A Corpus-based Study Of Vagueness In Reporting Source In Chinese English Learners’ Reporting Speech

Reporting is a common phenomenon in human languages. It is the speaker or writer’s citation of others’ utterances or thinkings. Reporting, as an important method of reasoning and argumentation, is frequently used in argumentative writings aiming at achieving credibility, authority and objectivity of their arguments. Proper reporting can make argumentation more convincing. Reporting source, as well as reporting mode and reporting verbs, is also a crucial aspect of researching reporting. Reporting source, namely the source of reported speech or the sender of reported speech, can be either precise and definite or vague and indeterminate. Vagueness in reporting source can affect the reported speech’s credibility and authority directly, and further have an impact on the objectivity and credibility of argumentation. As far as Chinese English learners are concerned, whether they can use vague reporting source properly embodies their writing ability and has an immediate impact on the effect of argumentation. Previous studies explore reporting from reporting mode to reporting verbs, from reporting structure to the pragmatic functions of reporting and reporting verbs. Reporting phenomenon in academic writings and news reports has aroused scholars’attention. However, few studies on vague reporting source can be found. Therefore, this thesis is an analysis of vagueness in reporting source in Chinese English learners’reporting speech when reporting is employed in their argumentative writings.Giving a comprehensive description of definitions of reporting and vagueness, and the relationship between vague reporting source and argumentation, the study intends to reveal the present status of employing vague reporting source in Chinese student’s writings and shed light on writing teaching, to help Chinese English learners to write better argumentative compositions. To achieve this, the following questions are considered:Research Question1:What are the overall using features of vague reporting source in Chinese English learners’argumentative writings?Research Question2:What are the features of vague reporting source use by Chinese English learners with different proficiency level?Based on Chinese learners’corpus WECCL-A and native speakers’corpus NESSIE1.0, by employing softwares like AntConc3.2.4w and Log-likelihood Ratio Calculator, this study analyzes the frequencies and distributions of vague reporting source. The findings of the research reveal:(1) a. Chinese English learners overuse vague reporting source in reporting speeches in comparison with native speakers, and the difference is significantly different; b. From the perspective of two different devices of vaguing the reporting source, the lexical device of vaguing the reporting source is more often used by Chinese English learners, while the native speakers are good at using syntactic devices;(2) There is no obvious difference in using vague reporting source between low-level Chinese English learners and high-level Chinese English learners. The normalized frequencies of vague reporting source in the low-level students’ writings and high-level students’ writings are similar. The distributions of different vague reporting source realizations are similar as well. Chinese learners’ use of vague reporting source is not affected by their language proficiency.Therefore, the present author puts forward some pedagogical suggestions for writing teaching of reporting source use in argumentative writings. It is expected to improve their awareness of using vague reporting source properly and their argumentative writing ability.