中国学生作文中的介词回避现象.doc

AVOIDANCE OF PREPOSITIONS IN COMPOSITIONS WRITTEN BY CHINESE STUDENTS中国学生作文中的介词回避现象Chen ZhaoxiaMarch, 2005Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, professor Wang Junju, for her kind assistance and insightful suggestion. This thesis would not have been possible without Prof. Wangs scrutiny. Besides, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to professor Wang Shouyuan; professor Miao Xingwei, professor Liu Zhenqian, professor Li Yuchen, professor Chen Cuifeng and professor Li Xuezhen etc. their thought-stimulating lectures have benefited me much. I am also grateful to my classmates for their warm help in the course o f my thesis-writing.Finally, I owe a lot to my husband, Wang Xin, who has contributed to the formation of my MA thesis by giving me financial aid and spiritual support. Abstract English is a language of prepositions. English prepositions are characterized by polysemy, mufti-function and high frequency. These characteristics make prepositions a most difficult target language (TL) item for Chinese students to learn.Cognitive linguists, structuralists and functionalists have studied English prepositions from different perspectives. Their researches are theoretically significant and help Chinese students understand English prepositions more profoundly. Unlike the above researches, this current study focuses on preposition use rather than preposition understanding so that prepositions can be investigated from a new angle. While prepositions such as over, up, on, and across are considered in the previous studies, the preposition of is researched on in this paper.The more difficult a TL item is, the more likely Chinese students are to commit errors when using it. To avoid language errors, Chinese students tend to avoid using prepositions. Avoidance of this kind means prepositions are underused. In other words, though prepositions occur in Chinese students compositions, they appear less frequently when compared with prepositions used by English-speaking people in their written English. Fear of making errors is not the only source of avoidance of prepositions. Chinese-English (C-E) difference, Chinese learners English competence, etc, all contribute to avoidance of prepositions.Since English prepositions are mufti-functional, an avoided preposition can displays itself in many ways. The major concern of this thesis is to find, among various functions of an avoided preposition, which functions are more avoided or less avoided.Based on Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC), this study found all concordance lines containing of by using a concordance method called Key Words in Context (KWIC), sampled some of them and then made generalizations about how of was used in CLEC. 30 compositions were selected from CLEC of used in every composition was counted and classified according to the above generalizations. A quantitative analysis of data was conducted in this study. The multiple regression analysis is most important.The study discovered that as far as of is concerned, the structural function of English prepositions is less avoided. Besides, it was found that of used to form N is least avoided while of employed in PV is most avoided. Such findings can be explained by the nature of preposition of the spoken tendency of Chinese students compositions and Chinese students ignorance of register restrictions, etc. These factors accounting for avoidance of English prepositions have not been mentioned in literature reviewed by this paper.Some teaching suggestions were provided in this paper: the structural function of preposition of should be emphasized by teachers in order that students could grasp the main usage of preposition of, It is desirable that teachers acquaint their students with English register knowledge and C-E differences. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further researches were presented in the ending part of this thesis. Key Words: prepositions, preposition, avoidance, phrasal verb, adverbial clauses introduced by noun摘要 英语是介词的语言。英语介词语义繁琐，用法复杂，使用频率高。介词是中国学生最难掌握的英语词类之一。 认知语言学家，结构语言学家及功能语言学家从不同角度研究了英语介词。他们的研究有重要的理论意义，同时也有助于中国学生更深刻地理解英语介词。本研究与上述研究不同，主要探讨介词的使用，从而提供了一个新的研究英语介词的角度。以往研究考查的介词是over, up, on, across等，而本研究关注的介词是of. 某个目标语项目越难，使用它就越容易出错。为了避免语言错误，中国学生在其作文中倾向于回避介词。这种回避指介词的少用，即尽管介词在中国学习者的作文里也出现，但是如果与英语为母语的人的书面英语相比，介词使用的频率偏低。害怕犯错不是回避介词的唯一可能原因。汉英两种语言的差异，中国学生的英语水平等都有可能导致中国学生回避介词。 由于英语介词用法广泛，某个回避介词可以有多种回避的表现。本文重点探讨的问题是就某个回避的英语介词而言，它的哪些用法回避得多，哪些用法回避得少。 在研究“中国英语学习者语料库”的基础上，本文通过系统抽样和关键词索引总结出回避介词在中国学生作文中的用法。本文选取30篇作文作为研究的样本。每篇作文里of的频率都计算出来并根据上述of用法的总结进行分类。本文采用的数据分析方法为定量分析，其中多元回归分析最为重要。 研究发现就of而言，介词的结构性用法回避得少。研究还显示用来构建名物化结构的of回避得最少，用在短语动词里的of回避得最多。呼的性质，中国学生作文的口语化倾向及中国学生语体知识的缺乏等从不同角度解释了上述现象。这些角度前人尚未提及。本文提出了以下教学建议:教师应强调of的结构性用法，从而使学生能够掌握of的主要功能;教师应向学生灌输英语的语体知识，并从汉英对比的角度帮助学生更深刻地认识of。文章的最后部分指出了本研究的局限性，对以后研究提出了一些建议。关键词:介词，回避，短语动词，介词引导的副词从句，名词串正文（153）：Chapter One Introduction1.1 English Prepositions in EFL Teaching and Learning As an English major, I have noticed that English prepositions are somehow ignored by teachers and students. Many teachers spend much time in helping their students either accumulate as many words as possible or grasp the traditionally-viewed content words like verbs. They think that prepositions are limited in number, and empty in semantics, so efforts should not be made to discuss prepositions in classroom teaching. As a result, prepositions are treated as a target language (TL) item of minor importance and the role they play in teachers input is secondary. If prepositions are fortunately mentioned by teachers, their destiny is to be incidentally involved in illustrations of phrasal verbs (PV) and adverbial clauses introduced by preposition-phrases (ADV), etc. Prepositions are also abandoned by students. A considerable number of students believe that prepositions, though occurring with high frequency, are not a major obstacle to reading comprehension. It