Signalling nouns are nouns which have cohesive properties across and within clauses. A signalling noun is potentially any abstract noun the full meaning of which can only be made specific by reference to its context. Examples of nouns which can function as signalling nouns are attitude, assistance, difficulty, endurance, process, reason, result etc. Signalling nouns in discourse are closely associated with nominalisation and are problematic for learners. Based on a corpus of argumentative essays written by Cantonese L1 learners of English, this paper presents a taxonomy of error types and frequency data of the different error types in the use of signalling nouns. The paper then compares the average number of signalling nouns used per essay with grades awarded to the essays, on the one hand, and the numbers of signalling noun errors according to grades, on the other. In both cases there is a significant correlation. The findings confirm the intuitive idea that the use of signalling nouns adds to the overall coherence of a text.
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2017. Complex anaphora with this: variation between three written argumentative genres. Corpora 12:1 ► pp. 115 ff.
Crosthwaite, Peter
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EunJooLee
2008. An analysis of corpus-based research on TEFL and applied linguistics.. English Teaching 63:2 ► pp. 283 ff.
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2010. On the use of demonstrative pronouns and determiners as cohesive devices: A focus on sentence-initial this/these in academic prose. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9:3 ► pp. 167 ff.
Gómez González, María de los Ángeles
2010. Evaluating lexical cohesion in telephone conversations. Discourse Studies 12:5 ► pp. 599 ff.
Gómez González, María de los Ángeles
2011. Lexical cohesion in multiparty conversations. Language Sciences 33:1 ► pp. 167 ff.
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2018. Nominal stance construction in IELTS tests. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 34 ► pp. 1 ff.
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2015. Nominal stance construction in L1 and L2 students' writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 20 ► pp. 90 ff.
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2019. On the anaphoric use of demonstratives this/these in L2 academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 38 ► pp. 62 ff.
Liu, Kanglong, Joyce Oiwun Cheung & Nan Zhao
2022. Learner corpus research in Hong Kong: past, present and future. Corpora 17:Supplement ► pp. 79 ff.
Luzón, María José
2009. The use of we in a learner corpus of reports written by EFL Engineering students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 8:3 ► pp. 192 ff.
McGee, I.
2012. Collocation Dictionaries as Inductive Learning Resources in Data-Driven Learning - An Analysis and Evaluation. International Journal of Lexicography 25:3 ► pp. 319 ff.
2024. Development of clausal and phrasal complexity in L2 writing: A case of argumentative essays of Korean college students. English for Specific Purposes 73 ► pp. 46 ff.
Su, Hang, Yuqing Zhang & Meng Huat Chau
2022. Exemplification in Chinese English-major MA students' and expert writers’ academic writing: A local grammar based investigation. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 58 ► pp. 101120 ff.
Sun-Young Oh
2014. Use of Signaling Nouns in Published and Korean Student Academic Writing in Applied Linguistics. English Teaching 69:1 ► pp. 147 ff.
Tåqvist, Marie Kristin
2018. “A wise decision”: Pre-modification of discourse-organising nouns in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 41 ► pp. 14 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 26 november 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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