【作者】 张会平；

【导师】 刘爱军；

【作者基本信息】 北京邮电大学 ， 外国语言学及应用语言学， 2009， 硕士

【摘要】 英语存在句是二语习得中较为重要的习得句型,而中国英语习得者在笔语中往往不能恰当运用。鉴于此种现状,笔者基于语料库对此句式的使用规律进行了实证性研究:通过将学习者语料库与本族语语料库对比,探索了此种句式在中国习得者与本族语者使用上的不同之处。通过分析这些不同之处,并结合上下文语境,尝试性剖析了造成此句式过度使用、过低使用的各种因素。此项研究的目的在于为中国二语习得者的写作提供一些有益的启示,为英语教师提供一点建议,与此同时,证明并尝试性修正现存的二语习得理论,如输出假设和母语负迁移理论。此项研究采用了定量和定性研究方法,所使用的文本检索工具为wordsmith 5.0软件。这便于直接检索并统计出那些学习者过低使用、过度使用或错误使用的语言项目。本文基于学习者语料库WECCL和CLEC以及本族语语料库Brown,并通过定量分析,可以看到中国学习者过度使用和过低使用的语言现象。同时通过定性分析,可以看出学习者错误使用的原因。论文共分五章:第一章为导入部分,简要介绍对“英语存在句使用规律”进行研究的意义、目的及本论文的结构。第二章是研究现状,由于各个流派的研究角度不同,观点较纷杂。为了便于梳理,本章分为九节进行论述。第一节,首先,关于二语习得者习得规律的研究方法进行历时性回顾(如,对比分析、错误分析和中介语对比分析),然后介绍了基于语料库分析二语习得的研究方法。第二节至第九节是对语言学家及语法学家探讨英语存在句的回顾。这一章也探讨了各种方法对英语存在句进行研究的利弊,从而进一步突出了基于语料库研究方法的优点。需要说明的是,第七节列出了英语存在句的分类:标准句式(There+be+非限定性NP(+地点和时间状语)及其变体(变体1:There+情态动词+be/变体2:There+半情态动词+be/变体3:There+半助动词+be/变体4:There+不及物动词)。整篇论文的讨论都围绕这一分类进行。第三章主要描述数据搜集及统计方法。首先,描述了本文研究所用到的各个语料库,然后简明地介绍了检索软件和统计研究方法以及数据搜集步骤。第四章是本文的重点,在系统描述分析了二语习得者过低使用、过度使用和错误使用的例证之后,并较为深入剖析了这三种现象出现的原因。在此过程中,所用到的二语习得理论得以再次证明并尝试性修正。第五章为总结部分,归纳出分析结果并得出结论,然后尝试性地评价了本族语语料库和学习者语料库在英语语法和写作教学中的意义。最后讨论了此研究的局限性并提出进一步研究的建议。此研究尝试着回答了如下几个问题:1.英语本族语笔语中实际存在那些存在句句型?主要是标准句型和变体1。2.中国二语习得者和英语本族语者在英语存在句的使用上有何不同和相似之处?共同之处:两者都倾向于使用英语存在句标准句型及其变体1,无论肯定式和否定式都是如此。这些句型的时态都集中在简单现在时和简单过去时上,其他时态很少使用。不同之处:中国英语习得者更为常用标准句型和变体1的简单现在时,简单过去时的使用频率远远低于本族语者。3.中国二语习得者是否倾向于过低使用或过度使用某些英语存在句句型?经检验发现,有十个过度使用、五个过低使用的英语存在句类型:1)所有过度使用的句型都为现在时态。中国学习者作为一个整体进行检验时发现的六种过度使用类型为:there is、there are、there will be、there is no、there is not和thereare not只有中国英语专业学习者过度使用的四种类型为:there’s、there’sno、there’re和there will be no2)所有过低使用的句型都为过去时态:There was、There were、Therewas no、there were no和there had been4.中国英语习得者英语存在句过低使用或过度使用的可能原因是什么?1)以上六类类型过度使用的原因为:(1)英语语法书的影响(2)英语教师和教科书讲解的启示(3)自由变体2)英语专业偏爱以上四种类型的原因:(1)口语输出的副作用:在英语笔语中过度使用了三类缩略式(there’s、there’s no和there’re)。(2)英语专业学生倾向于使用条件句式。从文本中我们可以发现“if…there will be(no)…”出现频繁。由此可以推断,there will be(no)的过度使用是条件句式使用频繁的必然结果。3)所有过度使用的句式都是现在时,其原因为:(1)母语迁移(2)干扰作用4)所有过低使用的类型都为过去时态,可以认为这是母语迁移的结果。更多还原

