Chinese is thought of as a kind of covert language， which attaches importance to meaning and sentence conciseness. So we can always use as many compound sentences as we need； By contrast， English is believed as a kind of overt language， which pays much attention to the form and complete structure of sentences. Therefore， English sentences have to be bonded together with some connecting words or various subordinate clauses.

7.深化對外经济贸易体制改革，完善代理制，扩大企业对外贸易经营权，形成平等竞争政策环境。

（A） We shall deepen the reform of the trade and economic relation with foreign countries， improve the proxy system， expend the power of enterprises to handle their own foreign trade and create a policy environment for competition on equal footing.

（B） We shall deepen the reform of the trade and economic relation with foreign countries， improving the proxy system， and expending the power of enterprises to handle their own foreign trade so as to create a policy environment for competition on equal footing.

From the two ways of translation above， we can see that in Chinese a cluster of verbs can be arranged together to form a sentence without any alterations for different verbs， which may have primary and secondary order in action though. However， in English， verbs have to be ordered early or late with corresponding semantic marks. Therefore， in the example above， we should give prominence to the principal action“深化”， and then draw forth the subordinate actions— the methods“完善” and“扩大” and its purpose“形成” by using participles and infinitive respectively.

8.近二十年的实践已充分证明，我们进行改革开放的方向是正确的，观念是坚定的，步骤是稳妥的，方式是渐进的，取得的成就是巨大的。

（A） The practice in recent twenty years has eloquently proved that our direction is right， conviction is firm， steps are steady， approach is gradual and successes are tremendous in carrying out the reform and opening up.

（B） The practice in recent twenty years has eloquently proved that we are right in direction， firm in conviction， steady in our steps and gradual in our approach when carrying out the reform and opening up and have achieved tremendous successes.endprint

Example 8 shows that we can have many compound structures with no clear administrative levels in Chinese. Besides， the subjects can change continuously， and sentences are just connected according to meanings. However， English sentences should be arranged in a clear order， and connected with pronouns， conjunctions and so on， which usually have only one subject. In the Chinese sentence above， we use four subjects to express its“meaning consistency”； but while translating it into English， we should use conjunctions like“when” and“and” to maintain the continuity of the whole sentence with only one subject， which shows its“form consistency” at the same time.

Conclusion

From the above analysis， we can draw a conclusion that there is always first language interference in the process of Chinese-to-English translation， learners unconsciously transfer the Chinese topic-comment structure into their English sentences. The errors in subject translation and improper expressions at syntactic level are primarily caused by mother tongue interference. According to the language typology theory， Chinese belongs to topic-prominent language while English belongs to subject-prominent language. Therefore Chinese learners tend to make mistakes by the loss of subject or mixing up subject and topic in the process of subject translation. Accordingly， learners should be aware of the big difference between Chinese topic and English subject first and then try to supplement the subject by using passive voice， formal subject“it” or taking another part of the sentence as a subject.

At the syntactic level， since Chinese attaches great importance to“meaning consistency” while English stresses“form consistency”， Chinese learners are always confused about the different structures in the two languages， especially those long and complicated compound sentences in Chinese. In this case， we should find the principal verb first and analyze its relationship with other verbs connected with it in order to form close and complete English sentences by using many conjunctions， subordinate sentences or other semantic marks.

References：

[1]Bernard Spolsky，Conditions for Second Language Learning Shanghai：Foreign Language Education Press.2000，6 1st Edition.

[2]Diane Larsen-Freeman﹠Michael H.Long，An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.2000，8 1st Edition.

[3]Jack Richards，Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching &Applied Linguistics Foreign Language Teaching &Research Press.2000.

[4]Leon A.Jakobovits，Foreign Language Learning：A Psycholinguistic Analysis of the Issues Rowley，Mass.：Newbury House.1971.

[5]Rod Ellis，The Study of Second Language Acquisition Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.1999，4 1st Edition.endprint