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Article published In:
International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
Vol. 27:2 (2022) ► pp.139–165

Verb form error detection in written English of Chinese EFL learners

A study based on Link Grammar and Pattern Grammar

ORCID logo | University of International Business and Economics
| Beihang University

In the past few decades, researchers have paid increasing attention to automatic error detection in natural languages, but few have focused on developing an error-checking tool for EFL learners in China. Based on the theory of Pattern Grammar, this study formalizes verb patterns through Link Grammar, a formal grammatical system developed by Sleator and Temperley (1991), and reconstructs an Link Grammar verb dictionary to create an automatic checking tool for verb form errors in Chinese learners’ written English. The test results show that by importing more detailed pattern information of verbs in the Link Grammar dictionary, the Link Grammar parser can identify verb form errors more accurately and effectively than the original and the parsing capability of the Link Grammar parser is improved. The article shows that Pattern Grammar and Link Grammar can work together and be applied to the construction of error-checking tools for EFL learners with promising results.

Keywords: grammar check, verb form error, Pattern Grammar, Link Grammar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Link Grammar as formal grammatical system
  • 3.Pattern grammar as the natural language model
  • 4.Research design
  • 5.Reconstruction of the LG dictionary of verbs
    • 5.1Formalization of the central verb and descriptive items
    • 5.2Formalization of actual lexical items in verb patterns
    • 5.3Importing verbs into the LG dictionary and writing LG rules
    • 5.4Other adjustments
  • 6.Testing the extended LG dictionary of verbs
    • 6.1Testing results
    • 6.2Analysis of the test results
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 13 April 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19107.che
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