中国学者英语学术论文手稿中强化语使用特征—基于语料库的对比研究

A Corpus-based Study of the Intensifiers in the Original Manuscripts of Chinese Scholars’ English Academic Papers

作为提高语义程度准确性的主要手段,强化语的恰当使用在英语学术论文写作中具有重要意义。多用、少用或误用强化语可能导致对研究描述的偏差,甚至对研究结果的误读。通过自建语料库(中国学者学术论文手稿库和国际高水平期刊论文库),利用Antconc软件检索两个语料库中强化语使用频率,并使用卡方检验对比分析二者在强化语使用上的差异。结果表明:(1)中国学者使用强化语的总体频率偏高;(2)中国学者与本族语者呈现出多元化的差异,在不同类别强化语的使用上超用、误用和少用并存,即中国学者过多使用提高程度语和近似语,而对最高程度语和折衷语的使用则显著不足;(3)就同一类别的强化语而言,二者在某些具体词项的使用上同样存在多元化差异。总体而言,中国学者在强化语的准确使用上表现出较明显的不足,说明英语学术写作教学需培养恰当使用强化语的意识和能力。

As the major means to improve semantic degree, intensifiers play a significant role in academic writing. Overuse, underuse or misuse of intensifiers may result in inaccurate research description, even misunderstanding of the research findings. This study constructed two corpora(original manuscripts of Chinese scholars’ English academic papers, and papers published in top international journals) to comparatively study the use of intensifiers by Chinese scholars by using Antconc software for retrieval of intensifiers and chi-square test to determine the differences. The results show that(a) generally Chinese scholars use more intensifiers;(b) it is, however, not the case that Chinese scholars make more use of all categories of intensifiers;instead, they tend to overuse boosters and approximators, while their use of maximizers and compromisers is largely inadequate;(c) there are also diversified differences in the use of specific intensifiers within a particular category. Overall, the use of intensifiers by Chinese scholars is still far from appropriate, indicating that particular importance should be attached to the cultivation of competence and awareness of using intensifiers properly in the teaching of English academic writing.