L1和L2学生写作中模糊限制语的对比分析研究

Contrastive Analysis of Hedging in L1 and L2 Students' Writing

运用对比分析学习者语料的方法对中国英语专业学生和美国大学生在议论文中使用的词汇模糊限制语进行了对比分析,旨在回答三个问题:(1)中国EFL学习者在书面语篇中使用的模糊限制语与本族语者在同类语篇中使用的模糊限制语之间存在哪些整体性差异;(2)中国EFL学习者在书面语篇中使用的模糊限制语与本族语者在同类语篇中使用的模糊限制语之间存在哪些类别性差异;(3)中国EFL学习者在书面语篇中使用模糊限制语的能力与其英语水平之间存在怎样的关系。研究结果表明,中国EFL学习者有在书面语篇中少用模糊限制语的倾向;但随着英语水平的提高,这种倾向有明显的减弱趋势。

On the basis of two corpora, the Written Corpus of Chinese English Majors （WCCEM） and the Louvain Corpus of Native American Essays （LCNAE）, the present study investigates the differences in the use of hedging in writing between Chinese English majors and American university students from the perspective of Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis by contrasting the types, incidences and distribution of a selection of lexical hedges used in the argumentative essays written by the two student groups. The research questions addressed in this study are as follows： （1） What are the overall differences in the use of hedging in argumentative writing between Chinese English majors and American university students？ （2） What are the categorical differences in hedging in argumentative writing between the two student groups？ （3） What is the relation between Chinese English majors＇ competence of hedging in argumentative writing and their English proficiency？ The major findings of this study are that Chinese English majors use a more restricted range of hedging devices though both student groups are heavily dependent on a narrow range of items and they tend to underuse these hedges in terms of incidence; Chinese English majors tend to overuse epistemic adverbs while they are likely to underuse the other four categories of lexical hedges; and the variety and incidence of lexical hedges used by Chinese English majors tend to increase with their English proficiency and Chinese English majors with higher English proficiency use these hedges more closely to the native usage.