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Shell Noun Use in Argumentative Essay Writing of English Learners and Native English Speakers

Schanding, Brian
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-0304
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458814364

Abstract Details

2016, EdD, University of Cincinnati, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Literacy and Second Language Studies.
The use of shell nouns (SNs) has become an increasingly researched phenomenon in lexicogrammar and text-level research. However, findings of SN use among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners are sparse. Namely, there is a need for a larger collection of results from more than one L1 group, and beyond listing common nouns used as SNs, or common SN patterns, research should include which nouns occur in which patterns. This study examined SN use among EFL writers, specifically Turkish and Japanese first language speakers. Methods commonly employed in corpus linguistics were used to identify SN use in four lexicogrammatical patterns. As a comparison, SNs were also extracted from a corpus of native speaker writing. Beyond frequency counts, an association measure using collexeme analysis, which includes a Fisher Yates exact test of word-pattern association strength, was performed to determine conspicuously over- or under-used patterns and or SNs. Attached to a reliance on frequency information generally, and association measures specifically, is the assumption in cognitive semantics that frequency is evidence of entrenchment, or the formation of strong associations in the cognitive system—of words and meaning, of words’ co-occurrence with other words, and of words’ co-occurrence with syntactic patterns. SNs and patterns occurrences in the corpus analysis were viewed through this perspective, as well as through the theory of functional linguistics, or how conceptual or communicative purpose (function) impacts linguistic choices (form). Results indicate that EFL learners have a firm understanding of the functions of SNs. This is revealed in a large overlap of SN choices found in four target SN pattern categories between EFL learners and native speakers. However, some nouns are strongly associated with patterns in the EFL corpora that aren’t as strong, or are even repelled, in the NS corpus. Likewise, some SNs found in EFL writing, such as problem and situation, were found in the target patterns but do not occur in native speaker writing. Other findings, along with a discussion of implications, applications to instruction of EFL writing, as well as suggestions for future directions are offered.
Hye Pae, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Haiyang Ai, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Gulbahar Beckett, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Marcus Johnson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
167 p.
English As A Second Language
shell noun; lexical pattern; collostruction; EFL writing; corpus linguistics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Schanding, B. (2016). Shell Noun Use in Argumentative Essay Writing of English Learners and Native English Speakers [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458814364

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Schanding, Brian. Shell Noun Use in Argumentative Essay Writing of English Learners and Native English Speakers. 2016. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458814364.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Schanding, Brian. "Shell Noun Use in Argumentative Essay Writing of English Learners and Native English Speakers." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458814364

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1458814364
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.