Article published in:
Corpus-based Approaches to Spoken L2 Production: Evidence from the Trinity Lancaster Corpus
Edited by Vaclav Brezina, Dana Gablasova and Tony McEnery
[International Journal of Learner Corpus Research 5:2] 2019
► pp. 253–279

Certainty adverbs in spoken learner language

The role of tasks and proficiency

| University of Cambridge
| University of Jaén
Our research examines the use of three stance adverbs of certainty (actually, really and obviously) across B1, B2 and C1 levels in the Trinity Lancaster Corpus (TLC). Particularly, we examined the occurrence of these adverbs in the subset of Spanish L1 speakers from Mexico and Spain. Really, actually and obviously were found to display a distinctive frequency of use across different proficiency levels and the different speaking tasks analysed. Dialogic tasks favoured a more frequent use of really and actually, while obviously was hardly used. Qualitative analyses of the pragmatic functions of really and actually revealed that there is an increase in the use of meanings to express hedging in really and factualness in actually across the proficiency levels. Our research confirms the finding in Gablasova et al. (2017) that the type of speaking task conditions speakers’ repertoire of linguistic devices, although we argue that this conditioning operates on different levels.
Keywords: Spanish EFL learners, stance adverbs, hedging, task effect
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research methodology
    • 2.1The Trinity Lancaster Corpus
    • 2.2Corpus query, data extraction and quantitative data analysis
    • 2.3Qualitative data analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Descriptive statistics
    • 3.2Inferential statistics
      • 3.2.1Levels B1/B2
      • 3.2.2Levels B2/C1
      • 3.2.3Levels B1/C1
      • 3.2.4Summary of findings
      • 3.2.5Looking at L1 nationalities: Spanish and Mexican students compared
    • 3.3Functions and position
      • 3.3.1Really
      • 3.3.2Actually
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Frequency of use increase and tasks (RQ 1 & 2)
    • 4.2Functions across proficiency levels: The emergence of hedging and non-epistemic meanings in the higher proficiency group (RQ 1 & 2)
    • 4.3Same L1, different varieties (RQ 3)
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 September 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijlcr.17019.per
References
Aguado-Jiménez, P., Pérez-Paredes, P. & Sánchez, P.
2012 “Exploring the use of multidimensional analysis of learner language to promote register awareness”. System 40(1), 90–103. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Aijmer, K.
1986 “Why is actually so popular in spoken English?”. In G. Tottie & I. Bäcklund (Eds.), English in Speech and Writing: A Symposium. Uppsala: Studia Anglistica Uppsaliensia, 119–129.Google Scholar
2008 “Modal adverbs in interaction: Obviously and definitely in adolescent speech”. In T. Nevalainen, I. Taavitsainen, P. Pahta & M. Korhonen (Eds.), The Dynamics of Linguistic Variation: Corpus evidence on English past and present. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 61–84. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Alexopoulou, T., Michel, M., Murakami, A. & Meurers, D.
2017 “Task effects on linguistic complexity and accuracy: A large-scale learner corpus analysis employing Natural Language Processing techniques”. Language Learning 67(1), 180–208. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Alonso-Almeida, F.
2012 “Sentential evidential adverbs and authorial stance in a corpus of English computing articles”. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada 25(S1), 15–32.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K.
2013 “Developing L2 pragmatics”. Language Learning 63(1), 68–86. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bartley, L. & Hidalgo-Tenorio, E.
2016 “ ‘Well, I think that my argument is …,’ or modality in a learner corpus of English”. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada 29(1), 1–28. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D.
2006 “Stance in spoken and written university registers”. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 5(2), 97–116. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D. & Finegan, E.
1988 “Adverbial stance types in English”. Discourse Processes 11(1), 1–34. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
1989 “Styles of stance in English: Lexical and grammatical marking of evidentiality and affect”. Text-interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse 9(1), 93–124. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D. & Staples, S.
2014 “Exploring the prosody of stance: Variation in the realization of stance adverbials”. In T. Raso & H. Mello (Eds.), Spoken Corpora and Linguistic Studies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 271–294. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., Finegan, E. & Quirk, R.
1999 Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Brand, C. & Kämmerer, S.
2006 “The Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI): Compiling the German component”. In S. Braun, K. Kohn & J. Mukherjee (Eds.), Corpus Technology and Language Pedagogy. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 127–140.Google Scholar
Buysse, L.
2011 “The business of pragmatics. The case of discourse markers in the speech of students of Business English and English Linguistics”. ITL: International Journal of Applied Linguistics 1611, 10–30. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Çakır, H.
2016 “Native and non-native writers’ use of stance adverbs in English research article abstracts”. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics 61, 85–96. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, W. & Warren, M.
