Reviewing the Impact of Mother Tongue Transfer on the English Writing Performance of Chinese University Students

Abstract

This review paper reviews the impact of mother tongue negative transfer on the English writing performance of Chinese university students, with a focus on the negative transfer phenomena in vocabulary, grammar, and discourse, as well as the language and cultural differences that contribute to this phenomenon. The article is based on the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis and the Markedness Differential Hypothesis, emphasizing how structural differences between Chinese and English lead to errors in learners' writing. In addition, it emphasizes teaching strategies to reduce negative transfer, advocates comparative language teaching, strengthens vocabulary and grammar training, and cultivates cross-cultural awareness. At the same time, technical assistance tools and cross-cultural collaborative writing projects were proposed to provide real-time feedback and immersive exercises. In the end, the article points out that although current research mainly focuses on negative transfer, the potential of positive transfer and the long-term efficacy of intervention measures have not been fully explored.