A Corpus-based Study on the Use of “Should” and “Would” in Chinese Students’ Compositions基于语料库的中国学生作文中“should”和“would”的使用情况研究文献综述

 2023-04-20 13:32:02

文献综述

1. IntroductionThe introduction consists of 3 parts to indicate the reasons and aims of the study, including research background, the need of the study and research purposes. 1.1 Research backgroundBefore the rise of corpus linguistics, most of the researches on modal verbs at home and abroad were theoretical, mainly focusing on the semantic and pragmatic definition analysis of modal verbs. Some foreign scholars discussed the modal meaning of modal verbs, described the magnitude of modal verbs, and analyzed their grammar (Halliday, 2000). Domestic scholars, such as Shi Bing (2006), have analyzed the pragmatics of modal verbs from the perspective of speech acts. Zhang Chuchu (2007) analyzed the subjectivity of deontic modal verbs. With the development of corpus linguistics, the study of modal verbs has shifted from detailed semantic analysis to quantitative analysis -- revealing what is the typical usage and the degree of language changes within or between styles. Peoples memory of language is not a simple accumulation of words and grammar, but the probability of these words and grammar items appearing in the language at the same time (Lei Xiuyun, 2000:118). In the study of EFL learners, the use of modal verbs is of great significance. The investigation of modal verbs can be seen everywhere. As for many students, would and should are the most common modal verbs.1.2 Need of the studyThe thesis has both practical and academic meanings. Firstly, the thesis about the use of would and should is of great significance to the teaching of English grammar. Modal verbs are an important part of English verb system and one of the main means to express modal meaning. Although its form is relatively simple, it is very complex in semantics and pragmatics. As Palmer（1979：1）pointed out, modal verbs are probably one of the most difficult and important items in the English grammar system. Since primary school, Chinese students have learned about the nine core modal verbs: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would. Not all learners have a good grasp of the use of modal verbs. There is no denying that modal verbs are also one of the most difficult language points for ESL/EFL learners and teachers to master. Consequently, the thesis would find the key and difficult points for them. Furthermore, it can lay the base for the further study of the modal verbs. 1.3 Research purposesThe purpose of this study is to explore whether there are some differences in the use of should and would between the EFL learners and the native speakers. The core of the study is to investigate how Chinese students use these two words in their compositions and compare them with native language students. A large corpus of students compositions would be analyzed by automatic text analysis program, and a series of features related to modal verb knowledge are calculated, including the absolute frequency and relative frequency of would and should. In addition, this study is also aimed to explore whether there are differences in the use of would and should by Chinese English learners at different levels, which is so important and meaningful as to improve multi-word sequence instruction in the second language writing classroom. Are EFL learners at higher level closer to native English speakers? In order to find out the problem, correlation and regression analysis would be used between the index and proficiency score. 1. Literature reviewModal verbs are words that have certain meanings and express mood.2.1 Definition and categories of modal verbsThe study of modality began very early. Dating back to 2000 years ago, Aristotle, an ancient Greek scholar, began to study the logical relationship between possibility and inevitability. So far, many problems about modality have not been solved. When people define the concept of modality, they will associate it with subjectivity. Modality can be interpreted from two aspects. On the one hand, modality is an attitudinal way to present information, including verbal and nonverbal ways. Lyons (1977:425) believes that modality involves the speakers point of view and attitude. Modality expresses not facts, but claims and arguments about facts. Saeed (2000) believes that modality is a semantic category. Halliday believes that modality refers to the intermediate state of 'negative' and 'positive' meaning: the district between positive and negative meaning. In conclusion, modality closely related to subjectivity is a dynamic word that can be changed through vocabulary, clauses and sentences.English modal verbs, also known as 'modal auxiliary verbs', express the speakers view of the said action or state, or subjective assumption (Zhang,1986:319). Modal verbs are words that have certain meanings and express mood. However, it cannot be used as predicate independently, but can only be used together with the original form of the verb. Modal verbs are used before action verbs to express the speakers perception or subjective conception of the action or state. First of all, they are verbs and different from action verbs. Action verbs represent actions that can be expressed through behavior (such as writing, reading and running), while modal verbs only express an idea (if you can, maybe, dare). Modal verbs are verbs that have a certain word meaning and express the speakers emotion, attitude or mood, but they cant be used as a predicate alone, but can only form a predicate with the original form of other verbs.Kennedy (2002) noted three categories of modal verbs: The first type is called core modal verbs, which have modal meaning and independent form, which can be transformed into voice themselves, mainly including can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would. The second category is called marginal modal verbs or critical modal verbs. These modal verbs do not fully show the modal meaning and are sometimes used by the main verb in the sentence, so they are not classified into the first category. These modal verbs include need to, dare, etc. The third category is called semi-modal verbs. These verbs have a certain modal meaning, but form with the infinitive, that is, their central word is combined into a unit to act as the predicate. They cannot be passive form conversion but are reflected in the non-finite central word.2.2 The meaning and usage of would and should The meaning and usage of would and should is shown separately in the following parts. As modal verbs, both of them have different ideas in different contexts. Meanwhile, there are various usage of them.2.2.1 The meaning and usage of wouldWould is a common word in English. According to Kennedys classification standard, it belongs to the core modal verbs. It is most frequently shown up as the past tense of will, which is used in the past future tense to express that 'something was about to happen'. As follows, we will discuss in depth the meaning and usage of 'non past future' of would. 