is often the case that if students recognize few content words such as nouns, adjectives, adverbs or verbs, they are likely to fail in reading. Prepositions, viewed as lexically void, seem not so useful in reading comprehension which mainly involves identifying the so-called content words and seizing information contained in them. Prepositions are usually skimmed in the process of reading and draw little or even no attention from students. However, English is a language of prepositions, which implies the central place that prepositions occupy in English. Ignorance of prepositions has an adverse effect on students English acquisition. If students do not realize the importance of English prepositions, they will not invest time and energy in learning this useless and insignificant TL item.In case of Chinese students, prepositions are a most difficult TL item to learn (Wang, 2004; Wen, 2002). First, English prepositions are mufti-functional. They can be used to form PV, ADV and noun strains (I and so on. Actually, they perform so many functions that students feel it a great challenge to learn various functions of prepositions. Second, the polysemous nature of English prepositions is hard to deal with. It is difficult to understand English prepositions the meanings of which are far more diverse than or differ from those of their Chinese counterparts. Many teachers who teach English as a foreign language (EFL) and textbook writers around China have generally despaired of giving a reasoned account of prepositions. Prepositional usage is conventional, idiomatic and just to be learnt. Chinese learners attention is focused only on the basic meaning of an English preposition-location in space, other extended and peripheral meanings being left out. In this way, the memory burden is eased. Yet, Prepositional polysemy is reduced to homonymy, which would distort the whole picture of an English preposition and proves unfavorable to a complete grasp of prepositional meanings. 1.2 Deficiencies of Previous Studies Up to now, cognitive linguists (Meira, 2003; Brala, 2002; Lingstromberg, 1996, 1997, 2001; Hawkins, 1984; Vandeloise, 1991; Brugman, 1981; Linden 1981; Lakoff & Johnson 1980) have made their unique contributions to preposition research. However, their studies are mainly theoretical and not directly connected with teaching practice. While cognitive linguists help us to uncover meaning relatedness between various meanings of a polysemous preposition they say little about how a polysemous preposition is used. The prepositions dealt with by cognitive linguists, such as over, up and on are more lexical and spatial. The more structural prepositions like of is not under consideration. Whats more, the major concern of cognitive linguists is semantics of prepositions rather than structural functions performed by prepositions. Structuralists and functionalists studied prepositions, too. Though theoretically significant, their findings fail to help students use prepositions in the same way as English native speakers do. PV, a TL item related to prepositions and frequently avoided by learners of English as a second language (ESL) or learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), has been researched on by many scholars. While these studies offer some invaluable information about preposition use, they do not consider other preposition-related expressions or structures.1.3 Purpose and Significance of the Current Study Gui and Yang (2002) once pointed out that compared with English native speakers, a big number of Chinese students seldom use such prepositions as of, as, off; between, within, under, at, towards, until, etc. in their compositions. This comment is attested and proved by CLEC. Based on Gui and Yangs finding, this paper investigates prepositions from a new perspective. By picking up the preposition of not considered by cognitive linguists, the current study intends to come up with more findings about more structural prepositions. Besides phrasal verbs containing of (of-PV), adverbial clauses introduced by preposition-phrases which contain of (of-ADV), noun strains built up by of (of-N) and other contents where of is used by Chinese students (of-EX) are considered in this study in order to have a broader picture of how of is avoided in different situations. The major concern of this thesis is to find how the more structural preposition of is used by Chinese students in their compositions. This paper offers answers to two research questions-whether of is avoided more structurally or lexically and how of-PV, of-ADS; and of-N contribute to the total variance of preposition of. Avoidance of prepositions is essentially a matter of preposition use and has not been as profoundly studied as polysemy of prepositions. Preposition avoidance is also a relatively new comer in avoidance researches. Most of avoidance studies concentrate on what lead to avoidance. The avoided TL items are seldom described in detail. Few of avoidance researches concern prepositions except for those studying avoidance of PV. In addition, avoidance of prepositions is a research topic comparatively new in Chinas second language (L2) writing studies. Avoidance of prepositions also offers a fresh perspective to analyze Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC).1.4 Organization of This Thesis This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One is an introduction to the thesis. The preposition-related teaching and learning situation in China is described. The deficiencies of former preposition and avoidance studies are pointed out in order to underline the significance of this study. Chapter Two reviews major preposition researches carried out by cognitive linguists, structuralists and functionalists. It also scans key avoidance studies in the history of L2 acquisition research. Of reviewed avoidance studies, avoidance of PV is described in greater detail. An