A Contrastive Study Of Frequencies And Use Patterns Of Demonstratives As Cohesive Devices In ESL Writing

This paper concentrates on demonstratives as cohesive devices in English discourses.ESL students' different language backgrounds and different degrees of acculturation of authentic linguistic data and the culture inherited and transmitted through English inevitably strongly impact and profoundly complicate these students' coherence and cohesion.The first chapter introduces the purpose and the necessities of the research. This research aims to explore the significance of demonstrative reference in ESL writing instruction and to advance some pedagogical strategies to improve ESL writing instruction.The second chapter systematically elaborates on the significance of demonstratives in cohesion in English discourse.First,this chapter covers various concepts and categorization of cohesion and reference,followed by the grammatical properties of demonstratives,the two dimensions of number and proximity of demonstratives,and given-new information conveyed through demonstratives.Various grammatical functions of demonstratives determine demonstrative reference,which results in the complicated relationships between demonstratives and their referents.All these relationships are closely related with the local contexts and even the whole discourses.Therefore,the frequencies of demonstrative specific features and demonstratives themselves vary with different genres.Naturally,ESL learners influenced by their native languages will have frequencies and use patterns different from English native speakers.The third chapter is concerned with the research methodology and procedures. A contrastive approach is adopted in this study to compare and contrast the frequencies and use patterns of Chinese mainland students and American students. In order to highlight the influences of the exposure to authentic linguistic inputs and the acculturation to English culture on the use of demonstratives,this research add a third group of international students who have lived and studied in the United States for two or three years.The fourth chapter demonstrates the results of comparing and contrasting the ratios of demonstratives existing in the writing samples of the three groups of subjects and focuses on the reasons for Chinese students' anomalies about demonstrative uses.The results can be summarized as follows:Chinese students' overall frequency of demonstratives is higher than that of the other two groups; Chinese students' frequencies of that and those are higher than those of the other two groups.The reasons for such anomalies can be attributed to the following factors:Firstly,language transfer results in the high ratios of Chinese students' demonstratives.Chinese lacks the-like articles,which forces Chinese English learners to switch Chinese demonstratives to the counterparts in English.Besides, the ambiguities of number in Chinese demonstratives and the discourse marker function of na lead to the high frequency of that among Chinese students.Lastly, discourse sentences in Chinese cause long-distance anaphora and clausal referents, which subsequently causes the ambiguities in Chinese students' demonstrative uses.The fifth chapter presents the conclusion of the research and explores its significance in practical ESL teaching.Instructors should facilitate ESL students in perceiving the distinctions of demonstrative use patterns of Chinese and English and the specific relationships between demonstratives and their referents. Such awareness should be internalized through various practical teaching activities such as reading instruction so that ESL students can accurately convey their meanings in terms of cohesion in their writings.In conclusion,demonstratives,which serve as important cohesion means,are susceptible to students' different linguistic backgrounds.Undoubtedly, demonstratives can be regarded as a significant aspect in ESL writing.