【Abstract】 In view of the existential sentences’ significant role and the difficulties that CL have in using them, we conduct this corpus-based research to investigate the characteristics of existential sentences used by CL. By comparing learner corpora with a native one, we aim to explore the using differences of the existential sentences between CL and the natives. By analyzing these differences and their contexts, we attempt to disclose some underlying factors attributing to existential sentences’ overuse, underuse and expect to provide some learning、pedagogical suggestions, and at the same time prove and revise to a certain extent some SLA theories, such as Output Hypothesis and Language Transfer Theory.The study adopts both quantitative and qualitative empirical methods, with the aid of text retrieval software wordsmith 5.0. Thus we have the immediate access to those linguistic items which are either underused or overused by learners. Based on the quantitative results obtained from the learner corpus WECCL and CLEC, and the native corpora Brown, we will be able to study such phenomena, such as, CL’s overuse and underuse. When discussing the possible causes, we employed qualitative method.The whole thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to the thesis. Chapter two is the literature review consisting of nine sections. Section one is the review of a diachronic analysis of learner English (Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis and Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis), and then the method of studying learner English based on corpora is introduced. The second to the ninth section is a review of the previous studies on existential sentences conducted by linguists, and of the explanations in grammar books. In this chapter, we also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to existential sentences study to find a better way to conduct this study, which is the corpus approach. What should be noted here is that the classification of existential sentences is listed in the seventh section: the Standard pattern (There + be + Indefinite NP (+place or time position adverbial) and its Variants (Variant 1: There + model + be /Variant 2: There + marginal model + be/Variant 3: There + semi-auxiliary + be/Variant 4: There + intransitive verb). Around the patterns of existential sentences the whole thesis is discussed. In Chapter three, the focus turns to the research methodology. Firstly, the corpora employed in the study are described, then we briefly introduce the retrieval software and the statistic test employed in the study, and the procedures of data collection. Chapter Four is the main chapter describing and analyzing systematically the instances and investigates the possible causes of Chinese Learner’s underuse、overuse and misuse of the existential sentences. Chapter Five provides a summary of the investigation and highlights its most important findings. And then we attempt to evaluate the pedagogical value of native and learner corpora in EFL grammar and writing teaching. This chapter also discusses limitations of the study and makes some suggestions for further research.The study has got the answers of the following questions raised at the beginning of the thesis:1. Which pattern(s) of English existential sentences actually exist in native speakers written materials?The English existential sentences which actually exist in natives’ written materials focus on the standard forms and variant 1 of there-be structures.2. What are the overall similarities and differences in the use of English existential sentences between Chinese second language learners and the native English speakers? Both Chinese learners and natives tend to use the standard forms and variant 1 of existential sentences, no matter the positive patterns or the negative ones, and the tenses of these patterns are focused on the simple present tense and simple past tense, other tenses being rarely touched.The difference: Chinese learners more frequently use simple present tense of the standard form and variant 1, the using frequency of simple past tense being far less than that of the natives.3. Do Chinese second language learners incline to underuse or overuse some specific existential sentences?We have checked that there are ten overused types and five underused types of existential sentences.1) All the overused types are in present tense:(1) Six overused types common to all Chinese studentsthere is、there are、there will be、there is no、there is not and there are not(2) Four overused types by Chinese English majors only: there’s、there’s no、there’re and there will be no2) All the underused types are in past tense:There was、There were、There was no、there were no and there had been4. What are the possible causes that underlie the Chinese learners’ overuse or underuse of the English existential sentences?1) The reasons for overusing the above six types: (1) The side-effect of the Grammar book(2) The instruction from English teachers and course books(3) Free variability2) Four overused types by Chinese English majors only:(1) The side effect of oral output causes the overuse of three abbreviational types: there’s、there’s no and there ’re.(2) English majors tend to use adverbial clause of condition. From the files we can see "if... there will be (no)..." appears frequently. So we can infer that the overuse of there will be (no) is the result of the frequently using this conditional clause.3) The reason why the overused are all types in present tense:(1) L1 transfer(2) Interference4) As to all the underused types, for they are all in past tense, we can attribute this phenomenon to L1 transfer.更多还原