outline of research methodology is provided in Chapter Three. All research data are collected from CLEC by systematic sampling. A corpus concordance method, Key Words in Contests (KWIC), Micro-Soft Word (MS Word) and CLEC compositions are instruments used in this study. A multiple regression analysis of collected data is conducted. Chapter Four presents research results. They are closely associated with the two research questions. A discussion of the results is offered in Chapter Five. The nature of preposition of, the characteristics of Chinese students compositions, etc. all help to account for the results. Chapter Six provides a summary of this study, the pedagogical implications of this study, the drawbacks of this study as well as the suggestions for further research.Chapter Two Literature Review Linguists have held different views of English prepositions. Some thought that prepositions were not worth serious thinking while others argued that prepositions were very important in linguistic investigations. Cognitivists, structuralists and functionalists approached English prepositions from their respective angles. Avoidance, the study of language use, offered a new way of researching on English prepositions as well as EFL writing in China.2.1 Views of English Prepositions Richard (1923: 143) once commented, up and down in such phrasal verbs as fill up and melt down could be used without changing the meaning and hence prepositions had lost its significance. they should be shunned in serious writing. His comment reflects some negative opinions of prepositions which are still heard in the present day. Prepositions have been traditionally viewed as performing only grammatical functions (Emonds, 1985; Fillmore, 1968; Hockett, 1958; Gleason, 1955; Fries, 1952; Curme, 1935). This in part explains linguists negative attitude toward prepositions. However, there are those who thought positively of English prepositions. To some extent, English is a language of prepositions (Liar; 1993: 113). Bander (1978: 51) pointed out that prepositions appeared constantly in English speech and writing. In written texts, prepositions occurred as often as one word in every eight and they should not be abandoned by applied linguists (Svartvik, 1988: 107). The above reveals that prepositions are high-frequency words and deserve researchers attention. Besides, prepositions perform various functions. Lian (1993: 51) believed that without prepositions, constructing an English sentence would be almost impossible. Prepositions are bound to nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. and form an enormous number of phrases with them (Wen, 2002: 7). Zhang (1995: 438) pointed out that prepositions were very important in modern English where the semantic relations between words in the same sentence were made clear through fixed- word order and word collocations.2.2 English Prepositions Studied by Linguists2.2.1 Cognitive Account of English Prepositions Lyons (1968: 405) pointed out, The ideal language one might say would be one in which each form had only one meaning, and each meaning was associated with only one form. In practice, however, one form can have several meanings. Taylor (2001: 102) argued that prepositions were one of the most polysemous words in English. He stressed that any foreign learners of English would agree the polysemy of prepositions appeared chaotic and the various meanings of an English preposition were unrelated to or even incompatible with each other. Levenston (1979: 147) found that in production, there was evidence for the avoidance of what he calls unreasonable polysemy. It just did not seem reasonable that one word could have a lot of incompatible meanings (Levenston, 1979). In the eyes of cognitive linguists, the statement that the polysemy of prepositions is chaotic or unreasonable is not perfectly true. They have managed to prove that the various .meanings of English prepositions are reasonably interrelated and form a continuous meaning chain. The demonstration that prepositional usage is highly structured has probably been one of the major achievements of the cognitive paradigm (Taylor, 2001:110). So far no other linguistic schools have studied English prepositions more fruitfully and profoundly than cognitive linguists (Meira, 2003; Brala, 2002; Lingstromberg, 1996, 1997, 2001; Hawkins, 1984; Vandeloise, 1991; Brugman, 1981; Linder, 1981; Lakof & Johnson 1980).Encouraged by the dynamic growth of cognitive linguistics in western countries, Chinese scholars have pushed forward English preposition studies by applying relevant theories of cognitive linguistics. Among those pioneers are Zhao (2003), Tao (2001, 1998, 1997), Cai (1999), and Yang (1997). These researches point to one fact: there is clear evidence that the multiple meanings of English prepositions are easy to understand if they are connected with human cognition, a factor viewed as offering important clues to the understanding of polysemous prepositions. Metaphor, once a specialized concern of rhetoricians and literary critics, is believed to be a central concept in the study of human understanding. It is a product of human cognitive development and a necessity for cognition. In his seminal work Metaphors We Live By Lakoff (1980:23) pointed out, Spatial orientation coming from the interaction between human being and nature is the most basic concept that we live by, such as up-down, in-out, up-back, on-offThese spatial concepts represented by prepositions are projected onto abstract ones such as emotion. For example:1. His meaning is in the words he used.2. Tell us in your own words.3. Express yourself in complete sentences.4. Theyre in love.5. Hes in a bad mood. (Yule, 2002: 166)Here, the spatial preposition in is turned into a metaphorical one. Thus, a container metaphor is formed: all the non-physical objects following in are treated as being capable of containing tho