| English Non-finite Clauses have posed great challenge to Chinese English learners for the complexity in syntactic structure.It has been found that the use of Non-finite Clauses is related to learners' English proficiency and related discourse features.The primary goal of the present study is to investigate Chinese EFL learners' use of Non-finite Clauses so as to further validate the findings.With the data from SWECCL 2.0,the study analyzed and discussed the frequency,syntactic features and error of the Non-finite Clauses in Chinese English major's written output,which was further analyzed with connection to the writers' English proficiency and composition types.The major findings are as followed.Firstly,learners' use of Non-finite Clauses differed between two levels of L2 proficiency: compared with lower proficiency learners,higher proficiency learners' use of Non-finite Clauses exhibited higher frequency,syntactic complexity and accuracy since different proficiency level contributed to variation in L2 knowledge,L1 and L2 writing ability and the processing load needed in expressing new information in English.Secondly,it was also found that learners' use of Non-finite Clauses varied with the composition types.Learners' use of Non-finite Clauses in argumentative writing and expository writing differed in frequency,syntactic structure and error due to dissimilar authorial stances,need for reasoning and topic-dependency.Lastly,based on the previous findings,ventured were some practical and methodological implications and suggestions for pedagogy,teacher development and related studies. |
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