A Corpus-based Study On Linking Adverbials In CET-4Writing

Since English linking adverbials (henceforward LAs), a kind of cohesive tie,plays an important role in constructing a text and indicating the logical relationship,they have attracted much attention from researchers. Researches show that manyEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) learners face problems in using LAsappropriately. Through a corpus-based contrastive interlanguage analysis (CIA), thisstudy aims to reveal the usage of LAs in College English Test, Band4(CET-4)compositions written by non-English major (NEM) undergraduates in XinjiangNormal University.The present study explores the following questions:1. What are the similarities and differences in the use of LAs between NEMsophomores in Xinjiang Normal University and native English writers?2. What are the possible reasons that underlie the NEM sophomores’ use ofLAs?First, two corpora are adopted in this study: self-established CET-4Compositions Corpus (Corpus1) and British National Corpus (BNC)(Corpus2).Then the LAs are classified into seven semantic categories and two functionalcategories. All the LAs which will be investigated in the present study are also listed.Next, with the help of AntConc software and BNC online search service, thefrequency and the context of each LAs are examined in the two corpora respectively.After that, the data are employed for different analysis to answer the researchquestions. A questionnaire survey of the subjects will be conducted to investigateNEM undergraduates’ knowledge about the learning and teaching of LAs in Englishwritings. Finally, the possible explanations for the results will be presented.The results reveal that NEM undergraduates tend to overuse LAs in theirEnglish writing in comparison with native English writers. Secondly, under the sevensemantic categories, NEM undergraduates underuse the corroborative LAs whichserve to emphasize or support one’s opinion or idea, while the LAs of the othersemantic categories are greatly overused. Thirdly, the top10LAs employed by NEMundergraduates in Xinjiang Normal University and native English writers accountsfor much in overall frequency, while the difference exists in the similarity of the LAs.Fourthly, under LAs of each semantic category, some LAs are overused or underusedby NEM undergraduates. Finally, NEM undergraduates’ use of LAs may be due tothe following factors: the influence of Chinese mode of thinking, the instructionsfrom teachers and writing books, the lack of stylistic awareness and the audience awareness.The study on LAs in CET-4writings maybe will deepen our understanding of theuse of cohesive devices in writings and sheds light for teachers in Xinjiang NormalUniversity on the teaching of English writing.