Overview

This book explores the usage patterns of a group of adversative and concessive conjunctions in English texts written by Chinese EFL learners and their native speaker counterparts. Focusing on probability profiles and systemic potentials, the study encompasses three stages and combines the strengths of two research methods – the corpus-based approach and text-based analysis – to examine the conjunctions under the theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics and rhetorical structure theory. Starting with an overview of seventeen conjunctions across two corpora in terms of overall frequency, positional distribution and distribution of semantic categories, the book then offers a more detailed discussion of three individual conjunctions, highlighting the interconnections between 1) syntactic positions and co-occurrence patterns and 2) semantic relations encoded by these conjunctions. Lastly, it presents a case study of one full-length text taken from the learner corpus, applyingrhetorical structure theory to provide new insights into the relevance of adversative and concessive relations to text structure. This comprehensive, in-depth analysis is both diagnostic and pedagogically informative.

Full Product Details

Author:   Yan Zhang
Publisher:   Springer Verlag, Singapore
Imprint:   Springer Verlag, Singapore
Edition:   1st ed. 2021
Weight:   0.391kg
ISBN:  

9789811578397

ISBN 10:   9811578397
Pages:   234
Publication Date:   03 October 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

1 Complexity of adversative and concessive conjunctions1.1 Comparing different approaches to conjunction1.1.1 Conjunctions and linking adverbials in traditional grammar1.1.2 Systemic functional linguistic approach to clause-complexing1.1.3 Previous research on linking adverbials and conjunctions in L2 writing1.2 Adversative and concessive relations: some basic distinctions1.2.1 Adversative and concessive relation in the system of clause-complexing1.2.2 Antithesis, neutral contrast and concession in Rhetorcial Structure Theory1.2.3 Semantic opposition, denial-of-expectation and correction1.3 Overview of the present book2 A combined method of corpus-based and text-based analysis of adversative andconcessive conjunctions2.1 Corpus-based Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) description2.1.1 Corpora description2.1.2 Corpus analysis procedures2.2 Text-based analysis: Using SFL-based textual analysis and Rhetorical StructureTheory (RST) analysis3 Adversative and concessive conjunctions: Comparing frequency distribution acrosstwo corpora3.1 Overall frequency and distribution of inter-dependency types: Structural vs.cohesive conjunctions3.2 Distribution of semantic categories: Adversative vs. concessive3.3 A complementary view: Circumstantial argumentation vs. clause-complexingand conjunction3.4 Syntactic distribution3.4.1 Syntactic distribution of structural conjunctions3.4.2 Syntactic distribution of cohesive conjunctions3.5 Chapter summary4 Analyzing structural conjunction but by investigating its co-occurrence patterns4.1 Overview of most frequent co-occurrence patterns of but across two corpora4.2 Analysis of but in fact4.2.1 Co-occurrence of but in fact in the native corpus4.2.2 Co-occurrence of but in fact in the learner corpus4.3 Analysis of but I think4.3.1 Functions of but I think in the native corpus4.3.2 Functions of but I think in the learner corpus4.4 Chapter summary5 Analyzing cohesive conjunction however by investigating its syntactic positions and agnation structures5.1 Positional distribution of however across two corpora5.2 Analysis of sentence-initial however5.2.1 Sentence-initial however for adversative extension5.2.2 Sentence-initial however for concessive enhancement5.3 Analysis of the major variants of medial position however5.3.1 Functions of post-subject however5.3.2 Functions of however after an initial circumstantial Adjunct5.3.3 Functions of paratactic use of however5.4 Chapter summary6 Text-based analysis of adversative and concessive conjunctions6.1 An overview of the text-based analysis: Extending SFL-based text analysis byRhetorical Structure Theory6.2 SFL-based textual analysis6.2.1 Thematic interpretation6.2.2 Instantiation patterns of clause-complexing and CONJUNCTION6.3 Applying RST analysis to highlight the relevance of adversative and concessiverelations to text structure6.4 Chapter summary7 Conclusion7.1 Summary of findings 7.2 Limitations of the study 7.2 Pedagogical implications

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Author Information

Dr. Yan Zhang holds a Ph.D. in English Linguistics from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research focuses on corpus-based study of L2 writing applying systemic functional linguistics, and her recent work has been published in Digital Scholarship in the Humanities. Dr. Zhang is also an award-winning teacher, teaching EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses with a focus on chemical and environmental engineering to undergraduate and graduate level students at East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai, China.

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