标记理论视角下英语学习者语法习得偏误研究

Research on the Errors in Grammar Acquisition of English Learners from the Perspective of Markedness Theory

标记理论由布拉格学派于20世纪30年代提出。标记现象是指在某个范畴内存在的对立的不对称现象。在这些对立项中,最基本的、中性的一项是无标记项;而与之对立的、附加一项或几项特征的是有标记项。标记理论在我国的应用研究还相对狭窄,大多数研究着眼于标记理论与二语习得、母语迁移的关系,且热衷于探讨英汉语言中的标记现象,及如何通过英汉对比来提高英语写作教学效果等内容,鲜有学者将英语写作中的语法偏误与标记理论结合起来讨论。因此本研究采用《朗文常见偏误词典》的语料,运用标记理论,对英语学习者在写作中出现的数、主谓一致、时态、语态和非谓语动词等五个方面的语法偏误进行考察和分析。研究发现,以英语作为外语或二语的学习者,其语法习得与语法的标记性有关。有标记或标记性强的语法对学习者来说较难掌握,也更容易犯错。Markedness Theory was proposed by the Prague School in the 1930s. The phenomenon of markedness refers to the phenomenon of opposite asymmetry in a certain category. Among these opposing items, the most basic and neutral item is the unmarked item. On the contrary, one or more items with some features are marked. The research on the application of markedness theory in China is relatively narrow. Most studies look at the relationship among markedness theory, second language acquisition, and language transfer. Besides, many scholars are keen to discuss the phenomenon of markedness in English and Chinese languages and how to improve the teaching efficiency of English writing by comparing English and Chinese, but few scholars discuss grammatical errors in English writing with markedness theory. Therefore, based on the corpus of the Longman Dictionary of Common Errors, this study examines and analyzes the five aspects of grammatical errors in number, agreement, tense, voice, and non-predicate verbs in the writing of English language learners by applying the markedness theory. It is found that grammar acquisition by learners of English as a foreign or second language is related to the markedness of grammar. Marked or strongly marked grammar is more difficult for learners to master, so learners are more prone to make mistakes.