| Lexical bundle, a language unit stored and retrieved as a whole from mental lexicon is of pivotal significance to L2acquisition. For decades, the studies on lexical bundles have been proceeded at both theoretical and empirical levels. Numerous explorations have been conducted regarding both the features of lexical bundles used by native speakers and L2learners and the differences on lexical bundle use between the two. However, in China, studies on the frequency distribution, structures and functions of lexical bundles used by advanced L2learners are still inadequate.Therefore, based on Biber and his colleagues’ lexical bundle analytical framework (Biber, Conrad&Cortes,2004), this paper strives to have a deep look at the use of lexical bundles produced by advanced L2learners and expert English writers in academic writing. To be precise, there are three research questions:(1) What is the overall frequency distribution of the lexical bundles used by advanced L2learners and expert English writers in academic writing?(2) What is the structural distribution of the lexical bundles used by L2learners in comparison with that used by expert English writers?(3) What is the functional distribution of the lexical bundles used by L2learners in comparison with that used by expert English writers?To answer these questions, two corpora are built. One is Chinese postgraduate (CP) corpus (which is comprised of the postgraduate theses written by postgraduates majoring in English from a university in Nanjing, China), and the other is expert English writer (EEW) corpus (which is constituted of the published linguistic articles written by expert English writers). After the extraction and analysis of the lexical bundles, the following findings are obtained:(1) There exists significant difference on the frequency distribution of the lexical bundles used by L2learners and expert English writers. Though the former produced more types and tokens of bundles, they fall behind expert English writers on lexical bundle variation. Expert English writers use more "there" constructions and hedges while L2learners produce more passive structure bundles containing modal verb "can" as well as many colloquial and informal bundles.(2) The overall structural distribution of the lexical bundles in the two corpora is similar. The PP-based bundle is used most high frequently, while VP-based bundles account for the smallest proportion.(3) The functional distribution of the lexical bundles presents significant differences between the two corpora. L2learners exploit more discourse organizers, fewer referential expressions and stance bundles than expert English writers do. and there is a close relationship between the structures of lexical bundles and the functions they serve.The enhancement on language proficiency does help to make L2learners’use of lexical bundles in academic writing more native-like. However, the ability to use more varied lexical bundles idiomatically and the consciousness of register difference of the language are imperative to be enhanced. The findings of this research could serve as valuable references for the evaluation of idiomatic and accurate use of lexical bundles in academic writing. |
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