A Comparative Study On The Use Of Comparative Degree In Compositions By Chinese English-major Students And Native English Students

Based on WECCL and LOCNESS,a comparative study on comparative degree in students' writing is made.Comparative degree is classified into three categories,including inflectional form,periphrastic form and irregular form.The use of each form of comparative degree is investigated in WECCL and LOCNESS.This research aims to find out the similarities and differences on the use of comparative degree in compositions by Chinese English-major students and native English students,which will in turn help Chinese English major students can know about their discrepancy,and then understand and master comparative degree better.Results of this study indicate that there are significant differences in the use of comparative degree between Chinese English-major students and native English students.Inflectional forms of comparative degree are more frequently used in native English students' writing.Chinese English-major students use periphrastic forms of comparative degree more frequently than do native English students.More important and more popular are overused by Chinese English-major students.But native English students' use of them is more diversified.Irregular forms of comparative degree more and better are most frequently used by Chinese English-major students.And there are some errors on comparative degree in Chinese English-major students' writing.The frequency of errors on more+adjective(single syllable)is the highest.This research shows that these differences and errors might be due to Chinese English-major students' lack of understanding of English grammar and vocabulary,and language transfer of their first language is also an important cause.