The Correlation Between English and French Proficiency of Chinese Trilingual Learners

Abstract

Abstract In the context of globalization, multilingual learning and teaching have become more and more popular in China. The phenomenon of cross-linguistic influence is more complex in L3 acquisition than in L2 acquisition. Does the previously learned L2 affect L3 acquisition? From the perspective of trilingual acquisition, the English and French national test proficiency scores of 112 French major students in Chinese universities were selected as the research data to explore the potential relationship between English (L2) proficiency and French (L3) learning. The research results showed a positive correlation between English and French proficiency among Chinese learners, and a predictable equation was established through regression analysis. In addition, the study reveals that a threshold level of English (L2) is essential to generate a significant correlation. The threshold level is roughly equivalent to the level of IELTS 5.5. According to the results, the analogical teaching method is advocated.