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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Chapter 4 includes the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the present study.
The quantitative part covers the distribution of both correct and incorrect verb uses across the five verb constructions. The qualitative part discusses the use of target verbs in the sentence samples, including the errors that the Chinese EFL learners make, and the possible source of errors. The last part shows major findings of the analysis of verb errors.
Analysis of the Five Verb Constructions
The target words for analysis include a total of 50 verbs across five major verb constructions. Each verb construction includes ten verbs, and each target verb has 15 tokens of sentences for the INT group and 15 tokens for the HI group. The number of sentences for the analysis is 750 for each level. The present study includes a total of 1,500 tokens of sentence for the two proficiency levels. According to Table 4.1, there are totally 1,333 tokens of correct use out of 1,500 tokens of examples. The overall correct rate is 88.9%. The number indicates that the language learners have a generally effective command of English.
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Distribution of Overall Correct Verb Use
Groups Verb Constructions
High-intermediate Level Intermediate Level Total
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
1st Transitive: V-O 135 90 128 85.3 263 87.7
In the result, the HI group (89.6%) showed slightly higher correct rate than the INT group (88.1%). The difference is not statistically significant between the two levels of language learners. Furthermore, the result shows a close distribution among the five categories with regard to the number of correct verb use. The highest correct rate falls on the SC constructions (93%), while the lowest correct rate is on the V-O-OC construction (83%).
Errors in Verb Use
In terms of incorrect use of target verbs, there are totally 167 erroneous tokens out of 1,500 examples, that is, the overall incorrect rate is 11.1%. The low incorrect rate of verb use may result from the data collection process. In the process, most of the target verbs center on the 1st and 2nd levels of ERWL (English Reference Word List), and the collection of target verb use is restricted to their core meaning. Since these target verbs are more familiar to learners, they are less likely to commit errors of usage. Table 4.2 shows the distribution of overall incorrect usages of the target
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Distribution of Overall Incorrect Verb Use
Groups Constructions of Errors
High-intermediate Level Intermediate Level Total
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
1st Transitive: V-O 15 19.2 22 24.7 37 22.1
As shown in Table 4.2, the INT group (n = 89) shows slightly higher number of incorrect use than the HI group (n = 78). In terms of the distribution of incorrect verb use, the V-O-OC construction accounts for the highest proportion of incorrect use (30.5%) among the five verb constructions, followed by V-O construction (22.1%), V-O1-O2 construction (19.2%), V construction (15.6%), and V-SC construction (12.6%). Each of the construction of errors will be further discussed in the subsequent sections.
V-O Construction
The V-O construction features a type of verb phrase (VP) that involves a transitive verb and a direct object (O). The transitive verb in the V-O construction expresses an action and is followed by an O that receives the action of the verb. For example, in the sentence “My sister cleaned her room,” the transitive verb clean expresses the action of making something free of mess and the NP her room is the O that receive the action.
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Table 4.3 shows the incorrect use of the V-O construction. The first column of the table shows the erroneous forms of the V-O construction. In the data, the target verbs with the V-O construction are wrongly used by the learners when they adopt the V, V-O1-O2, or V-O-OC constructions for the V-O type. As shown in the data, the INT group (n = 22) make more errors than that of the HI group (n = 15), but the two groups demonstrate similar error patterns. For example, in both groups, most of the V-O construction are wrongly replaced by the V construction. This type of errors accounts for 78.4% erroneous cases.
Table 4.3
Distribution of Incorrect Use of V-O Construction
Groups Constructions of Errors
High-intermediate Level Intermediate Level Total
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
1st Intransitive: V 14 93 15 68.2 29 78.4
In specific, the errors of the V-O construction can be classified into three categories. The first type of errors features the misuse of transitive verbs as
intransitive verbs with the omission of Os. The second type of errors is the insertion of preposition between the verb and the O. The third type of the error is that verbs in the V-O construction are wrongly used by adopting the V-O1-O2 construction.
Examples (4-1), (4-2) and (4-3) demonstrate common errors of the first type by the EFL learners.
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(4-1) * Therefore, illegal things can reduce.5
(4-2) * If they wanted to be rich, the early education affect a lot.
(4-3) *I think that his good personality lead him to achieve.
In Example (4-1), the verb reduce is mistakenly used as an intransitive verb.
