John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 5. Lexical use in spoken New Englishes and Learner Englishes
Abstract
This chapter, set within the framework of constrained communication, investigates the linguistic effects, in terms of lexical use, of a number of shared and distinct communicative constraints that are thought to play a role in New Englishes and Learner Englishes. Relying on corpora of spoken Hong Kong English (HKE) and Mainland Chinese English (MCE), as well as native British English as a reference, it adopts a twofold methodology combining automatic measures of lexical complexity and a manual examination of lexical choices in a picture description task. The vocabulary used by HKE speakers appears to be more varied and sophisticated than that of MCE speakers, but otherwise the two groups display similar traces of potential L1 influence and employ the same strategies to compensate for limitations on proficiency. Native speakers’ vocabulary tends to be less complex and less formal, which is explained by their better stylistic awareness and possibly their lower task expertise.
Abstract
This chapter, set within the framework of constrained communication, investigates the linguistic effects, in terms of lexical use, of a number of shared and distinct communicative constraints that are thought to play a role in New Englishes and Learner Englishes. Relying on corpora of spoken Hong Kong English (HKE) and Mainland Chinese English (MCE), as well as native British English as a reference, it adopts a twofold methodology combining automatic measures of lexical complexity and a manual examination of lexical choices in a picture description task. The vocabulary used by HKE speakers appears to be more varied and sophisticated than that of MCE speakers, but otherwise the two groups display similar traces of potential L1 influence and employ the same strategies to compensate for limitations on proficiency. Native speakers’ vocabulary tends to be less complex and less formal, which is explained by their better stylistic awareness and possibly their lower task expertise.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Afrikaans influence on genitive variation in South African English? 29
- Chapter 3. Language contact and change through translation in Afrikaans and South African English 58
- Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English 87
- Chapter 5. Lexical use in spoken New Englishes and Learner Englishes 120
- Chapter 6. The effect of directionality on lexico‑syntactic simplification in French><English student translation 153
- Chapter 7. The complex case of constrained communication 191
- Chapter 8. Comparing contact effects in translation and second language writing 223
- Chapter 9. Conclusion 255
- Index 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Afrikaans influence on genitive variation in South African English? 29
- Chapter 3. Language contact and change through translation in Afrikaans and South African English 58
- Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English 87
- Chapter 5. Lexical use in spoken New Englishes and Learner Englishes 120
- Chapter 6. The effect of directionality on lexico‑syntactic simplification in French><English student translation 153
- Chapter 7. The complex case of constrained communication 191
- Chapter 8. Comparing contact effects in translation and second language writing 223
- Chapter 9. Conclusion 255
- Index 287