2000 “The Hong Kong Corpus of Spoken English: Language learning through language description”. In L. Burnard & T. McEnery (Eds.), Rethinking Language Pedagogy from a Corpus Perspective . Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 133–144.Google Scholar
Council of Europe
2001 The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Language, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
2018 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Available at https://​rm​.coe​.int​/cefr​-companion​-volume​-with​-new​-descriptors​-2018​/1680787989
Gablasova, D., Brezina, V., McEnery, T. & Boyd, E.
2017 “Epistemic stance in spoken L2 English: The effect of task and speaker style”. Applied Linguistics 38(5), 613–637. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gilquin, G., De Cock, S. & Granger, S.
2010 The Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage. Handbook and CD-ROM. Louvain-La-Neuve: Presses universitaires de Louvain.Google Scholar
Gries, S.
2015 “Statistics for learner corpus research”. In S. Granger, G. Gilquin & F. Meunier (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Learner Corpus Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 159–182. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J. A. & Filipović, L.
2012 Criterial Features in L2 English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hunston, S.
1994 “Evaluation and organisation in a sample of written academic discourse”. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Advances in Written Text Analysis. London: Routledge, 191–218.Google Scholar
Hyland, K.
2002 “Activity and evaluation: Reporting practices in academic writing”. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic Discourse. New York: Longman, 115–130.Google Scholar
Hyland, K. & Milton, J.
1997 “Qualification and certainty in L1 and L2 students’ writing”. Journal of Second Language Writing 16(2), 183–205. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychly, P. & Suchomel, V.
2014 “The Sketch Engine: Ten years on”. Lexicography, 1(1), 7–36. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Liu, R. & Ren, P.
2012 “A corpus-based comparative study of the expressions of attitudinal stance adverbs between Chinese and English students’ written English”. Journal of Educational Institute of Jilin Province 121, 126–127.Google Scholar
Myers, G.
2010 “Stance-taking and public discussion in blogs”. Critical Discourse Studies 7(4), 263–275. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, J.
2009 “The grammar of conversation in advanced spoken learner English: learner corpus data and language-pedagogical implications”. In K. Aijmer (Ed.), Corpora and Language Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 203–230. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
O’Keeffe, A. & Mark, G.
2017 “The English Grammar Profile of learner competence. Methodology and key findings”. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 22(4), 457–489. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Peacock, M.
2015 “Stance adverbials in research writing”. Ibérica: Revista de la Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos (AELFE) 291, 35–62.Google Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P.
2010 “The death of the adverb revisited: Attested uses of adverbs in native and non-native comparable corpora of spoken English”. In M. Moreno Jaén, F. Serrano Valverde & M. Calzada Pérez (Eds.), Exploring New Paths in Language Pedagogy. Lexis and Corpus-based Language Teaching. London: Equinox, 157–172.Google Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P. Hernández, P. & Aguado-Jiménez, P.
2011 “The use of adverbial hedges in EAP students’ oral performance”. In V. Bhatia, P. Sánchez Hernández & P. Pérez-Paredes (Eds.), Researching Specialized Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 95–114. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P. & Sánchez-Tornel, M.
2014 “Adverb use and language proficiency in young learners’ writing”. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 19(2), 178–200. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2015 “A multidimensional analysis of learner language during story reconstruction in interviews”. In M. Callies & S. Götz (Eds.), Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 141–162.Google Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P. & Bueno, C.
2019 “A corpus-driven analysis of certainty stance adverbs: obviously, really and actually in spoken native and learner English”. Journal of Pragmatics 1401, 22–32. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P. & Mark, G.
forthcoming. “Adverbs in spoken English. A corpus-based analysis of learner and native-speaker language and its pedagogic implications”.
Philip, G.
2008 “Adverb use in EFL student writing: from learner dictionary to text production”. In Proceedings of EURALEX XIII International Congress. http://​amsacta​.unibo​.it​/2436​/1​/EURALEX2008​.pdf (12 September 2017).
Romero-Trillo, J.
2002 “The pragmatic fossilization of discourse markers in non-native speakers of English”. Journal of Pragmatics 34(6), 769–784. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schleppegrell, M. J.
2004 The Language of Schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. London: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Waters, C.
2008 “Actually, it’s more than pragmatics, it’s really grammaticalization”. Toronto working Papers in Linguistics. Toronto: Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto. http://​twpl​.library​.utoronto​.ca​/index​.php​/twpl​/article​/view​/6537 (10 September 2017).
Werner, V.
2017 “Adversative pragmatic markers in learner language: A cross-sectional perspective”. Corpus Pragmatics 1(2), 135–158. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, G. Q. & Sabet, P. G.
2014 “Elastic ‘I think’: stretching over L1 and L2”. Applied Linguistics 37(3), 334–353. CrossrefGoogle Scholar