y Hawaiian people are to wildlife. One weekend, we watched a TV program about the history of Hawaii. Though not good at English, Amy could understand the main idea of it with my help. On November 3 she got up quite early to watch the news about the local election. She became excited whenever she saw a name she had seen posted on the roadside. I was glad that she began to enjoy her new life. We came in July when the fall semester hadnt begun yet. I asked Amy to keep a journal of what we did every day in English. Actually, she just dictated what I said or copied what I wrote since she knew little English. She considered it a daily burden and preferred to do it in Chinese. I supported her writing in Chinese, but at the same time insisted on her writing something in English every day. It is admitted difficult for the Chinese to learn English because the Chinese and English languages differ on important linguistic dimensions, some of which question theories about linguistic universals (Aaronson & Ferres, 1987, p. 75). On the other hand, sharp differences between these two languages can help learners prevent negative transfer from L1 to L2 (second learnt language). I bought Amy a series of English textbooks for children by L. G. Alexander with translation and notes in Chinese. She already had a solid foundation in Chinese and a little knowledge of English, so she managed to learn the text by herself with the help of the translation and notes. At certain times in the evening, I would give some assistance. She was learning English, and at the same time she was maintaining and developing her Chinese. Now she often says that English is much easier to read and write than Chinese but the latter is closer to her mind. In her I find strong evidence that a good mastery of L1 and parental supportive attitude toward L2 is facilitative to a childs acquisition of L2. In her first school report Amy got an A for both writing and spelling, A -for reading, A...
