A Corpus-Based Study of Modal Verbs in Chinese Learners' Academic Writing

Autor/in	Yang, Xiaowan
Titel	A Corpus-Based Study of Modal Verbs in Chinese Learners' Academic Writing
Quelle	In: English Language Teaching, 11 (2018) 2, S.122-130 (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1916-4742
Schlagwörter	Verbs; Computational Linguistics; Grammar; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Study Abroad; Academic Discourse; Language Usage; Comparative Analysis; Writing Skills; Curriculum Design; Teaching Methods; Foreign Countries; Native Speakers; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Grammatik; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Discourse; Diskurs; Sprachgebrauch; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Lehrplangestaltung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Ausland; Muttersprachler
Abstract	While more Chinese students are going abroad to persue their further academic study, how to help them improve academic writing competence has received wide attention. Modality, as one of the complex areas of English grammar, reflects the writer's attitude and is extremely important in academic written discourse. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate how Chinese learners of English use modal verbs. For this purpose, a learner corpus (LC) with Chinese learners' academic writing has been compiled and compared against a professional corpus (PC) which consists of published research articles. With the help of software Antconc 3.2.4w, the use of nine core modal verbs in both corpora has been explored. Findings indicate that compared with professional writers, Chinese learners tend to use modal verbs more frequently; they also tend to overuse can, will, could and would and underuse may. Based on an analysis of the two corpora, this study proposes possible reasons that account for these differences. This study provides some insights into the use of modal verbs by Chinese learners of English and thus informs teaching of modal verbs in the English classroom and contributes to the academic writing curricula design. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Canadian Center of Science and Education. 1120 Finch Avenue West Suite 701-309, Toronto, OH M3J 3H7, Canada. Tel: 416-642-2606; Fax: 416-642-2608; e-mail: elt@ccsenet.org; Web site: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01