Cover not available
Article published In:
International Journal of Learner Corpus Research
Vol. 10:2 (2024) ► pp.338–364

The effect of linguistic and extralinguistic features on EFL adverb placement

A partial replication study of Larsson et al. (2020)

 | Northern Arizona University
 | Northern Arizona University
Larsson et al. (2020) emphasize the importance of taking linguistic variables (e.g., verb type) into consideration in studies of adverb placement. This study looks at the positional distribution of 15 epistemic adverbs from texts written by L1 Turkish, German, and English students, with the aim of testing whether the findings from Larsson et al. can be generalized to a different register (argumentative writing) and a typologically more distant language (Turkish). We also revisit the question of whether there is L1 transfer. The results confirm Larsson et al.’s finding that the main predictors of adverb placement are linguistic, although some register differences were noted, such as higher frequencies of adverbs in the argumentative texts. Furthermore, the L1 Turkish students made especially frequent use of the clause-initial position (e.g., probably she is here).
Keywords: adverb placement, epistemic adverbs, EFL writing, argumentative texts, transfer
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous research on adverbs and adverb placement
  • 3.Corpora and method
    • 3.1Corpora
    • 3.2Method
      • 3.2.1Classifying adverb placement
      • 3.2.2Coding for linguistic features
      • 3.2.3Tests of inter-rater reliability and statistical analysis
      • 3.2.4Frameworks for detection of possible L1 transfer
      • 3.2.5Typological differences: English vs. Turkish and German
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1The effect of linguistic and extralinguistic factors on adverb placement
    • 4.2The possible effect of register
    • 4.3The possible effect of L1 transfer
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 May 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijlcr.00046.ozk
References (43)
References
Anthony, L. (2023). AntConc (Version 4.2.4) [Computer Software]. [URL]
Biber, D. (2006). Stance in spoken and written university registers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5 (2), 97–116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre and style. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Gray, B., & Staples, S. (2016). Predicting patterns of grammatical complexity across language exam task types and proficiency levels. Applied Linguistics, 37 (5), 639–668. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S. & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Longman.Google Scholar
Buaillon, E., Allen, C. J. H., & D’Arcy, A. (2020). English adverb placement in the vernacular: A longitudinal perspective. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 26 (2), 20–30.Google Scholar
Buz, Yusuf. (2016). Turkish grammar in practice. Foxton Books.Google Scholar
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Council of Europe. [URL]
Crace, A., & Acklam, R. (2006). Total English upper intermediate. Longman.Google Scholar
Downing, A. (2001). “Surely you knew!” Surely as a marker of evidentiality and stance. Functions of Language, 8 (2), 253–285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gamer, M., & Lemon, J. (2019). irr: Various coefficients of interrater reliability and agreement. (Version 0.84.1) [Computer software]. [URL]
Gilquin, G., De Cock, S., & Granger, S. (Eds.). (2010). LINDSEI: Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage. UCL Presses.Google Scholar
Göksel, A., & Kerslake, C. (2005). Turkish: A comprehensive grammar. Routledge.Google Scholar
Goulart, L. (2021). Register variation in L1 and L2 student writing: A multidimensional analysis. Register Studies, 3 (1), 115–143. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Granath, S. (2002). The position of the adverb certainly will make a difference. English Today, 18 (1), 25–30.Google Scholar
Granger, S. (2015). Contrastive interlanguage analysis: A reappraisal. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1 (1), 7–24.Google Scholar
Granger, S., Dupont, M., & Meunier, F. (2020). International Corpus of Learner English (Version 3). Presses universitaires de Louvain.Google Scholar
Hasselgård, H. (2010). Adjunct adverbials in English. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hober, N., Dixon, T., & Larsson, T. (2023). Toward increased reliability and transparency in projects with manual linguistic coding. Corpora, 18 (2), 245–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hothorn, T., Hornik, K., & Zeileis, A. (2006). Unbiased recursive partitioning: A conditional inference framework. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 15 (3), 651–674. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, S. (2000). Methodological rigor in the study of transfer: Identifying L1 influence in the interlanguage lexicon. Language Learning, 50 (2), 245–309. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33 1, 159–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larsson, T., Callies, M., Dixon, T., Hasselgård, H., Hober, N., Laso, J. N., Vuuren, S., Verdaguer, I., & Paquot, M. (forthcoming). Adverb placement in L1 and L2 spoken production: The effect of linguistic and extralinguistic factors. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics.Google Scholar
Larsson, T., Callies, M., Hasselgård, H., Laso, J. N., Vuuren, S., Verdaguer, I., & Paquot, M. (2020). Adverb placement in EFL academic writing: Going beyond syntactic transfer. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 25 (2), 155–184. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larsson, T., Paquot, M., & Biber, D. (2021). On the importance of register in learner writing: A multi-dimensional approach. In E. Seaone & D. Biber (Eds.), Corpus-based Approaches to Register Variation (pp. 235–258). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, H. B. (1989). Korean grammar. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Levshina, N. (2015). How to do linguistics with R. John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewis, G. (2000). Turkish grammar. Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Osborne, J. (2008). Adverb placement in post-intermediate learner English: A contrastive study of learner corpora. In G. Gilquin, S. Papp, & M. B. Díez-Bedmar (Eds.), Linking up contrastive and learner corpus research (pp. 127–146). Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paquot, M. (2007). EAP vocabulary in EFL learner writing: From extraction to analysis: A phraseology-oriented approach [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Université catholique de Louvain.
Pérez-Paredes, P., & Bueno-Alastuey, M. C. (2019). A corpus-driven analysis of certainty stance adverbs: obviously, really and actually in spoken native and learner English. Journal of Pragmatics, 140 1(2019), 22–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2023). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. [URL]
Ringbom, H. (2007). Cross-linguistic similarity in foreign language learning. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Ringbom, H., & Jarvis, S. (2009). The importance of cross-linguistic similarity in foreign language learning. In H. Michael & C. J. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 106–118). Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Selinker, L. (1992). Rediscovering interlanguage. Longman.Google Scholar
Shin, G.-H., & Jung, B. K. (2021). Automatic analysis of passive constructions in Korean: Written production by Mandarin-speaking learners of Korean. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 7 (1), 53–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shin, J.-A., & Christianson, K. (2009). Syntactic processing in Korean-English bilingual production: Evidence from cross-linguistic structural priming. Cognition, 112 (1), 175–180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slobin, D. I., & Bever, T. G. (1982). Children use canonical sentence schemas: A crosslinguistic study of word order and inflections. Cognition, 12 (3), 229–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Vuuren, S., Berns, J., & Bank, M. (2022). Strategies of clausal postmodification in learner English: L1 effects and L2 proficiency. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 8 (2), 157–189. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Waters, C. (2013). Transatlantic variation in English adverb placement. Language Variation and Change, 25 1, 179–200. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, L. (1991). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: Some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin (Utrecht), 7 (2), 133–161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar