A Corpus Study on Linking Adverbials in Two Classroom Spoken Genres

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Seyed Foad Ebrahimi ¹ , Mobin Motamed ²

1 - English Department, Shadegan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shadegan, Iran
2 - English Department, Farhangian University, Ahvaz

Received: 2020-02-26 Accepted : 2020-05-30 Published : 2021-01-01

Keywords: Student Presentations, Spoken Genres, Discussion Sections, Linking Adverbials,

Abstract :

Linking adverbials as cohesive features tie the ideas to form dynamic and satisfactory text. This study intended to investigate the use of linking adverbials in two spoken genres; student presentations (Class other than a seminar in which one or more students speak in front of the class or lead the discussion) and discussion sections (Additional section of a lecture class designed for maximum student participation; maybe also called recitation). To this end, the study was based on the data collected from a corpus including 11 student presentations and nine discussion sections. The data were taken from MICASE (the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English) corpus and then analyzed based on Liu’s (2008) taxonomy of linking adverbials. The results indicated that in both genres additive and sequential classes of linking adverbials have received similar attention while the two genres were different in the proportion dedicated to the realizations of additive and causal/resultive classes of linking adverbials. The results pointed to differences concerning the use of subclasses adversative linking adverbials in both genres. The results of this study could have a contribution in teaching these important cohesive features in ESL classes aiming to improve students in relation to these two genres.

References:

Altenberg, B., & Tapper, B. (1998). The use of adverbial connectors in advanced Swedish learners' written English. In S. Granger (Ed.), Learner English on computer (pp. 80-93). London: Longman.

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., & Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English.Harlow: Longman.

Bolton, K., Nelson, G., & Hung, J. (2002). A corpus-based study of connectors in student writing: Research from the International Corpus of English in Hong Kong (ICE-HK). International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 7(2), 165-182.

Bussmann, H. (1996). Dictionary of language and linguistics, GregoryTrauth and Kerstin Kazzazi, London & New York: Routledge.

Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (2006). Cambridge grammar of English: a comprehensive guide; spoken and written English grammar and usage. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Chen, C. W. Y. (2006). The use of conjunctive adverbials in the academic papers of advanced Taiwanese EFL learners. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 11(1), 113-130.

Feng, X., & Choe, M. H. (2016). A corpus-based analysis of Chinese EFL learners use of linking adverbials. English for Specific Purposes, 24(1), 49-70.

Finch, G. (2000). Linguistic Terms and Concepts. New York: St.

Gao, X. (2016). A cross-disciplinary corpus-based study on English and Chinese native speakers' use of linking adverbials in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 24, 14-28.

Ishikawa, S. I. (2010). A corpus-based study on Asian learners’ use of English linking adverbials. Themes in Science and Technology Education, 3(1-2), 139-157.

Lei, L. (2012). Linking adverbials in academic writing on applied linguistics by Chinese doctoral students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(3), 267-275.

Liu, D. (2008). Linking adverbials: An across-register corpus study and its implications. International journal of corpus linguistics, 13(4), 491-518.

Parrott, M. (2010). Grammar for English Language Teachers: with exercises and a key. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

Peacock, M. (2010). Linking adverbials in research articles across eight disciplines. Ibérica: Revista de la Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 20, 9-34.

Pullum, G. K., & Huddleston, R. (2002). Prepositions and preposition phrases. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, 579-611.

Tapper, M (2005), Connectives in advanced Swedish EFL learners’ written English – preliminary results. In Heinat F. & Klingvall E. (Eds), Working paper linguistics (pp. 115-144). Lund: Department of English, Lund University.

Zareva, A. (2011). ‘And so that was it’: Linking adverbials in student academic presentations. RELC Journal, 42(1), 5-15.