摘 要

中式英语是指在中国人使用英语时，因受汉语思维方式或文化的影响而拼造出不符合英语表达习惯的，具有中国特征的英语。这是中国人在学习英语过程中出现的一种语言现象。近年来针对中式英语的关注多是对公共场合标语错误翻译的报道，而缺乏对中国学生在使用英语过程中出现的中式英语的研究。为了解大学生写作中存在的中式英语问题，提高学生写作水平，笔者以武汉理工大学英语专业的大三学生书写的求职信为例，参照常见的中式英语分类，研究分析了求职信中存在的中式英语，并以语言迁移理论作为指导，研究中式英语产生的原因。结果表明，中式英语在大学生的英语写作中广泛存在，英语的中式化程度与学生的绩点并无明显相关关系，并且中式英语的产生与汉语语言思维方式和汉语语言规则的负迁移有关。总体来说武汉理工大学英语专业学生的写作水平具有代表性，中式英语现象在各个学校的大学生写作中都可能存在，中式英语对以中文为母语的英语学习者而言是普遍问题。本文针对中式英语的研究对大学生英语写作水平的提高具有积极意义。

关键词: 英语写作; 中式英语; 英语专业学生;语言迁移理论

Abstract

Chinglish refers to English with Chinese characteristics, which is not in conformity with English idiomatic expressions and is constructed under the influence of Chinese thinking mode and culture. It is a linguistic phenomenon that occurs in the process of learning English of Chinese people. In recent years, most of the attention paid to Chinglish is focused on the reports of the incorrect translation of slogans in public places, while there is a lack of research on Chinglish in the use of English by students. In order to understand the problems of Chinglish in college students' writing and improve students' writing level, the author takes the cover letters written by the junior English majors of Wuhan University of Technology as an example and analyses the existing Chinglish problems in the cover letters, referring to the common classification of Chinglish. With the theory of language transfer as a guide, the author also studies the causes of Chinglish .The results show that Chinglish is widely used in college students' English writing, and there is no significant correlation between Chinglish degree and students' GPA, while the generation of Chinglish is related to the negative transfer of Chinese thinking mode and Chinese language rules. Generally speaking, the writing level of English major students in Wuhan University of Technology is representative, and Chinglish may be found in the writing of college students of various schools. Chinglish is a common phenomenon for English learners who speak Chinese as the native language. The study of Chinglish in this paper is of positive significance to the improvement of college students' English writing.

Key words: English writing; Chinglish; English major；Theory of language transfer

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Chinglish 2

2.1Definition of Chinglish 2

2.2 Differences between Chinglish and China English 3

2.3 Chinglish in writing 4

3 Theory of language Transfer 5

3.1 Positive transfer 5

3.2 Negative transfer 5

4 Research Methodology 6

4.1 Research objects 6

4.2 Instruments 6

4.2.1 Common categories of Chinglish 7

4.2.2 Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) 9

4.2.3 The British National Corpus (BNC) 9

4.3 Procedures 10

5 Results 10

5.1 Descriptive statistics of the categories of Chinglish in students' writing 10

5.2 Differences in writing between high-score students and low-score students 12

6 Discussion 14

6.1 Reasons of the existence of Chinglish writing 14

6.2 Influence of Chinese thinking mode and Chinese grammar 14

7 Conclusion 27

References 28

Acknowledgements 29

Research on the Chinglish in University Students' English Writing:

Taking Students of English Major of WUT as an Example.

1 Introduction

Due to the internationalization of the country and the wide spread of English, China is known as a nation where English is learned as a foreign language and is a pillar of the educational system. Therefore, English is an indispensable course for most of the Chinese students. It can be concluded that English is a part of Chinese people's lives, and it is a skill that equips students with a unique advantage, especially the college students, who have access to international knowledge and culture.

However, under the influence of Chinese culture, grammar, and thinking mode, it is Chinglish that most of Chinese are really using. Chinglish is a kind of ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations. It has been widely used in China, especially being a very common problem in college English writing and displaying in various ways (Peng, 2016).

Chinglish, a kind of ungrammatical or nonsensical English, is likely to damage the image of China and be the obstacles in the way of international communications. In short, it is an urgent job to assist college students to have a clear understanding of their Chinglish problems in writings and to correct and avoid the mistakes.

In fact, foreign scholars who have lived in China or learnt Chinese language and culture for ages noticed the sophisticated features Chinglish has and gave constructive suggestions and guidance. For instance, Kingsley Bolton has written A Sociolinguistic History， which shows us the development history of English in China. The book provides us with a unique method to analyse Chinglish from the perspective of history. Another example is The Translator's Guide to Chinglish written by Joan Pinkham, a famous American translator who has been responsible for revising the translations of Chinese leaders' works just like Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and so on. In this book, we can see the main Chinglish features and categories, and further be aware of how to avoid making similar mistakes.

During recent decades of years, Chinese scholars and researchers have become conscious of the severity of Chinglish problems, and they set out to do pertinent analysis and constantly refine the English teaching methods. Most of their works are in form of paper, and the examples they take advantage of are from existing materials, some of which even lack specific research subjects. It means that most researches on Chinglish are lacking in depth and accuracy.

In order to figure out Chinglish in college students' writings and improve their writing level, this paper, based on the experience and knowledge concluded from the works at home and abroad, takes the Chinese college students’ English writings as objects to make some analyses of the existing problems. The objects the author uses are the assignments of the English majors of Wuhan University of Technology (WUT).

This paper analyses the current situation of Chinglish, trying to figure out its influence on language learning. Based on the analysis of dozens of documents and literature, the paper explores the main characteristics of Chinglish. The research is conducted on the study of cover letters and the results are demonstrated in form of data analysis with descriptions as well as explanations.

2 Chinglish

2.1Definition of Chinglish

"Chinglish", also known as "Chinese English", refers to the abnormal English which is not in accordance with English cultural habits and is produced by the interference and influence of Chinese thinking mode and corresponding cultural background when Chinese people apply Chinese language rules to English language in learning and using English.

As English has become an international language, spoken almost all over the world, it is no longer a monolithic language. Chinglish is a member or variant of the international English family, similar to Indian English, Singaporean English, etc.

Chinglish has a long history, but the study of it is only about 70 years old. Domestic scholars generally believe that it started from the History of Loanwords in English written by Serjeantson, an expert on the history of English language.

2.2 Differences between Chinglish and China English

With China's national strength growing and the rapid development of mass media, the progress of Chinese to English infiltration has sped up, with the result that a large number of English-speaking countries gradually understand and accept China English (He, 2018). For example, in the 1930s, Foreign Words in English History written by Serjeantson only included 27 Chinese loanwords, but in the 80s, Formal English dictionary and other publications in fact cover 1189 Chinese style English entries (Cannon, 1988:4). According to the latest media, based on the Global Language Monitor statistics, since 1994, the contribution that China English made to the international English vocabulary is 5% to 20%.

Chinese has become the biggest source of English new words, and in the 20th century, the foreign language borrowings account for about 5% of the new words of English. In recent years, the Chinese government has fueled the promotion of Chinese culture to the world, with plenty of Confucius institutes established in many countries. Consequently， China English is bound to have a great impact on English development.