【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 ificance of Contrastive StudyThe purpose of contrastive study is promoting positive transfer by contrasting the characteristics of the two languages. In the process of language study we often find that if the foreign language is familiar with the mother language, it will be easy to study. Take Korean and Chinese for example, there are a lot of words having the same pronunciation, so Chinese people will find it easy to study Korean. On the contrary, if the two languages are different, the study will be difficult. For English learners, it’s a good way to do contrastive analysis between English and Chinese to help learn English well.Contrastive study will make English learners know the characteristics of the two languages. The contrast will tell us what should be focused and in what way the negative transfer could be avoided. Chinese learners of English need to know how to avoid Chinglish and how to improve their skills, especially translation skills. They should make contrastive analysis on words formation, words matching, word order, sentence structure, paragraph structure and culture. Thus we can see the significance of contrastive English on English study. Helping Learners Find the Focus of StudyEnglish and Chinese have many significant differences which make English learning a serious challenge for Chinese learners of English as they are in two language families. Chinese uses a logographic system for its written language, while English uses an alphabetic system. Chinese characters are not made up of letters as English words, so it is a great difficulty for Chinese learners to read or spell English words. The differences are not just in words but also in phrases, sentences and paragraphs. To learn English well, English learners must make a parison between the two languages to find out their differences.Every language has its own cultural background which makes it different with others and of course makes it difficult to learn. Chinese and English are different because of the differences in natural environment, mode of thinking, values, history and life style. The different living situations decide their different values and viewpoints.Therefore English learners should focus on finding the differences in language and culture before they can learn English well. Focus on Differences in Linguistic AspectMost English learners find that when English and Chinese have much in mon, it’s easy to learn. For example, “goldfish” in both languages are constituted by the meaning of “gold” and “fish”. It’s easy for learners to understand. But some words or phrases can’t be constituted like this. Take “important matter” for example. It means a big issue. But some Chinese people may use “big thing” to express it. “Big thing” means some object with big volume.The negative transfer will influence the study of a language, so we should focus on the differences between them. The differences are not only in words, but also in phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections and chapters. There are more examples.“For the latest couple of years the third industry in our country has been developing very fast”. Here “third” is a wrong word. It should be “the tertiary industry” because it is established by usage. “The service industry” is right because it means the industry that offers services.“It’s hard to do business in light senses.” Here “l(fā)ight seasons” is a wrong word. We use “slack seasons” to express the time business is slow. “I have no English name” is another sentence we heard from many Chinese people. It should be “I don’t have an English name.”Chinese sentences are based on meaning while English sentences are based on grammar. In Chinese the standard of a sentence is whether it expresses a plete meaning. In English, however, the standard is whether the sentence is with a plete structure. For example：看樣子要變天了。It seems that the weather is changing.All of the of sentences show that in Chinese sentences subject and verb can be omitted, while in English a subjectpredicate structure is indispensible. Disregarding the differences between the two languages will result in illunderstanding or misunderstanding. Analyzing language differences is a guide to English learners in learning English.The differences between two languages are not just in linguistic aspect, but also in cultural aspect. Focus on Differences in Cultural AspectDifferent cultural backgrounds decide different modes of thinking and different sayings. The thinking mode of Chinese is a typical synthesizing type. They pay attention to image and unity while westerners to abstraction and rationality. Chinese people pay attention to subjective sense while western people to objectivity.In English there are some words with the same conception as those of Chinese, but for cultural reasons they can’t be equaled. Those words usually have more than one meaning, and the connotative sense of them are different from Chinese. Look at the table：Table 1 Different Meanings of ColorsChineseEnglish Red Festivity Violence Blue The colorBad moodYellow Imperil powerCowardice Some animal names have different meanings, such as dog. In Chinese it means snooty while in English it means pathetic. There are so many sentences about dog. “I am a lucky dog.” shows that some one is a lucky person. It isn’t derogatory.There are many phrases in both languages with the same literal meaning and formation but with different usage because of the different cultural backgrounds. There are more examples:1)洗手不干：stop wrong doingTo wash ones hands of: to refuse to take any responsibility for sb. or something.2)食言：to go back on one’s word, to break one’s wordTo eat one’s words: to take back what one had done.English learners should pay attention to cultural differences, or there may be misunderstanding or stupid mistakes. Helping Learners Avoid Chinglish“Ching