Reverse Transfer: Exploring the Effects of Foreign Language Rhetorical Patterns on L1 Writing Performance of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

The relationship between language learners’ L1 and L2 writing productions has attracted the attention of researchers since Kaplan (1966). Along this research line, the present study aimed to explore the reverse transfer of rhetorical patterns from English (L2) to Persian (L1) in the argumentative essays of EFL students in Iran. Sixty MA university students (30 English-majors and 30 non-English-majors) participated in the study. Adopting the scheme developed by Kubota (1998a, 1998b), the study focused on the organization of the essays. The main findings of the study are (a) the non-significant difference between L1 and L2 essays of the same student in both English and non-English majors (b) the positive and significant correlation between the qualities of L1 and L2 essays in both English and non-English majors, (c) and the probable transfer of English-specific organization patterns from L2 to L1 especially among English majors.

Cross-Linguistic Influence: Bilingual EMI Lecturers’ English and Chinese Entwined

“…Reliance on L2 may have illustrated the demographics of this particular group of EMI lecturers, that is, being experts in a discipline other than English (ESL) and without extensive English as L2 education in or throughout their career. This echoes the finding of a recent research study that claims the propensity to explicit transfer between EMI lecturers' L1 and L2 is related to the degree of formal, intensive language skills training provided to them (Babaii & Ramazani, 2017). In the case of this research (L1 Chinese/L2 English), the language transfer exhibited by the EMI lecturers did not follow a single linear mode but was rather indicative of a multifaceted process.…”