Abstract :
Although the existence of L1 transfer is not so much of a controversy any more, the extent to which L1 influences L2 acquisition is still debatable. To address this issue, the present paper reports on an empirical study. 48 pieces of English composition written by 48 native Mandarin speaking students were collected for the study. The following results were obtained: (1) among 477 errors occurring in 48 pieces of composition, 266 errors were committed due to the influence of Mandarin, the L1. (2) Tense errors, tense inconsistency and verb form errors occur most frequently, with the percentage of L1 influence on them coming up to about 80%, 98% and 45% respectively; and (3) The area in which L1 has a most profound influence is within grammar or syntax, rather than within lexis.
