A Corpus-Based Study On The Acquisition Of Adverb Jiu By Spanish Native Speakers

Because of the ambiguity,high abstraction and the flexible syntactic position of adverb jiu,it's one of the difficulties for foreigners to learn Chinese.The Modern Chinese Frequency Dictionary,a dictionary published by Beijing Language University,counts the most frequently used 8000 words in contemporary Chinese.It is found that the frequency of jiu ranks No.11 and it also ranks No.2 in the category of adverb.Besides,adverb jiu also occupies an important position in the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language,which is considered as class-jia vocabulary.It's a word that foreign learners should master when they are in primary level.In the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language,it is found that there are many errors made by Spanish native speakers when they use adverb jiu.Obviously,there are still some problems in learning and teaching adverb jiu.Therefore,it remains to be further analyzed by researchers.Under the guidance of Multidimensional Model and Teachability Hypothesis,with the help of corpus-based approach,a research is made on adverb jiu.The adverb jiu used by Spanish native speakers and the acquisition order of jiu is explored through describing and analyzing a great deal of authentic data.Besides,some statistical methods are also applied to analyze and process data.Reference to the classification of Modern Chinese Eight-undred Words,on the basis of authentic data produced by Spanish native speaker,adverb jiu is divided into six types basically according to the order from easy to difficult.Based on this classification,the different types of jiu used by Spanish native speakers are analyzed comprehensively.It is found that the order of frequency in two corpora is consistent and it is as follows:jius>jiu6>jiu2>jiu4>jiu3>jiu1· Obviously,Spanish native speakers are more inclined to apply the usage of mood while have a weak tendency to applying the usage of objective description.Besides,it shows that the order of accuracy rate in two corpora is inconsistent.Then the causes are analyzed from three aspects:the characteristics of corpus,the individual differences of learners and the external factors.In combination with the different types of jiu used by Spanish native speakers above,the acquisition order of jiu is examined through two methods,namely,the Relative Correct Rate and the Implicational Scale.Finally,the acquisition order of jiu is concluded as follows:jius>jiu6>jiu3>jiZu4>jiu2>jiu1.It's obvious to see that the usage of expressing affirmative mood or emphasis is acquired first,what followed is the fixed sentence structure that expresses logical relation.The usage of indicating objective description or subjective evaluation is acquired at last.After getting the acquisition order of adverb jiu by Spanish native speakers,this thesis also compares it with Chinese native children.It is found that the two acquisition orders are almost completely the opposite,which indicates that there is significant difference in acquisition order of adverb jiu between Spanish native speakers and Chinese native children.Therefore,it must be treated differently in the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.Last but not least,it also provides some constructive guidance for teaching Chinese as a foreign language and writing textbooks.