Linking or delinking of ideas?

Abstract This paper explores the use of adversative Linking Adverbials (LAs) in the academic writing of advanced English Foreign Language (EFL) learners with different linguistic backgrounds. The learner corpus used in this study consists of 50 argumentative texts, which are contrasted with a native corpus: the American university students’ corpus (LOCNESS). Liu’s (2008) comprehensive list of adversative LAs has been used for the analysis. Findings reveal that both non-native (NNS) and native speakers of English (NS) use similar types of adversative LAs, but NNS place them regularly in sentence- and sometimes in paragraph- initial position, which often results in punctuation issues and misuse. A total of 9 LAs were found to be overused (e.g., nevertheless) and underused (e.g., actually) by NNS. The analysis performed according to L1 has yielded unexpected results in terms of preference, frequency, and placement of adversative LAs. The so-called ‘teaching effect’ is considered one of the main factors influencing the learners’ choices.

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Linguistic Markers and Stylistic Attributes of Hedging in English Academic Papers Written by Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

MANUSYA ◽

10.1163/26659077-01801001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Amara Prasithrathsint

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Language Use ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Linguistic Markers ◽

Native Speakers Of English ◽

English Academic Writing ◽

The Impact

Hedging means mitigating words so as to lessen the impact of an utterance. It may cause uncertainty in language but is regarded as an important feature in English academic writing. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the style of academic writing in English with particular reference to the significant role of hedging and the linguistic features that mark it. The data was taken from academic articles in the humanities written by native speakers of English, Filipino speakers of English, and Thai speakers of English. It is hypothesized that speakers of English as a foreign language use fewer and different hedging devices than native speakers of English. The result of the analysis shows that the prominent linguistic markers of hedging are the auxiliaries may, might, could, the verbs suggest, appear, seem, and the adverbs perhaps and often. They are divided into three groups according to their stylistic attributes of hedging; namely, probability, indetermination, and approximation. The use of hedging found in the data confirms what Hyman (1994) says; i.e., that hedging allows writers to express their uncertainty about the truth of their statements. It is also found that English native speakers use hedges most frequently. The Filipino speakers of English are the second, and the Thai speakers of English use hedges the least frequency. This implies that hedging is likely to be related to the level of competence in English including knowledge of stylistic variation, and that it needs to be formally taught to those who speak English as a second or foreign language.

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The language of quoting in academic writing

Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1075/dujal.4.1.10ver ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 101-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lieke Verheijen

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Fundamental Aspect ◽

Corpus Study ◽

Linguistic Differences ◽

Academic Texts ◽

Efl Students ◽

Native Speakers Of English ◽

Lexical Items

Because quotation is a fundamental aspect of academic texts, this corpus study examines the language of quoting in (L2) academic writing. To find out whether there are subtle linguistic differences in the use of quotation by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and professional academics who are native speakers of English (NSE), I compare two corpora of scholarly writings: one by upper intermediate and advanced EFL students and one by NSE experts. 1201 Quotes were extracted from the writings and examined for a broad range of lexico-grammatical features relevant to using quotes, including introductions to quotes, lexical items in introducing quotes, ‘special’ quotes, and punctuation surrounding quotes. The findings make clear that EFL students and NSE experts differ significantly on various points in their language of quoting. Making students aware of these differences could make their academic writing more professional, native-like, and sophisticated.

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Exploring Metadiscourse Use in Thesis Abstracts: A Cross-Cultural Study

Journal of English Language and Culture ◽

10.30813/jelc.v9i2.1689 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Ardi Nugroho

Keyword(s):

Academic Writing ◽

English Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Writing Studies ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Language And Culture ◽

