大学生英语写作中连接词用法的语料库对比分析

A Corpus-based Contrastive Analysis of the Use of Adverbial Connectors in College Students' Writing

对连接词的研究是英语写作教学研究中的一个热门话题。本文通过基于语料库的研究方法调查分析学习者英语写作中连接词的使用现况以及与英语母语者之间存在的差异,目的在于了解目前大学生在英语写作中运用连接词时存在的问题,并提出可行的解决方法。用于研究的小型学习者写作语料库(Learnercorpus of English Writing,LCEW)为作者自建,作为对比分析的母语写作语料库为LOCNESS语料库,由英美学生的作文语料构成,其中美国大学生的写作语料被用作本研究的对比语料。研究发现与母语者相比,学习者在写作中过分依赖连接词的使用,部分常用连接词的使用频率远远高于母语者。除此之外,学习者倾向于把连接词用在句首,进一步的句例分析还发现学习者误用和错用连接词的现象。研究结果显示现有的相关教材和教学方法对学习者过多使用、错用和误用连接词有一定的关联。作者认为合适的英语语料库可以成为教师和学习者改进目前状况的教学资源,充分了解连接词在真实语境中的运用能够有效帮助学习者选择恰当的连接词来表示语篇的连贯,最终达到改进英语写作教学的目的。

Many researches on English writing are involved with learners＇ use of adverbial connectors. By making a corpus- based investigation on self-buih learners＇ writing corpus and a comparative native writing corpus, the paper aims to get a better understanding of the current situation of Chinese learners＇ use of adverbial connectors in their English writing and then come up with some suggestions to help improve the current writing teaching. Learner Corpus of English Writing, LCEW, is composed of the essays of the second-year undergraduates and the first-year postgraduates of Guangzhou University. LOUVAIN corpus of native English essays, LOCNESS, serves as the comparative corpus, which is the corpus of native English essays mainly made up of writings by English and American university students. The results show that compared with native English speakers, Chinese learners are more dependent on the use of adverbial connectors in their writing, and the frequency of occurrences of some commonly used connectors are much higher than those of their counterparts. Besides, the learners are inclined to put adverbial connectors in the initial position of the sentnces. It is suggested that corpus, as an effective source for both teachers and learners, can greatly help improve learners＇ ability in writing in terms of how to use adverbial connectors appropriately.