1). It means a regular or habitual action in the past. It can be understood as 'always'. e.g. Sometimes I would come home late. 2). It means a feeling of 'impatience' with what always happens or always acts. e.g. Thats exactly like Jocelyn---she would lose the key!3). Used in negative sentences in the past to indicate refusal, or being unaccustomed or impossible; Used in things, it often means personification, which can be interpreted as unwilling. e.g. He wouldnt give the names of his partners. 4). It is combined with 'better' to form the phrase would better to express suggestion. e.g. Youd better finish your task first.5). It is combined with 'rather' to form the phrase would rather，used for saying that you would prefer to do something or that you would prefer that something happened.e.g. I would rather be a breeze, send you to wherever you want to go, even if its far away.6). It is combined with 'that' to form the phrase 'would that', used for saying that you wish that something were true, especially when you know that it is impossible. e.g. Would that we had seen her before she died.2.2.2 The meaning and usage of shouldShould is the past tense of shall. Should is a modal verb, which means 'ought to'. It is often used to solicit other peoples opinions and suggestions. Followed by the original form of the verb, there is no change in person and number. Meanwhile, it can also be used in various contexts to express different meanings and feelings. 1). Should means 'ought to', which means advice or suggestion. e.g. You should stop smoking.2). Should indicates a command or request. e.g. You shouldnt talk in the class.3). Should means possibility. e.g. His schoolbag should be in the classroom.4). Should sometimes indicates the speakers disappointment, anger and surprise. e.g. Its surprising that Mary should love such a person as Jack.2.3 Previous studies on EFL learners use of would and shouldAt present, many researchers have investigated and analyzed the usage of modals by ESL/EFL learners. Basham and Kwachaka (1989:130) found that Eskimo English learners overuse would, will, can, could and other words in written language compared with native English speakers. Hinkel (1995:333-335) found that the English learners of immigrants from Southeast Asian countries used too many modal verbs indicating obligations and responsibilities in English writing, such as must, should, have (got) to, ought to and so on. English learners in China use modal verbs differently from native English speakers. After a comparative analysis of the written language of Chinese English majors and Australian students, Hu. Brown and Brown (1982) found that the former used should, must and other words too much in a strong tone when making demands or suggestions to others. However, native language students tend to choose had better, need and so on to put forward euphemistic demands and suggestions. Based on the ST6 part of flob and CLEC, Liu (2006:86-89) compares the differences between English native speakers and Chinese Senior English Majors in the use of two modal verbs expressing 'obligation / inevitability' such as should and must. Wang (2007:44-47) found that native English speakers are more accustomed to expressing the modal meaning of propositions in the past form of modal verbs, including the past tense and the present tense, while Chinese English learners are limited to expressing the concept of the present only in the general present tense. It can be found from the data that Chinese learners use would, could and might much less frequently than native speakers. The author takes would as the keyword, today as the co-occurrence word, and the left and right spacing is 8 words respectively. Only one case is found in SECCL, but there are 91 cases in BNC oral corpus.2.4 Research gap Most of the studies on modal verbs analyze their semantic and pragmatic functions theoretically, and less involve the comparative study between learners corpora. With the increasing maturity of learners corpus, the comparative study between it and native language corpus is also in the ascendant. Leech believes that it is an effective method to study the similarities and differences between learners corpus and target language corpus. Whats more, there are lots of researches focused on the overall features of the modal verbs. Only a few of them have made an in-depth study of the contrastive analysis between EFL and native speakers in the use of one or two modal verbs. Less in them are analyzing the use of should and would.ReferencesAijmer, K. (2002). Modality in advanced Swedish learners written interlanguage. In S. Granger, J. Hung amp; S. Petch-Tyson (eds.). Computer Learner Corpora, Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Basham, C. amp; Kwachaka, P. (1989). Variation in modal use by Alaskan Eskimo student writers. GASS. S., Madden. C., Preston. D., amp; Selinker. L. (Eds). Variation in Second Language Acquisition. Britain: Multilingual Matters.Halliday, M. A. K.. (2000). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Hinkel, E. (1995). The use of modal verbs as a reflection of cultural values. TESOL Quarterly: 333-335.Hu, Z. Brown. D. F., amp; Brown, L. B. (1982). Some linguistic differences in the written English of Chinese and Australian students. Language Learning and Communication.Kennedy, G. . (2002). Variation in the distribution of modal verbs in the British National Corpus. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics (pp. 80). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Palmer, F.R. (1979). Modality and English Modals. New York: Longman.Saeed, J. 2000. Semantics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press. Cambridge: Blackwell.雷秀云（2000），基于语料库的学术英语语法的频率特征。

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