According to Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the core meaning of the verb reduce indicates making something smaller or less in amount, degree, or size. It is
categorized as a transitive verb that requires an O. For example, in the sentence “He is trying to reduce expenses,” the verb reduce expresses the action of reduction, and the following O expenses is the recipient of the action.6 However, in Example (4-1), the verb reduce is misused as an intransitive verb with the obligatory O omitted.
Although there are some cases that the verb reduce can be used intransitively without an O, the subject of the verb is more related to numbers or amounts, such as costs, rates, and prices. The example can be seen in “Due to widespread market demands, the costs have been reduced.” In Example (4-1), however, the subject illegal things does not belong to the type of subjects that go with the intransitive reduce. Similar transitivity errors are also observed in Examples (4-2) and (4-3), in which the transitive verbs affect and achieve are both used wrongly. These two verbs are used intransitively when the O is omitted in the sentences.
The errors in the use of V-O construction may relate to the transitivity features of the Chinese EFL learners’ L1. As mentioned, the transitivity of Chinese verbs is
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5 The present analysis focuses on the target verbs, which is underlined in each of the examples. Other mistakes in the examples are ignored.
6 The examples of correct use in the present analysis come from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
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relatively less significant than that of English verbs. In the V-O construction, a large portion of errors center on the use of intransitive verbs of the V construction to
replace the transitive verbs. The Chinese EFL learners may have applied Chinese verb constructions to the English verbs. The learners are unaware that verbs with
semantically similar meanings in two languages may actually require different VP structures. For example, the English verb reduce has a corresponding verb jiánshǎo (減少) ‘to reduce’ in Chinese, as in Example (4-4).
(4-4) 能源 逐漸 減少
néngyuán zhújiàn jiánshǎo energy gradually reduce
“Energy gradually reduces.”
When expressing an action done by the subject, the English verb reduce requires an O, but its equivalent verbs jiánshǎo (減少) in Chinese is relatively more flexible in use.
The verb is commonly used as an intransitive verb without an O. As in Example (4-4), the verb jiánshǎo (減少) is used as an intransitive verb with the O omitted. The
explanation also accounts for the erroneous use of affect in Example (4-2) and achieve in Example (4-3). The first type of errors accounts for approximately 30% of the total errors in the V-O construction. In this type of errors, the HI and INT groups show similar error rates in their writing.
The second type of errors is the insertion of preposition between the verb and the O in the V-O construction. Examples (4-5) and (4-6) demonstrate this type of errors.
(4-5) *I think Taiwan's reporters don't mention about global news.
(4-6) *I appreciate to that great experience.
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國立 政 治 大 學
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In Example (4-5), the preposition about is mistakenly inserted between the verb mention and the O global news. The verb mention is classified as a transitive verb, indicating a reference to someone or something without giving much information. For example, in the sentence “Did you mention this to the boss?” the verb mention is followed by the O this. However, it is misused as an intransitive verb in Example (4-5) with a preposition inserted between the verb and its O. Example (4-6) shows a similar error, in which the transitive verb appreciate is used intransitively where the
preposition to is inserted between the verb and its O.
The errors in Examples (4-5) and (4-6) show that the learners have difficulties differentiating between verbs that require an O and verbs that take a preposition before the O. The learners’ L1 may also play a role in inducing such errors. Certain Chinese verbs have similar meanings as the English verbs, but they have different transitivity features. Take the Chinese verb tíjí (提及) ‘to mention’ as an example in Example (4-7).
(4-7) 來賓 提及 關於 教育 的 議題
láibīn tíjí guānyú jiàoyù de yìtí guest mention about education of issue
“The guest mentioned the issue of education.”
The Chinese verb tíjí (提及) has similar meaning to the verb mention, but it can be used intransitively by inserting a preposition guānyú (關於) ‘about’ between the verb and the O. It is likely that the Chinese EFL leaners apply the Chinese verb
constructions to the English verbs and thus errors occur. The second type of the errors make up around 50% of errors in the use of verbs of the V-O construction. Both the HI and INT groups show less control in this type of verbs. The result shows that
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
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determining the transitivity of verbs (i.e., transitive or intransitive) in English may be problematic for Chinese learners regardless of their language proficiency.
