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http://dx.doi.org/10.5392/IJoC.2014.10.4.048

A Corpus-Based Study on Korean EFL Learners' Use of English Logical Connectors

Ha, Myung-Jeong (Department of English Language and Literature Sangmyung University)

Publication Information

International Journal of Contents / v.10, no.4, 2014 , pp. 48-52 More about this Journal

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine 30 logical connectors in the essay writing of Korean university students for comparison with the use in similar types of native English writing. The main questions addressed were as follows: Do Korean EFL students tend to over- or underuse logical connectors? What types of connectors differentiate Korean learners from native use? To answer these questions, EFL learner data were compared with data from native speakers using computerized corpora and linguistic software tools to speed up the initial stage of the linguistic analysis. The analysis revealed that Korean EFL learners tend to overuse logical connectors in the initial position of the sentence, and that they tend to overuse additive connectors such as 'moreover', 'besides', and 'furthermore', whereas they underuse contrastive connectors such as 'yet' and 'instead'. On the basis of the results of this study, some pedagogical implications are made concerning the need for teaching of the semantic, stylistic, and syntactic behavior of logical connectors.

Keywords

Logical Connectors; L2 Writing; Learner Corpus; Cohesion;

Citations & Related Records

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