Investigating the Relationship Between Second Language Writing Proficiency and Noun Modifications  

作　　者：Ge Lan 

机构地区：[1]Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

出　　处：《US-China Foreign Language》2015年第5期363-373,共11页美中外语（英文版）

摘　　要：This research investigated the relationship between second language （L2） writing proficiency and noun modifications in the context of the Program of Intensive English （PIE） at Northern Arizona University （NAU）. In the research, a computer-counting program was used to check 12 noun modifiers in an index of L2 writing development in two tagged corpora that were built based on 84 PIE test essays. The two tagged corpora consist of a corpus of lower L2 writing proficiency and a corpus of higher L2 writing proficiency respectively. The results show that there are significant differences in the frequencies of some noun modifiers, especially post-noun modifiers, between the two corpora. To be more specific, students with higher L2 writing proficiency used relative clauses and prepositional phrases statistically more than students with lower L2 writing proficiency did. However, some noun modifiers were rarely used by all students, such as nonfinite clauses, infinitive clauses, and appositive noun phrases, to name a few. Consequently, English as a second language （ESL） instructors may organize writing workshops to teach different noun modifiers to students with different writing proficiencies. By doing this, it could help students effectively develop their L2 writing proficiency.

关 键 词：CORPUS-BASED second language （L2） writing proficiency noun modifiers 

分 类 号：TP391[自动化与计算机技术—计算机应用技术] TS8[自动化与计算机技术—计算机科学与技术]