Thematic choice and expression of stance in English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners
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Hilde Hasselgård
Abstract
English and Norwegian have been shown to differ somewhat as regards thematic choice, due to the V2 constraint in Norwegian and to different frequency distributions of some constituent types in clause-initial position. Using the Norwegian component of the International Corpus of Learner English, the present study explores the extent to which Norwegian students apply Norwegian patterns in their choice of thematic structure, and to what extent they have acquired the grammatical and stylistic norms in relevant genres of English. A further aim is to identify areas of difficulty for Norwegian advanced learners of English. The learners make rather few grammatical errors with themes, but certain features have a different distribution than in comparable texts by native writers. E.g. clause-initial adverbials are used by Norwegian learners with a frequency more similar to Norwegian than to English patterns. Formal subjects (it/there) are also over-represented, which is almost entirely due to it-extraposition expressing stance. Furthermore, first-person pronouns are overused as theme in clauses which function as subjective stance markers. One conclusion is that the students seem to master the grammatical structures, but not the discourse conventions of argumentative and academic writing in English.
Abstract
English and Norwegian have been shown to differ somewhat as regards thematic choice, due to the V2 constraint in Norwegian and to different frequency distributions of some constituent types in clause-initial position. Using the Norwegian component of the International Corpus of Learner English, the present study explores the extent to which Norwegian students apply Norwegian patterns in their choice of thematic structure, and to what extent they have acquired the grammatical and stylistic norms in relevant genres of English. A further aim is to identify areas of difficulty for Norwegian advanced learners of English. The learners make rather few grammatical errors with themes, but certain features have a different distribution than in comparable texts by native writers. E.g. clause-initial adverbials are used by Norwegian learners with a frequency more similar to Norwegian than to English patterns. Formal subjects (it/there) are also over-represented, which is almost entirely due to it-extraposition expressing stance. Furthermore, first-person pronouns are overused as theme in clauses which function as subjective stance markers. One conclusion is that the students seem to master the grammatical structures, but not the discourse conventions of argumentative and academic writing in English.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction: Corpora and language teaching 1
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Part 1. Corpora and second-language acquisition
- The contribution of learner corpora to second language acquisition and foreign language teaching: A critical evaluation 13
- Some thoughts on corpora and second-language acquisition 33
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Part 2. The direct corpus approach
- Who benefits from learning how to use corpora? 47
- Oslo Interactive English : Corpus-driven exercises on the Web 67
- Corpus research and practice: What help do teachers need and what can we offer? 83
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Part 3. The indirect corpus approach
- Themes in Swedish advanced learners' writing in English 101
- Thematic choice and expression of stance in English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners 121
- The usefulness of corpus-based descriptions of English for learners: The case of relative frequency 141
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Part 4. New types of corpora
- Income/interest/net : Using internal criteria to determine the aboutness of a text 157
- New types of corpora for new educational challenges: Collecting, annotating and exploiting a corpus of textbook material 179
- The grammar of conversation in advanced spoken learner English: Learner corpus data and language-pedagogical implications 203
- Index 231
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction: Corpora and language teaching 1
-
Part 1. Corpora and second-language acquisition
- The contribution of learner corpora to second language acquisition and foreign language teaching: A critical evaluation 13
- Some thoughts on corpora and second-language acquisition 33
-
Part 2. The direct corpus approach
- Who benefits from learning how to use corpora? 47
- Oslo Interactive English : Corpus-driven exercises on the Web 67
- Corpus research and practice: What help do teachers need and what can we offer? 83
-
Part 3. The indirect corpus approach
- Themes in Swedish advanced learners' writing in English 101
- Thematic choice and expression of stance in English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners 121
- The usefulness of corpus-based descriptions of English for learners: The case of relative frequency 141
-
Part 4. New types of corpora
- Income/interest/net : Using internal criteria to determine the aboutness of a text 157
- New types of corpora for new educational challenges: Collecting, annotating and exploiting a corpus of textbook material 179
- The grammar of conversation in advanced spoken learner English: Learner corpus data and language-pedagogical implications 203
- Index 231
