學術謹慎語在應用語言學上的使用研究
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2015
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本文欲探討謹慎語的使用情況，謹慎語在學術寫作中扮演重要的角色。儘管在過去的學術論文已為廣泛，但是，之前的研究較著重在單字詞範疇裡。相對而言，僅少數研究著重於分析以引導性子句標記的謹慎語。因此，為進一步了解謹慎語在台灣英文學術寫作中的使用情況，本研究建構了三個語料庫，以分析三組之間的異同之處。
本文所研究的領域為應用語言學，三個語料庫分別為第二語言、母語與期刊語料庫。第二語言語料庫係由四十四篇台灣研究生著作的學術論文組成。母語語料庫則涵蓋五十一篇的學術論文，由美國俄亥俄州內許多間大學的碩士生所著。期刊語料庫則包含了一百一十篇期刊文章。
藉由比較和分析，本研究的幾項主要結果如下: (一) 第二語言學習者使用謹慎語的頻率較母語者和期刊學者高，可能是因為他們常重複地使用某些動詞所致。 (二)虛主詞引導的子句中，以動詞引導的子句(例:It seems/appears that)為最被廣泛使用，三組結果皆一致。(三) 相較於其他兩組而言，第二語言學習者較少使用以形容詞引導的子句(例:It is possible that)。(四)第二語言學習者較少使用以第一人稱的指稱詞表示主觀立場。
此外，研究亦發現在某些引導子句中，第二語言學習者傾向使用一些意思較為簡單或者口語上較為頻繁的動詞。學習者之所以有該傾向可能是從會話中習得而來或者他們認為該類動詞使用上方便容易，不易造成誤用的結果。
概括來說，從語料庫當中得知，以引導性子句標記的謹慎語在三組語料庫中使用廣泛。值得注意的是，第二語言學習者和其他兩組仍有些不同之處。因此，他們可能需要教師的引導，進而發現與母語者和期刊學者的相異之處，以便改進。最後，研究亦探討了第二語言學習者使用某些結構背後的理由，可有助於教學上的使用，使學習者能更靈活運用學術寫作技巧。
The thesis aims to examine the use of hedges. Hedges play an important part in academic writing. Despite the fact that hedges have been widely explored, previous studies focus more on single-word hedges. Not many studies have focused on the exploration of multi-word hedges. To have a better understanding of how hedges are used in Taiwanese academic writing, three corpora are built in the present study to analyze the similarities and differences. The academic field selected for research is applied linguistics. Three corpora ( L2, native, and journal) are built to compare and contrast the differences in the use of multi-word hedges. L2 corpus is compiled with 44 master’s theses in applied linguistics from Taiwanese universities. Native corpus comprises 51 master’s theses in Ohio universities. Journal corpus contains 110 journal articles. After comparing and analyzing three sets of data, some of the major findings are summarized as follows. Firstly, L2 writers use hedges more frequently than native and journal groups, which might be attributed to the fact that they tend to rely heavily on certain hedges. Secondly, the verb controlled it clauses (e.g. It seems / appears that) are the highest in number, which was consistently found in three groups. Thirdly, compared with native and journal groups, L2 writers displayed fewer instances of it clause controlled by adjectives (e.g. It is possible that). Lastly, L2 writers use first person clauses less often to express subjectivity. In addition, the present study also discovers that L2 tend to use colloquial verbs or verbs with simple meaning more frequently than the native and journal writers. This might be due to the fact that it is more convenient to use, which would cause less misunderstanding. In summary, multi-word hedges have been found to be a rhetorical strategy extensively used in all the three corpora. It is worth noting that L2 learners are found to differ from native and journal writers in certain areas. Therefore, L2 learners might need to be guided by teachers to point out the areas they differ from natives’ or journal writers’ writing. The present study has discovered some reasons behind the structural usage which might be helpful in assisting L2 writers when writing academic papers. They could more flexibly use this kind of rhetorical strategy and improve their writing skills.
The thesis aims to examine the use of hedges. Hedges play an important part in academic writing. Despite the fact that hedges have been widely explored, previous studies focus more on single-word hedges. Not many studies have focused on the exploration of multi-word hedges. To have a better understanding of how hedges are used in Taiwanese academic writing, three corpora are built in the present study to analyze the similarities and differences. The academic field selected for research is applied linguistics. Three corpora ( L2, native, and journal) are built to compare and contrast the differences in the use of multi-word hedges. L2 corpus is compiled with 44 master’s theses in applied linguistics from Taiwanese universities. Native corpus comprises 51 master’s theses in Ohio universities. Journal corpus contains 110 journal articles. After comparing and analyzing three sets of data, some of the major findings are summarized as follows. Firstly, L2 writers use hedges more frequently than native and journal groups, which might be attributed to the fact that they tend to rely heavily on certain hedges. Secondly, the verb controlled it clauses (e.g. It seems / appears that) are the highest in number, which was consistently found in three groups. Thirdly, compared with native and journal groups, L2 writers displayed fewer instances of it clause controlled by adjectives (e.g. It is possible that). Lastly, L2 writers use first person clauses less often to express subjectivity. In addition, the present study also discovers that L2 tend to use colloquial verbs or verbs with simple meaning more frequently than the native and journal writers. This might be due to the fact that it is more convenient to use, which would cause less misunderstanding. In summary, multi-word hedges have been found to be a rhetorical strategy extensively used in all the three corpora. It is worth noting that L2 learners are found to differ from native and journal writers in certain areas. Therefore, L2 learners might need to be guided by teachers to point out the areas they differ from natives’ or journal writers’ writing. The present study has discovered some reasons behind the structural usage which might be helpful in assisting L2 writers when writing academic papers. They could more flexibly use this kind of rhetorical strategy and improve their writing skills.
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學術寫作, 謹慎語, 語料庫, academic writing, hedges, corpus analysis