| Semantic prosody is considered as a unique linguistic phenomenon, which shows that some words have special collocation tendency. These words are habitually associated with certain words of the same or similar characteristics. As semantic prosody is too subtle an issue to the naked eye, computer-assisted analysis of corpora and efficient software tools have made it possible to extracted concordance of words. Knowing the features of semantic prosody of words may help learners not only reduce collocation errors but also speak and write idiomatic English as native speakers. The corpus-based approach may definitely shed light on lexical studies in EFL teaching in China.In the present study, quantitative and qualitative approaches are integrated. First, the item "CAUSE" is retrieved by WordSmith3.0 in CLEC and BROWN, and all collocation of the item are extracted. Then the Mi-score and Z-score are calculated for each extracted collocation with the aid of EXCEL program. Those words with a Mi-score of 3 or higher and a Z-score of 2 or higher are considered to be significant collocation. Through comparing the semantic prosody features of lexical item "CAUSE" in BROWN and CLEC, this research tries to reveal the collocation behaviors and mastering situation of semantic prosody of Chinese learners, and has shown that there are some differences in semantic prosody of "CAUSE" between native speakers and Chinese learners. The item "CAUSE" shows negative semantic prosody in BROWN, while it shows the reverse in CELC. The conclusion indicates that the differences are mainly caused by the influence of their mother tongue, the lack of knowledge about lexical collocations and cultural background of the British and American countries.In view of the above, the thesis has made a detailed discussion on how to apply the results of corpus-based semantic prosody study into vocabulary teaching, based on the findings of the mastering situation of semantic prosody of Chinese English learners reflected by this corpus-based analysis study. The author encourages teachers to learn to construct small personal corpus and apply its relevant skills in EFL teaching. Besides, some indirect teaching advice is given to teachers. |
