A Corpus-based Comparative Study Of Semantic Prosody Of Verbs In Tertiary-Level Students' English Writing

Semantic prosody is a new theme in Corpus Linguistics as well as a fresh aspect of studying lexical behavior. Semantic prosody transfers not only semantic function but also pragmatic function of words; therefore, it is ubiquitous in linguistic communications and plays a crucial role in the meaning-making operations of communicators.The present research, which adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods, aims to investigate Chinese tertiary-level students'use of semantic prosody of verbs in their English writing. Specifically, it compares the semantic prosodic features of PROVIDE, CAUSE, HAPPEN and LEAD TO in three sub-corpora of CLEC, WECCL and BNC.The present research consists of four procedures. Firstly, the Concordance results of the four verbs are listed with the assistance of Concord function of WordSmith Tool 3.0. Secondly, the collocates of the four verbs are analyzed respectively and divided into positive, neutral and negative ones. Thirdly, proportions of each kind of collocates in the three sub-corpora are calculated, and the collocates which appear twice or more are listed as typical ones. Then the semantic prosodic features of the four verbs in the three sub-corpora are judged according to the proportions and typical collocates. Fourthly, comparisons of the proportions of the same kind of collocates in any two corpora are made through Chi-Square test of SPSS and the comparative results provide information on Chinese tertiary-level students'actual use of semantic prosodies.The research results show that Chinese tertiary-level students'English does exhibit similar semantic prosody as compared with native speakers'English in some cases, but there are different semantic prosodies in more cases, especially in non-English majors'writing. Therefore, it can be concluded that Chinese tertiary-level students do not grasp the knowledge of semantic prosody well, and they misuse some words in terms of semantic prosodies.The findings of the research can provide some pedagogical implications for the teaching and learning of English vocabulary. In order to improve students'knowledge of semantic prosody, English educators should highlight this particular language phenomenon in the processes of designing syllabuses, compiling coursebooks, explaining texts, explaining vocabulary exercises and compiling dictionaries.