A Corpus-based Investigation Into The High-frequency Lexical Sequences In The Writings By Senior High School English Learners

This thesis aims to study the high-frequency lexical sequences in practical writings of the senior high school English learners so as to characterize their patterning features and find solutions to resolving such problems as merely using simple words and sentences,etc.in their English writings.According to the research on lexical bundles by the linguists such as Biber,the lexical sequence in this thesis refers to the combination of three or more words and the structures which are semantically and grammatically acceptable.As such sequences are frequently used to convey conventional meaning in communication,they play an important role in both L1 and L2 writings.This thesis tries to answer the following three questions:(i).What are the features of the high-frequency lexical sequences used by the juniors in the Senior High School?(ii).What are the features of the high-frequency lexical sequences used by the seniors in the Senior High School?(iii).What are the developmental patterns of the high-frequency lexical sequences in the Senior High School?What are the underlying factors?Based on the corpus linguistics,the author built the corpora of the writings of three grades in Senior High School with their practical writing compositions.Based on their English scores,the students in each grade are divided into the high-score group and the low-score group.Through the comparisons between the compositions of high-and low-score groups and also between different grades,the following findings are achieved:(ⅰ).The High School junior students tend to use fewer and simpler lexical sequences,such as those beginning with"I".And there are some distinct differences in the use of some high-frequency lexical sequences between the high-score group and the low-score group,such as looking forward to,a lot of,I think you,I’m sorry to,I hope you can,what’s more,etc.;(ⅱ).Compared to the juniors,the seniors can use much richer and more complex lexical sequences;besides,there are still some differences between the high-score group and the low-score group;(ⅲ).The higher grade of the Senior High School the English learners are in,the more high-frequency lexical sequences are used,the differences between the low-score group and the high-score group tend to increase with the grade and the senior learners are less influenced by their L1.The above findings reveal the features and developmental patterns of the high-frequency lexical sequences applied by the English learners of different grades and different English proficiency levels in the Senior High School.They also reveal the underlying factors for these developmental patterns,which has some pedagogical implications for Senior High School English teaching.This study reminds the English teachers that they should help their students to accumulate relevant lexical sequences so that all students can correctly use the sequences related to the writing topics.Then they should gradually shift to more complex lexical sequences and implement multi-level teaching strategies to ensure that all students can improve.At the same time,they should make good use of the passages in the textbooks and reading materials to accumulate lexical sequences related to the writing topics.