Difficulties of Native Chinese Speakers in Learning Passive Voice in English and Recommendations for Teaching in the Context of Multilingualism

Abstract

The acquisition of grammar, in addition to being a key aspect of development in language competence, helps learners overcome monolingual bias. Among the various grammar items, the English passive, especially in the written form, is a pre-requisite for academic success in higher education. This chapter reports the findings of a corpus research study on the difficulties faced by Chinese learners of English in learning English passive. This study proposed that four major factors that contribute to the difficulties for Chinese learners in learning English passive. Two corpora containing written academic essays by Chinese learners of English who were mainly undergraduates were selected in this study for analysis. Data from two corpora were extracted and analysed, and results from both sources provide support to most of the types of difficulties proposed in this study. Based on the results of this study, four recommendations are offered.