Research On Epistemic Stance In Advanced Learners Of English Major’s Argumentative Essays

Epistemic stance markers not only express the extent of the speaker’s confidence about the proposition,but also function as pragmatic strategies to maintain relations between writers and readers.The ability to convey epistemic stance appropriately in English is critical for successful interaction between the writer and the reader.Nonetheless,numerous studies indicate that L2 writers are problematic in utilizing epistemic stance markers appropriately.Previous studies focus mostly on the comparison of epistemic markers in argumentative essays between Chinese college students and native speakers.Few studies have specifically concentrated on the argumentative essays of advanced English majors in China.Consequently,the thesis aims to investigate how advanced English majors draw upon epistemic stance markers in argumentative essays,and to reveal the functions that these markers fulfil.To achieve these purposes,the dissertation adopts Biber et al.(1999)and Biber’s(2006b)semantic categories and syntactic expressions as the theoretical framework.The author utilizes quantitative and qualitative research methods,selecting advanced English majors’ essays from Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners(WECCL)2.0 as the research corpus.The study yields the following findings:The frequency of likelihood markers is higher than that of certainty markers in English majors’ essays.Advanced English majors predominantly use single adverbs,verbs and multiword expressions to convey epistemic meanings.It is found that epistemic stance markers mostly fulfill six functions,namely intensifying or mitigating stance strength,reaching politeness,displaying interpersonal involvement,avoiding potential responsibility for statements and shunning unnecessary risks.Further,advanced English majors rely heavily on a limited number of epistemic stance markers,displaying tendencies to overuse or underuse certain forms.The study also explains this phenomenon from the perspective of inadequate language input,first language transfer,pedagogical effects and L2 proficiency.The study contributes to the existing literature,throwing light on the markers conveying epistemic stance and their crucial roles in argumentative essays.Practical implications for pedagogy and recommendations for future studies are provided as well.