American Students ◽

Integral Role ◽

Native Speakers Of English

The use of metadiscourse in academic writing has become a topic of interest in recent years. It can be defined as the words and phrases that writers use in their writing to express their ideas and thoughts to make it easier for readers to process the information presented. It is especially crucial in academic writing since writers are expected to present their arguments in an appropriate and acceptable manner. It has also been said that culture plays a role influencing how arguments and ideas are expressed, especially in academic writing. Although metadiscourse plays an integral role in academic writing, studies have shown how EFL learners often make mistakes in employing this linguistic device. From this, the writer would like to explore the metadiscourse produced by Indonesian EFL learners and compare it with how native speakers of English employ metadiscourse in their writing. In other words, this study is basically an attempt to find out whether the metadiscourse produced by the two groups with different cultural backgrounds are different or similar. The source of data for the current study is the metadiscourse markers from the thesis abstracts of students of the English Language and Culture Department at Bunda Mulia University and American students from a university in the U.S. In order to analyze the metadiscourse markers found in the thesis abstracts of the Indonesian and American students, the writer will make use of the AntConc software version 3.5.6 by Anthony (2018). The result of the study reveals that there are some differences and similarities in the way both group of students employed these markers.Keywords: metadiscourse, thesis abstracts, Indonesian and American students

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The Encoding of Field in EFL Learners' Academic Writing in English

International Linguistics Research ◽

10.30560/ilr.v4n1p14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. p14

Author(s):

Budi Rahayu

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Foreign Language Teaching ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Text Production ◽

The Subject ◽

Material Process ◽

Argumentative Texts

One of the problems in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is the teachers’ lack of knowledge on the process of the students’ text production, which seems to have not been adequately explored and described. This research aims to describe the process of encoding of Field in EFL learners' academic writing in English, especially argumentative texts, focusing on how students produce the texts and why they produce the texts as they do. A Mixed method is applied in this research; Qualitative data is collected from interviews and quantitative data is compiled from the texts produced by a group of 25 Indonesian university students, who become the subject of this research. The findings show that Indonesian students, when writing English argumentative texts, use mostly Material process, Relational process, and Mental process. Furthermore, the students mostly use Circumstance of Reason, Time and Circumstance of Degree. These types of Processes and Circumstances are encoded in the text for the reasons of elaborating, explaining, and expressing opinions, based on the question asked. In other words, the encoding of Field seems to be influenced by the question or prompt given. This has given an idea of how foreign language teaching should be conducted.

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Supervisors’ Perspectives on Graduate Students’ Problems in Academic Writing

European Journal of Educational Research ◽

10.12973/eu-jer.11.1.545 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 545-556

Author(s):

Omar Moh'd ◽

Yasser Al-Shboul ◽

Ibrahim Fathi

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

Comprehensive Analysis ◽

Writing Apprehension ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Studying Abroad ◽

Theoretical Perspectives

Writing is very important for learners; it is a dynamic and creative skill. Although studies on students’ problems when writing a dissertation among Native Speakers (NS) are widely done, studies on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) are limited, especially those which examine problems faced while writing dissertations among Ph.D. EFL learners, in particular, Jordanian Ph.D. candidates. Studies on the supervisors' perspectives of writing a dissertation are scarce among EFL learners, particularly Arab learners. This study aims at focusing on supervisors' perspectives of writing dissertations among Jordanian Ph.D. students who are studying abroad. This study is a qualitative case study. The researchers interviewed nine Malaysian supervisors who supervised 21 Jordanian Ph.D. candidates. The results show that six main themes emerged from the supervisors' perspectives, and they are grammatical mistakes, lack of vocabulary and verbs reporting, personal effects, lack of motivation, writing apprehension, and the problem with generic thesis structure. This paper contributes with a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical perspectives on problems Ph.D. students face when writing a dissertation. The study also fills in the gap in the field of supervisors' perspectives of writing a dissertation. Based on the results found, the researchers suggest a number of recommendations and further research that might help supervisors understand the reasons behind such difficulties.

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Development of Multi-word Sequences by Adolescent EFL Learners through Online Interaction

English Today ◽

10.1017/s0266078416000201 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 27-32

Author(s):

Yen-Liang Lin

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Computer Mediated Communication ◽

Human Communication ◽

Mediated Communication ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Efl Context ◽

Computer Mediated ◽

Wide Range ◽

Native Speakers Of English

The term Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) has been widely used since the 1990s to refer to a wide range of computer technology that facilitates human communication through the Internet, and applied linguists are increasingly concerning themselves with the influence of computer networks on language use (Crystal, 2006; Hassan & Hashim, 2009; Lewin & Donner, 2002). In the English as a foreign language (EFL) context, text-based CMC has been widely adopted as a learning tool as it provides learners with authentic input, as well as opportunities to communicate with native speakers of English and to participate in the target social and cultural contexts (Liaw & Master, 2010; Lin, 2015; Sasaki, 2010).

