A corpus-based study on Asian learners’ use of English linking adverbials

Abstract

ICT influences various phases of language studies and education. Its application for applied linguistics has been mainly attempted in the field of corpus linguistics, which describes how native speakers (NS) use the language and how its use by non-native speakers (NNS) deviates from the NS norm. In the current study, we focused on the English linking adverbials (LA), which plays an important role in the logical cohesion of a text. By analyzing a newly-compiled international learner corpus to compare LA uses by English NS and Asian NNS, including Japanese learners of English (JLE) and their Chinese counterparts (CLE), we obtained several noteworthy findings. First, the gap between NS and Asian NNS is rather limited in terms of the quantity of LA used in essay writing. Second, Asian NNS tend to overuse addictive types of LA. Third, Asian NNS overuse LA items concerning the introduction of additional information and intensification of meaning, while underusing LA items concerning the introduction of parallel information and sequential introduction of information. Finally, JLE, CLE, and NS use major LA items in their own ways, which are hardly influenced by L2 proficiency.

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