Acquisition of English liaison among Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of language transfer

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the acquisition of liaison in English by Chinese-speaking learners. Ten second-year postgraduate students of non-English majors in Tongji University, China, were invited to take part in an experiment. They were asked to prepare recordings of a set of English materials, including phrases, dialogues, and a talking topic, before and after a self-study training on liaison. To examine every type of liaison in their speech, the study analysed the recordings using the speech analysis software Praat. The results showed that before the training, the students negatively transferred the native language (L1) pattern to the target second language (L2). This kind of negative transfer of L1 Chinese to the acquisition of liaison in L2 English could be explained by the differences between English and Chinese syllables. After the training, the students showed substantial improvement in phrase and dialogue reading. The findings are expected to help both teachers and students gain a better understanding of liaison and the differences between English and Chinese syllables, thus contributing to English teaching and learning.