A Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective On Chinese English Majors' Hedges Acquisition

As a significant linguistic phenomenon,hedges have flexible and unique semantic meanings and various pragmatic functions.Therefore,no matter in spoken or written discourses,hedges always play an important role.However,it is still not an easy task for L2 learners to acquire and use hedges appropriately.At present,domestic and foreign research on hedges has mainly focused on the results of L2 learners' hedges acquisition while ignoring its developmental process.Ellis(2014)has suggested that the development of SLA is currently no longer treated as a static or linear developmental process.Meanwhile,the proposal of the dynamic systems theory(DST)has offered SLA research a practical approach to explain such key issues as the non-linearity of language development and individual variability.DST is characterized by its exploration on the dynamic changes caused by the interconnectedness of different components in the developmental process of the system and has exerted a great impact on the traditional research methods,especially the static ones.While applied into the field of second language acquisition,DST has shifted the emphasis of SLA research from language itself to the development of learners' language behaviors.Therefore,on the strength of the previous research,the present study is intended to explore Chinese English majors' acquisition process of hedges from the perspective of dynamic systems theory.To be specific,this study is conducted with Chinese English majors as the participants,to explore their characteristics in the acquisition process of hedges.In view of this purpose,the following three research questions are raised to study:(1)What are the general developmental characteristics of Chinese English majors' hedges acquisition in terms of the frequency and category?(2)What are the individual developmental characteristics of Chinese English majors' hedges acquisition in terms of the frequency and category?(3)Does Chinese English majors' development of hedges frequency always support their development of hedges category?The data of the present study were collected through the writing tasks of 21 Chinese first-year English majors from Lanzhou Jiaotong University.The writing tasks lasted for 20 weeks and were conducted once biweekly.As for the hedges,Varttala's(2001)classification of hedges was applied in the present study.And the unique tools of the dynamic systems theory,namely the growth trajectory plots maps,the moving min-max graphs and the moving correlation maps,were applied to explore the dynamic developmental processes of participants' hedges acquisition.Besides,the interviews were applied to explore further the factors which may have affected the characteristics of the participants' acquisition process of hedges.Based on the statistic collection and analyses,the main findings of the present study are presented as follows:(1)Generally speaking,Chinese English majors' overall acquisition of hedges frequency showed an upward trend,while the acquisition of hedges category was displayed in a reverse U-shaped trajectory.In the acquisition process,both the hedges frequency and category followed a non-linear,phased and leaped forward direction.And the developmental speeds of different categories of hedges were uneven.To be more specific,the developmental speed of the modal auxiliaries was found to be substantially higher than that of the other categories of hedges while the developmental speed of the adjectives of hedges,always the lowest one.Besides,it was also unveiled in the present study that Chinese English majors had a tendency to overuse certain hedges in their acquisition process.(2)During the hedges acquisition process,Chinese English majors possessed different individual characteristics in the developmental trajectories of hedges frequency and category.Although the overall trends of hedges acquisition were similar,the individual acquisition processes of hedges took on different staged characteristics with different degrees of fluctuations.(3)Based on the analyses of Chinese English majors' overall development of hedges frequency and category,a correlation analysis was made further and it was discovered that there was no significant correlation between the developments of the two indexes.That is,in the process of hedges acquisition,the increase or decrease of hedges frequency did not mean an increase or decrease of hedges category.However,the detailed analysis of the individual data revealed that the developments of hedges frequency and category had supportive relationships,only at certain stages,but most of the time not supportive.According to the results,some pedagogical implications can be drawn for hedges teaching.First,the teachers must pay more attention to the dynamic developmental trajectories and characteristics of hedges acquisition for Chinese English majors.In view of the existing problems,the overall guidance should be considered by the teachers.For example,the teachers need to guide students to form a correct understanding of hedges use and acquisition.For the teaching contents,the teachers also need to consider the teaching of different categories of hedges,especially the hedges of adjectives which are hard for Chinese students to acquire.Moreover,the teachers also have the responsibility to encourage the students to use more types of hedges appropriately in their target language use.Second,teachers should pay close attention to the individual characteristics in hedges acquisition process for Chinese English majors,and provide personalized learning guidance to their hedges learning.For example,teachers can help students to adopt appropriate learning strategies on hedges learning and form the correct habit of hedges use.Besides,teachers maytry ways of assimilation and adaptation to help students to reduce language attrition and enhance their learning efficiency as well.Third,it is also necessary for teachers to help students clear about the differences in the hedges and change in the hedges use in different contexts,so as to help them avoid effectively the overuse of some hedges.It is also helpful to assist students to achieve the positive developmental trends of both hedges frequency and category in the process of hedges acquisition.