A Corpus-based Comparative Study On Grammatical Cohesive Devices In MARPOL Convention

Based on Halliday and Hasan’s cohesion theory, which was first carried out in the book Cohesion in English in 1976, this thesis mainly studies the distributions of grammatical cohesion in MARPOL Convention and the reasons for these distributions. According to this theory, the author conducts the research on four levels:reference level, substitution level, ellipsis level and conjunction level. This thesis aims to solve two problems with the help of Antconc software and SPSS software by compiling Maritime English Corpus and General English Corpus:1.what is the distribution features of different types of grammatical cohesion in MEC and GEC? 2. Is there a significant difference in the use of grammatical cohesion in MEC and GEC?The research results show that:first of all, reference takes the largest proportion, reaching 94.81% and 89.67% respectively in MEC and GEC. The second one is conjunction amounting to 4.92% and 9.33% respectively. The last two are ellipsis and substitution. Both MEC and GEC employ a small number of ellipsis and substitution. Secondly, there is a significant difference between MEC and GEC in the use of grammatical cohesion.As most of the previous studies on grammatical cohesion focus on general English texts, this thesis provides a new research aspect to some extent and fills the research blank in Maritime English especially in Maritime conventions. Meanwhile, this study can help the crews who are engaged in shipping industry get a better understanding of MARPOL Convention, standardize their behaviours in strict accordance with the convention,reduce the Marine pollution, and protect the Marine environment.