Epistemic Modality in the Argumentative Essays of Chinese EFL Learners

Autor/inn/en	Hu, Chunyu; Li, Xuyan
Titel	Epistemic Modality in the Argumentative Essays of Chinese EFL Learners
Quelle	In: English Language Teaching, 8 (2015) 6, S.20-31 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1916-4742
Schlagwörter	Epistemology; Computational Linguistics; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Syntax; Native Speakers; Language Proficiency; Persuasive Discourse; Asians; Foreign Countries; Essays; Writing (Composition); Networks; Second Language Instruction; Semantics; Grammar; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Erkenntnistheorie; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Muttersprachler; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation; Asian; Asiat; Asiatin; Asiaten; Asiate; Ausland; Essay; Aufsatzunterricht; Schreibübung; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Semantik; Grammatik
Abstract	Central to argumentative writing is the proper use of epistemic devices (EDs), which distinguish writers' opinions from facts and evaluate the degree of certainty expressed in their statements. Important as these devices are, they turn out to constitute a thorny area for non-native speakers (NNS). Previous research indicates that Chinese EFL learners differ significantly from the native speakers (NS) in marking epistemic modality. One problem of previous studies is that the essay topics are not well controlled, which makes it somewhat ambiguous as to whether the observed linguistic discrepancies are caused by the NNS/NS difference or by the topic differences. This paper sets out to explore much more comparable data from International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE). The results show that while both NS group and NNS groups are heavily dependent on a restricted range of items, the manipulation of epistemic modality is particularly problematic for the L2 students who employ syntactically simpler constructions and rely on a more limited range of devices, as already discovered in the previous studies. Nevertheless, this study also shows that the most proficient L2 students modify their statements with less certainty markers and more tentative expressions than do their L1 counterparts, and that all learner groups, regardless of their overall language proficiency, use less boosters than L1 writers, which is in sharp contrast with previous studies. The ability to mark epistemic modality has much to do with L2 proficiency. While lower-band students exhibit a heavy reliance on a narrower range of items for strong assertions, higher-band students tend to be more tentative and demonstrate a more native-like use of some Eds. The observed patterns are explained in the light of the inherent properties of English EDs, the imperfect modal instruction and learner factors. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01