| This thesis, based on a contrastive analysis of English hypotactic prominence and Chinese paratactic prominence, investigates hypotactic errors in Chinese students' English compositions aiming to shed some light on cross-linguistic influence studies and to provide some enlightment for English writing learning and teaching in the Chinese context. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are adopted in the study.Chapter One, starting from the existing problems in the author's English writing teaching career, introduces the motivation of the present study on hypotactic errors.In Chapter Two, a brief review of the research on contrastive analysis (CA), error analysis (EA) and cross-linguistic influence lays a theoretical basis for the study.Chapter Three is a contrastive analysis of English hypotactic prominence and Chinese paratactic prominence. Based on main previous research on English hypotaxis and Chinese parataxis, the study discusses hypotaxis and parataxis in their broad sense. The contrastive analysis is mainly carried out on different linguistic aspects in which English hypotactic prominence and Chinese paratactic prominence are manifested, including part of speech markers, grammatical category markers (number, tense, aspect, mood, voice, etc.), connectives (relatives, conjunctions, prepositions, nonfinite verbs, etc.) and cohesive devices (reference, ellipsis, conjunction, etc.). The classification of overt hypotactic markers establishes a criterion and a basis for the hypotactic error analysis in Chapter Five.Chapter Four is the project design, covering the tasks to be accomplished, the approaches to be adopted, the hypothesis to be tested and some preliminary work. The English composition samples respectively from lining No. 1 Senior MiddleSchool, lining Medical College and Peking University are divided into three levels The work of composition rating and error identifying and correcting is fulfilled by two American English teachers Susan Hinds and George Haugen. The kernel task is to find out the actual situation of English hypotactic means applied by Chinese EFL learners. The hypothesis to be tested is that the contrast between English hypotaxis and Chinese parataxis causes obvious difficulties for Chinese EFL learners to adequately apply English hypotactic devices.In Chapter Five, a detailed analysis of hypotactic errors is made with quantitative and qualitative approaches to accomplish the kernel task and to test the hypothesis. Hypotactic errors of various types are described, the percentage of hypotactic errors in the total error occurrences (PHT) calculated, the hypotactic error distribution illustrated, and the correlation between PHT and composition quality analyzed. Direct and indirect causes of the hypotactic errors are explored.Chapter Six is a summary of the whole thesis. It mainly includes the major findings of the present study, the author's general consideration of CA, EA and language transfer studies, and the implications of the study for English writing learning and teaching in the Chinese context. At the close of the thesis, the limitation of the present study is pointed out and the future research orientation suggested.The major findings of the present study are:1. The contrast between English hypotaxis and Chinese parataxis constitutes obvious difficulties in Chinese EFL learners' application of English hypotactic devices.2. The Chinese EFL learners' hypotactic errors mainly occur in noun number, verb tense, nonfinite verbs, conjunctive words, and overt textual cohesive ties.3. A vertical analysis reveals that with the improvement of their general English proficiency, the EFL learners' command of hypotactic devices improves.4. A horizontal analysis indicates that on each proficiency level, the EFL learners have serious problems with English hypotactic means application. The correlation between PHT and composition quality is not statistically significant.5. Cross-linguistic influence (direct or indirect) is the dominant cause of th...
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