Contrastive Study Of Acceptability Of Existential There Be Constructions Between Chinese(EFL) And Filipinos(ESL)

In the past years,the studies on non-concord existential there be constructions have mostly focused on their uses by English native speakers,and have been discussed by English native researchers abroad,with no attention given to any other ESL(English as a second language)speakers or EFL(English as a foreign language)speakers.Domestically,no researchers have performed this kind of study yet.According to Katherine Hilton(2018),the non-concord existential there be constructions,especially there's + NPpl,enjoys widespread use and acceptance,and is becoming more frequent and socially acceptable over time in English native countries.Therefore,the author determines to conduct a study on the acceptance of there be constructions in ESL country and EFL country and attempts to find if there is any difference between each other.English is an official language in Philippines,but English is also a second language(ESL)for Filipinos.For Chinese,English is a foreign language(EFL)in China.The English status in these two countries is different and accord with ESL and EFL,so the author will choose China and the Philippines as the research subjects.There are total 200 subjects in this research,including 100 subjects from the Philippines(ESL)and 100 subjects from China(EFL).This research mainly adopts a quantitative approach.The aim of this research is to make a contrastive study of the acceptance of existential there be constructions between China(EFL)and Philippines(ESL)based on the descriptive study of the collected data with reference to social variables such as nationality,age and gender.Through this study,two major findings are concluded as following:Firstly,it is found that the acceptance is different as to the uses of eighteen there be constructions for Filipinos(ESL)and Chinese(EFL),and it shows significant difference for most there be constructions between these two countries.In addition,both Filipinos(ESL)and Chinese(EFL)display a high degree of acceptance for the uses of these traditional correct constructions,but Chinese subjects(EFL)show a higher degree than the Filipinos(ESL).However,for the so-called incorrect uses of these traditional constructions,the acceptance rate of Filipinos(ESL)is usually higher than that of Chinese(EFL),which means that more EFL people follow the traditional grammar than ESL people based on the data analyses.Besides,by comparing there is and there's constructions,ESL subjects usually display variations in the acceptance of there is and there's constructions;yet,EFL subjects usually show almost the same degree of acceptance of there is and there 's constructions.Secondly,by comparing the data related to age and gender,it can be found that,for both China(EFL)and Philippines(ESL),gender is not a key social factor related to the acceptance of there be constructions,because there is no significant difference between males and females,which means males and females almost have same attitudes towards the uses of there be constructions.Speaking of age,another social factor,it is divided into four ranges including<20,20-40,41-60 and>60.It is found that Filipinos(ESL)display almost the same degree of acceptance no matter what their age groups are.For Chinese(EFL),different age groups show significant differences in the uses of there be constructions.Importantly,with the age of Chinese(EFL)increasing,the average degree of acceptance for there be constructions 'regarded as correct by traditional grammarians becomes lower.On the contrary,the average degree of acceptance of there be constructions considered as wrongl by traditional grammarians becomes higher.In other words,the young people have better grammar than the old and they prefer following the correct traditional grammar.This study not only enriches the research findings of the there be constructions used by ESL and EFL people,but also can have some implications for acquisition of English as second language and teaching of English language as a foreign language.Moreover,based on the findings of this study,it can also help English learners have an international vision instead of only being restricted to what they learned from the books.This study also has some limitations.The subjects are limited in number.If more questionnaires could be obtained,the research results would be more convincing.In addition,social factors only involve age,gender and nationality.Despite these limitations,the author still wishes this study could provide future researchers with some help and reference.