A Corpus-based Study On The Collocational Preference Of Commonly Used Degree Adverbs

In the daily communication, emphasis plays a vital role in language. Degree adverbs, one of the main devices of emphasis, are usually applied to reinforce speakers' tone and attitude, which influents the realization of interpersonal metafunction, proposed by Halliday.The present study probes the collocation of commonly used DAs. Visual FoxPro is applied to search for the DAs' collocations, in which DAs are as node and the span is 4. By observing and comparing the DAs' collocational frequencies and collocates' semantic color across BROWN and CLEC, the analysis of DAs' usage and collocational preferences is made.The result indicates there are significant differences between native speakers and Chinese English learners in the usage, collocational range, and collocates' semantic color of DAs. Some conclusions are drawn: (1) Chinese English learners overuse certain DAs. (2) Chinese English learners use wider collocational range of DAs than native speakers. (3) Chinese English learners do not usually notice the harmonious semantic relationships between DAs and their collocates.The study of DAs' collocation will be of great help to both the language teachers and language learners.