A Diachronic Study On Metadiscursive Nouns In Chinese Journal Of Applied Linguistics

Metadiscursive nouns(hereinafter referred to as MNs),are a subset of abstract nouns that have both constant meanings and unspecific pragmatic meanings depending on their wider context.More recently,MNs have become a popular area of research due to their appeal as effective means of constructing a cohesive and interactive discourse.The Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics is an influential Chinese English-language journal(CELJ)in the applied linguistics field.It is listed as one of the highest international impact academic journals of China.However,most researchers focus on the use of MNs in international journals,and few studies have explored MNs in this regional academic journal,especially from a diachronic perspective.To counter the lack of attention previously paid to this subject,particularly from a diachronic perspective,this study investigates the changes in the utilization of MNs in research articles,using data sampled from articles published in the Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics between 1991 and 2020.This study seeks to address the following questions:(1)What is the overall frequency and distribution of MNs?(2)What changes,if any,can be identified in terms of the lexico-grammatical patterns of MNs?(3)What changes,if any,can be observed in terms of the rhetorical functions of MNs? Three sub-corpora have also been created for use within this investigation.Data has been drawn from previously published research articles from a range of volumes of the Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics.The data covers a span of 30 years,from 1991 to 2020,and is divided into three distinct periods: Period A(1991-2000),Period B(2001-2010),and Period C(2011-2020).The main findings are presented as follows:(1)Overall,the use of MNs has shown a statistically significant increase.869 occurrences were identified in 2011-2020,up from 393 cases in 2001-2010 and,and 340 cases 1991-2000.(2)The most frequently used pattern is the this + MN pattern,which is consistent with findings from previous studies.Similarly,a considerable increase in the use of this pattern has also been found.The pattern determiner +be + MN was the least frequently used,and its frequency has decreased dramatically.The frequencies of the MN + be + complement clause pattern and the determiner + be + MN pattern presents a downtrend,suggesting that writers may underuse these two patterns.There has also been a rise in the MN + post-nominal clause pattern frequencies,and the there + be+ MN pattern,indicating that writers were inclined to more likely to utilize these two structures over the past three decades.(3)Interactional functions have seen a decline in anaphoric references,while there has been a significant rise in cataphoric references.The number of MNs such as study,paper and research,showed highly significant growth.In terms of interactional dimension,only a small percentage of MNs were utilized as engagement signals,and the large majority of them stood in as stance markers.There has been a marked uptrend in using all three types of interactional MNs from 1991 to 2020,especially in the use of entity nouns.The frequency of attribute nouns slightly declined during the first two decades but resumed its growth in 2011-2020.Although the frequency of relation nouns has increased,these nouns were used less frequently than the others,accounting for 9.8% in 1991-2000,23% in 2001-2010,and 16% in 2011-2020.This indicates that academic writers prefer to use other language devices to establish connections or relationships between information through the proposition chosen in their articles.This study provides theoretical and pedagogical implications based on the findings previously discussed.Theoretically,this study has,to some extent,identified some changes of the MNs used in the Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics over the last 30 years.The study of MNs has,here,been extended from academic discourse in international publications to Chinese local publications.Pedagogically,this study enables students to recognize the constant changes in the use of MNs in local journals and cultivate their dynamic contextual awareness.This research also provides an authentic corpus for tracking linguistic features of academic writing within a Chinese context.