A Comparative Study On Citation Verb Tense In Literature Review Sections Of MA Theses From China And English-speaking Countries

The present study is based on two self-built English corpora, namely the Chinese English speakers’linguistic corpus (CESLC) and the native English speakers’linguistic corpus (NESLC) of MA theses. By using computer softwares like Antconc3.3.5and SPSS17.0as well as manual work to collect and analyze the data, this study attempts to make a comparison between native speakers of English (NSs) and Chinese speakers of English (CSs) concerning the usage and evaluative function of the tenses of citation verbs in literature review sections of their MA theses from two different points of view, i.e., the macroscopic and the microscopic points of view.Through a detailed analysis of60theses, the study has obtained the following findings. The citation verbs are often used in three tense forms in MA thesis, namely past simple tense, present simple tense and present perfect tense. And there is no significant difference between the overall distributions of citation verb tense in the two corpora. Whether or not the authors are native speakers, the present simple tense is used most frequently, with the past simple tense ranking second, and the present perfect tense is used the least in literature review sections of the MA theses. However, the distributions of citation verb tense are quite different between individuals in the two corpora. Besides, these three forms of citation verbs are closely related to different meanings and functions. In general, the past simple tense of the citation verb suggests that the relevance of what is cited is confined to the cited research itself or even implies that the citing author disagrees with the cited author or considers his findings irrelevant to the question at issue. The present simple tense is used to indicate that the cited research or finding is relevant to the question at issue. The present perfect tense usually occurs when the authors want to indicate that the cited research can reflect the state of the art in the field.From the microscopic point of view, the study shows that the evaluative function performed by the tenses of citation verbs arises from the following two sources:the intrinsic evaluative function of tense and the evaluative function evoked by the shift in tense in a piece of connected discourse. Generally speaking, the shift from past simple tense to present perfect tense and then to present simple tense indicates that the cited research or opinion is increasingly relevant to the citing author’s own research or opinion. However, in literature review sections of NSs’theses, the shifts in the tenses of citation verbs are for the most part pragmatically motivated to play certain intended evaluative function, while in CSs’theses, the shifts in tense are mostly made randomly and thus pragmatically unmotivated.This study probes into the usage and evaluative function of citation verb tense in literature review sections of MA theses of Chinese postgraduates and native English-speaking postgraduates. It hopes to be pedagogically relevant to advanced English writing courses in Chinese universities and to shed some light on the textual-pragmatic function of verb tense in the English language.