A Corpus-based Study On The Use Of Four-word Lexical Bundles In Argumentative Timed Writings Of English Majors

With the development of corpus linguistics, the importance of lexical bundle in SLA is highlighted. In view of lexical bundle's vital role in language development, it is of great value to undertake studies on students'grasp of lexical bundle. Based on the collected data from Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners (WECCL) corpus that consists of 1713 timed argumentative writings of English majors, this research presents a comprehensive analysis on four-word lexical bundle in written English register. This thesis is a corpus-based study, which aims to investigate the use of four-word lexical bundles in argumentative timed writings of English majors. The research questions are as follows:1. Which are the most frequent four-word lexical bundles used in argumentative timed writings of English majors?2. What types can these identified lexical bundles be classified in terms of structure?3. What structural features do these lexical bundles have?4. Are there any differences in the frequency of lexical bundles between the freshmen and the seniors? If yes, why?In order to answer these questions, with the guidance of former researches on multi-word combinations, the study used data managing software Antconc 3.2.1, statistical software SPSS16.0, word 2003 and manual statistic with classmate's help to increase the managing speed, credibility and variability.The results show that there are 107 most frequent four-word lexical bundles in the chosen corpus. It demonstrates that English majors'outputs of lexical bundles are far from enough. Eleven types were classified in these identified lexical bundles in terms of structure; most lexical bundles are not complete structural units but parts of noun or prepositional phrases; most of them bridge two structural units or phrases. Besides, the results illustrate that different English proficiency of students has different lexical bundle performance; the higher the frequency of lexical bundles is, the higher their English proficiency is.The paper concludes with some pedagogic implications on teaching and learning lexical bundles in EFL field: 1. Teachers are supposed to raise the students'awareness of lexical bundle and develop strategies for their acquisition. 2. Teachers can use corpora in language teaching and leaning. 3. It needs to develop innovative ways of incorporating lexical bundle instruction into the syllabus. 4. Teachers are supposed to combine grammar with lexis in English teaching.