New Perspectives on Transfer in Second Language Learning

Liming Yu is Professor Emeritus, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and President of the China Educational Linguistics Association. His research interests have focused on language transfer in second language acquisition, the disciplinary nature of second language acquisition and theory and practice in bilingual education. He has published extensively, including Language Transfer in Language Learning (Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press).Terence Odlin is Associate Professor Emeritus of English, Ohio State University, USA and his research interests focus on language contact and language transfer. He is the author of Language Transfer (Cambridge University Press) and editor or co-editor of four other volumes. He has also published articles and chapters in several journals and edited volumes.

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing established researchers join forces with lesser known colleagues to push theoretical, methodological and geographical boundaries. Terence Odlin, the grandfather of transfer research, teamed up with Liming Yu and produced this excellent book, including contributions by Western and Chinese scholars who bring in a fresh Asian perspective.

• 1. Terence Odlin and Liming Yu: Introduction2. Scott Jarvis: The Scope of Transfer ResearchPart One: Lexical Perspectives3. David Singleton: Cross-Lexical Interaction and the Structure of the Mental Lexicon     4. Jia Li and Jinting Cai: L1 Transfer in Chinese Learners’ Use of Spatial Prepositions in EFL5. T. Sima Paribakht and Marjorie Bingham Wesche: L1 Influences in L2 Lexical InferencingPart Two: Syntactic Perspectives6. Shaopeng Li and Lianrui Yang: An Investigation into Topic-Prominence in the Interlanguage of Chinese EFL Learners: In a Discourse Perspective7. Yusong Gao: Investigating the Impact of L1 Morphology and Semantics upon L2 Acquisition of English Detransitivized Constructions by Chinese and Korean Learners 8. Hui Chang and Lina Zheng: The Acquisition of the Chinese Causative Construction by English-Speaking LearnersPart Three: Phonological Perspectives9. Hong Li, Lei Zhang and Ling Zhou: L1 influence on the Learning of English Lexical Stress Patterns: Evidence from Chinese Early and Late EFL Learners10. David Mitchell: SLA Perspectives on Language Contact: An Experimental Study in RetroflexionPart Four: Cognitive Perspectives11. Terence Odlin: Language Transfer and the Link between Comprehension and Production12. Chuming Wang: Context and Language Transfer13. Terence Odlin: Conclusion: A Few More Questions