The Use Of Repetition By Chinese Students In English Oral Narratives

This paper investigates the use of repetition by native speakers of Chinese while expressing their ideas in oral English narrative. The aim is to promote a thorough understanding of the role repetition plays in oral English by Chinese speakers.Repetition concerned in this paper is primarily a device used to create a discourse and to contribute to the emotional involvement of listener. This research is utilized to prove that (1) significant differences in the use of repetition exist between two groups of adult native speakers of Chinese when they produce their speeches in English, and (2) there is a tendency for each group to use specific kinds of repetition in English Narrative.This study shows that some common features and significant differences in repetition strategy use exist between the two groups, and there is a tendency for each group to use specific kinds of repetition: (1) subjects having good command of English use more kinds of repetitions while expressing their ideas in English than the subjects of average English, and (2) students in the average group more frequently use immediate exact repetition of addition than those in the other group, and (3) students in the first group employ more phonological and discoursal repetitions than those in the average group.This study may help students, by avoiding unnecessary redundant repetitions and exploiting more flexible ones, to be aware of and monitor their English learning process in the aspect of using repetition as a strategy in expressing themselves fully in spoken English.This study further hopes to shed light on researches which will integrate repetition as a strategy use into oral English teaching in the future.