The third type of the error shows that the learner writers wrongly adopt the V-O1-O2 construction for the verbs of V-O construction. Examples (4-8) and (4-9) indicate that the transitive verb educate is used with the V-O1-O2 construction by the learners.
(4-8) *We will educate some science knowledge to the children there.
(4-9) *The earlier we educate children the correct concepts about money, the better they will manage it in the future.
The verb educate refers to teach or to train somebody especially in school. It is used as a transitive verb, for example, “An educator must first educate himself.” However, in Example (4-8), the verb educate is used in the V-O1-O2 construction. The verb educate is followed by an O1 some science knowledge and an O2 the children with a preposition to connecting two objects. In Example (4-9), the verb educate is followed by the O2 children and the O1 the correct concepts.
This type of errors may result from the deficiency in syntactic knowledge of a verb. It is likely that the learners mixed up the verb educate with its synonymous word teach. These two verbs share similarities in meaning, but they have different syntactical behaviors. By definition, the verb teach is to show or explain to someone how to do something, which is closely related with the verb educate. While, the verb teach can be used as a ditransitive verb, educate is a transitive verb. The result shows that intralingual errors resulting from faulty or incomplete learning of a second language may occur during the writing process (Richards, 1973; Brown, 2007; Gass
& Selinker, 2008).
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
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On the other hand, the learners’ L1 may also be a factor for EFL learners to make errors in this case. The English verb educate has an equivalent verb jiàoyù (教 育) ‘to educate’ in Chinese. Nevertheless, the verb jiàoyù (教育) can take both V-O and V-O1-O2 constructions in Chinese. The example can be seen in the following Examples (4-10) and (4-11).
(4-10) 父母 應該 教育 他們的 孩子
fùmǔ yīnggāi jiàoyù tāmende háizi parents should educate their child
“Parents should educate their children.”
(4-11) 父母 應該 教育 下一代 正確的 觀念
fùmǔ yīnggāi jiàoyù xiàyīdài zhèngquède guānniàn parents should educate next generation correct idea
“Parents should educate the next generation with correct ideas.”
In Example (4-10), the verb jiàoyù (教育) is a transitive verb that takes the following NP tāmendeháizi (他們的孩子) as its O and forms the V-O construction. On the other hand, Example (4-11) shows that jiàoyù (教育) can also be used as a ditransitive verb in the V-O1-O2 construction. The verb jiàoyù (教育) takes xiàyīdài (下一代) as its O2
and zhèngquède guānniàn (正確的觀念) the O1. The flexibility of the Chinese verb jiàoyù (教育) may cause problems for the learners. Unlike the previous two error types, the result indicates that synonymous verbs with different syntactic features can be a great challenge to learners. The third type of errors accounts for around 20% of the total errors in the V-O construction. In this type of errors, the INT group show relatively less control than the HI group does.
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
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V-O-OC Construction
The second category of English verbs is the V-O-OC construction. In English grammar, a verb in the V-O-OC construction requires both a direct object (O) and an object complement (OC). The function of an OC is to identify the quality or the characteristic that pertains to the O. For example, in the sentence “Jean considered herself very lucky,” the verbs consider is followed by an O herself and an adjective lucky as an OC. The function of the OC lucky is to denote the features of the O herself.
An OC in English can be a noun phrase (NP), an adjective phrase (AP), a relative clause (RC), a participle, or an infinitive (Nordquist, 2018).
The V-O-OC construction is the most difficult verb construction for the Chinese EFL learners. It shows the highest incorrect rate among the five verb constructions, with the incorrect rate of 30.5% (see Table 4.2). Most of the errors center on the misuse of OCs. As shown in Table 4.4, most of the incorrect use of verbs in the V-O-OC construction (82.3%) is on the V-O-OC construction itself. The learners often misuse OCs that are not compatible with the verb. They also incorrectly omit or insert prepositions between the O and the OC in this construction. The
omission of prepositions can be seen in “*prevent this situation getting worse,” while the insertion is like “*consider it as a negative impact.” The second major error of the V-O-OC construction is to use the V-O construction instead. In this construction, the INT show more errors (n = 29) than the HI group (n =22). Although the difference is not significant, the HI group demonstrates better control over the use of the V-O-OC construction.
