Error Analysis Of Degree Adverb With Reference To The Senior Students Of Chinese Major In Thailand

Adverb teaching is a very important part of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. Raising the efficiency of using the adverbs of degree and improving the skill of using modern Chinese adverbs, is of great significance for the foreign students, which is a topic that we should pay attention to, especially for teaching Thailand students. This paper researches on this topic and hope to get some useful conclusions.The paper first compares Chinese and Thailand adverbs, based on the total of35degree adverbs in the" Outline of Vocabulary of Chinese Language Level" of Chinese and Thai degree adverbs. Specifically, it compares translation status, meaning, grammar and other points of the Chinese and Thailand adverbs of degree, and summarizes differences and similarities between them. For example, both languages have different grammars in using adverbs of degree objectively or subjectively, and adverbs of degree cannot be used to modify reduplication adjectives. Besides these commons, there are nearly ten distinctive points when comparing Chinese and Thailand adverbs. Chinese degree adverbs can be clarified by numerical complements, whereas Thai degree adverbs cannot be used in that way except the adverb of’very’. Although Thailand degree adverbs can be used as adverbial as in Chinese, they are used in different forms. In Chinese, degree adverbs are divided into commendatory term and derogatory ones while in Thailand not. Furthermore, in Chinese grammar, only comparative sentences can include relative degree adverbs, while Thai language does not have such constraints. Also, Chinese degree adverbs such as "shao, shaowei, luewei" cannot be used to modify psychological verbs while Thai language does not have such constrains. Even though degree adverbs in Chinese and Thai can be used with another adverbs at the same time, but what can be used together are different from each other. Some degree adverbs in Chinese are corresponding to one degree adverb in Thai and some degree adverbs in both languages can be used in repeated forms but what degree adverbs can be used in that way are different from each other:in Chinese, the degree adverbs are "feichang and ding" while in Thai are "hen and zhen". Although some degree adverbs in both languages can be used to be as an answer, such adverb in Chinese is only "youdianer" while in Thai are quite a few comparatively.In order to analyze the cause of errors in using degree adverbs, the paper study the problem in questionnaire with90senior Chinese major Thailand students, which are from three universities of Thailand (e.g. Slipakorn University, Thammasat University and Kasetsart University). This analysis result shows the error rate when students are using this35degree adverb,from low to high order:极、最、比较、特别、好、较、尤其、更、极其、太、更加、十分、挺、真、不大、过于、稍、非常、有点儿、很、万分、极度、多么、还、稍微、格外、过、有些、多、顶、略微、何等、分外、怪、颇。The errors are categorized in four types:omission error, addition error, replacement error, and sequential error. However, replacement error is noticed as one with highest frequency with proportion65.64%. The other three are respectively18.70%,8.77%and 6.87%. The further analysis indicates that there are mainly four reasons responsible for these errors; i.e., complexity of degree adverb, negative transfer of mother tongue on second language, the negative transfer of the target language, and teaching factors. Based on these findings, the paper discusses the method of teaching Chinese adverbs of degree for the Thailand students, and gives some suggestions to teaching Chinese as a foreign language.This paper analyses the errors of using degree adverbs by senior students of Chinese major in Thailand through one-hand language materials. The methods I take are questionnaires and ordinary exercises in order to understand the using errors of degree adverbs and conclude the causes and laws of behind these errors, hoping to help students better learn and apply Chinese.