A Corpus-Based Study On Use Of The Features Of Degree Adverbs By Chinese College EFL Learners

Degree adverbs play an important role in Spoken English and Written English. They are used to intensify the mood and attitude which could express the speaker's attitude clearly and realize the interpersonal functions of language.The present study investigates the frequencies and collocations of degree adverbs based on the native speaker corpora (BROWN, LOB) and Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC) and with the help of Antconc 3.2.1w and SPSS, which attempts to solve the following two questions:(1) Compared with the native speakers, what are the features of degree adverbs in writing used by Chinese college non-English-major EFL learners concerning the frequencies and collocations? (2) What are the potential reasons for those features?The result shows that Chinese EFL learners differ a lot from native speakers in the use of degree adverbs. Some conclusions are drawn:(1) Some degree adverbs, like very, so, rather and really, are overused by Chinese EFL learners, but generally speaking, Chinese EFL learners have a tendency to underuse degree adverbs. (2) Chinese EFL learners concentrate on using very and so with wide ranges, while to the other degree adverbs, Chinese EFL learners seldom use them both in the aspect of frequencies and in the aspect of collocations. Compared with native speakers, Chinese EFL learners collocate degree adverbs with other words more freely and randomly. The possible reasons underlying such features can be unfamiliarity with certain degree adverbs, education emphasis of English teachers and intention of using English.This study will provide the helpful information for the vocabulary teaching especially for the teaching of degree adverbs in college.