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Distribution of Incorrect Use of V-O-OC Construction
Groups Constructions of Errors
High-intermediate Level Intermediate Level Total
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
1st Complex Transitive: V-O-OC 18 81.9 24 82.8 42 82.3
With regard to the V-O-OC construction, the errors found in the data can be categorized into three types. The first type of errors is the misuse of OCs that are not compatible with the verb. The second type of errors features the incorrect use of prepositions, including incorrect deletion and unnecessary insertion of prepositions between Os and OCs. The third type of errors is manifested in the misuse of verbs of V-O-OC construction as transitive verbs in the V-O construction.
Examples (4-12) and (4-13) show errors of the first type by the learners.
(4-12) *They wanted their kids go to college two decades ago.
(4-13) *Some organizations recruit college students to ask them serve as voluntary tutors.
In Examples (4-12) and (4-13), the verb want wrongly takes a VP go to college, and the verb ask takes a VP serve as voluntary tutors, as their OCs. When used in the V-O-OC construction, the verbs want and ask require an infinitive as an OC to
complete the meaning of the O. For example, in the sentence “She wanted me to go to her room,” the infinitive to go is used as an OC to complete the meaning of the O me.
Another example can be seen in the sentence “My father asked me to take the
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the purpose of completing the O me. In the two examples, a VP is wrongly used as the OC. The error may result from the Chinese EFL learners’ L1 interference. When expressing an idea, the Chinese language allows two or more VPs to be used in a sentence. One example is shown in Example (4-14).
(4-14) 寶寶 一直 要 喝奶
bǎobǎo yīzhí yào hēnǎi baby always want drink milk
“The baby always wants to drink milk.”
In Example (4-14), the two verbs yào (要) ‘to want’ and hēnǎi (喝奶) ‘to drink milk’
appear consecutively. They both share the subject bǎobǎo (寶寶) ‘baby,’ with no connective marker to indicate that one verb is subordinate to the other. This
co-occurrence of more than one verb in a sentence seems to result from the Chinese serial verb construction (SVC). As mentioned in the literature review, SVC is common in Chinese, while they are not allowed in English, because English is a non-serial language (Yin, 2015). However, in the data the Chinese EFL learners demonstrate a tendency for using more than one main verb in the same English sentence. This type of errors accounts for nearly 60% of the overall errors in the V-O-OC construction, in which the HI and INT groups show close ratio. The phenomenon shows that the learners have less control in using object complements.
The second type of errors is the incorrect use of prepositions between the O and the OC in the V-O-OC construction. It accounts for around 30% of the overall errors in the V-O-OC construction. Example (4-15) demonstrates the wrong deletion of prepositions of the second type of errors.
(4-15) *In order to prevent this situation getting worse, I find two ways.
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The verb prevent in Example (4-15) indicates “to keep something from happening.”
When expressing the intended meaning in the V-O-OC construction, the verb prevent requires a preposition from as in “Fire doors are closed to prevent the fire from spreading.” However, in Example (4-15), the required preposition is omitted. The error may also result from the learners’ L1 transfer. The verb prevent has a
semantically similar Chinese verb zúzhǐ (阻止) ‘to prevent’ as in Example (4-16). The verb zúzhǐ (阻止) refers to keeping something from happening, which has the same definition as the verb prevent in English. However, the Chinese verb behaves differently at syntactics. The verb zúzhǐ (阻止) can be used in the V-O-OC
construction without a preposition between the O huǒshì (火勢) and the OC mànyán (蔓延).
(4-16) 他 阻止 了 火勢 蔓延
tā zúzhǐ le huǒshì mànyán
he prevent past-tense marker
fire spread
“He prevented the fire from spreading.”
On the other hand, Example (4-17) shows the unnecessary insertion of prepositions of the second type of errors.
(4-17) *I consider it as a negative impact.
The verb consider shows believing someone or something to have a specified quality.
When used in the V-O-OC construction, the verb consider does not require a preposition to connect its O and the OC. For example, in sentences “I consider him irresponsible,” a preposition is unnecessary between the O him and the OC
irresponsible. However, the preposition as is added between the O it and the OC a
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國立 政 治 大 學
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The incorrect use of prepositions in the V-O-OC construction shows that the Chinese EFL learners may have difficulties determining whether a preposition in the
The incorrect use of prepositions in the V-O-OC construction shows that the Chinese EFL learners may have difficulties determining whether a preposition in the