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Stance-taking: reporting verbs in citations in EFL undergraduate theses

DELTA Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada ◽

10.1590/1678-460x202153318 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Pamela Olmos-Lopez

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Corpus Linguistics ◽

English Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

Mexican Students ◽

Authorial Identity ◽

Educational Implications ◽

Native Speakers Of English

ABSTRACT L2 writers tend to have difficulties in using reporting verbs (Bloch, 2010) because the choosing of reporting verb needs some considerations: the stance of the author whose claims are being reported, the stance of the writer, and the interpretation of the writer (Thompson and Ye, 1991). This article explores stance-taking in reporting verbs in the context of citations in undergraduate theses written by Mexican students in English as a Foreign Language. The corpus consists of thirty undergraduate theses written by non-native speakers of English in the field of English Language Teaching. I use corpus linguistics tools, i.e., concordances for the analysis of stance-taking which makes the expressions observable in their context. The findings show that undergraduates use reporting verbs to express their stance in their theses and that this varies depending on the chapter. This paper suggests a category of reporting verbs that is commonly used in EFL academic writing within the ELT discipline. I propose some educational implications, stressing the need to make students and their instructors aware that the choice of reporting verbs is not just a matter of stylistic choice, but it can be an expression of authorial identity.

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A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of the Logical Connector ‘Thus’ in the Academic Writing of Turkish EFL Learners

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v10n2p64 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 64

Author(s):

Serpil Ucar ◽

Ceyhun Yukselir

Keyword(s):

Likelihood Ratio ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

American English ◽

Advanced Learners ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Log Likelihood ◽

Log Likelihood Ratio ◽

Effect Relation ◽

Academic Genre

This research was conducted to investigate how frequently Turkish advanced learners of English use the logical connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose and to investigate whether it was overused, underused or misused semantically in comparison to English native speakers. The data were collected from three corpora; Corpus of Contemporary American English and 20 scientific articles of native speakers as control corpora, and 20 scientific articles of Turkish advanced EFL learners. The raw frequencies, frequencies per million words, frequencies per text and log-likelihood ratio were measured so as to compare varieties across the three corpora. The findings revealed that Turkish learners of English showed underuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose compared to native speakers. Additionally, they did not demonstrate misuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’. Nevertheless, non-native learners of English tended to use this connector in a resultative role (cause-effect relation) more frequently whereas native speakers used it in appositional and summative roles more as well as its resultative role. Furthermore, the most frequent occurrences of ‘thus’ have been in academic genre.

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English as a Lingua Franca Approach: Implications and Limitations in Saudi English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal ◽

10.14738/assrj.812.11355 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 96-104

Author(s):

Samar Alharbi

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Lingua Franca ◽

English As Foreign Language ◽

The World ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Native Speakers Of English ◽

Foreign Language Classrooms ◽

Global Language

English language considers a global language spoken by a majority of people around the world. It is a language used mainly for communication, trades and study purposes. This widespread of English language being wildly spoken lead to different varieties of English as a lingua franca (ELF) means that non native speakers of English still be able to communicate with each other. Using ELF as a legitimate variety of English in language classrooms is questioned by some researchers. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of ELF. It will also present implications and limitations of using ELF in Saudi English as foreign language classrooms.

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Teaching English in India —The Use of Technologically Enhanced Realia in the Classroom

Studies in English Language Teaching ◽

10.22158/selt.v2n2p149 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 149

Author(s):

Priya K. Nair

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Mother Tongue ◽

Teaching English ◽

Job Market ◽

Native Speakers Of English ◽

Listening And Speaking ◽

Speaking Skills

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies.

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