台灣高中生英文寫作中副詞子句之使用 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文. 指導教授：尤雪瑛博士 Advisor: Dr. Hsueh-ying Yu. 政治大 The Use of English Adverbial Clauses in Taiwanese Senior High School 立 Students’ Writing 台灣高中生英文寫作中副詞子句之使用. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 研究生：余佳玟撰 Name：Jia-wen Yu. 中華民國 99 年 9 月 September, 2010.

(2) The Use of English Adverbial Clauses in Taiwanese Senior High Students’ Writing. 立. 治Thesis 政 A Master 大. Presented to Department of English,. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. National Chengchi University. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. by Jia-wen Yu September, 2010.

(3) Acknowledgments First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr.Hsueh-ying Yu. During the process, she is always there to help me overcome every difficulty and challenge; pinpoint my weakness and guide me to find the right path. What I have learned from her as a researcher will be invaluable in my life. It is with her encouragement and support that I could make the completion of the thesis happen. Second, I would like to show my appreciation to the committee members,. 政治大 feedback to make the thesis 立 more thorough. I am also grateful for their kindness and Dr.Chieh-yue Yeh and Dr.Chen-kuan Chen, for their constructive and insightful. ‧ 國. 學. warmth. In addition, I would like to express thanks to Dr. Husn-Huei,Chang and Dr.Hui-chen Chan for their helpful comments for the thesis proposal.. Third, my great thanks go to teacher Wan-yun Wu, an English teacher in a senior. ‧. hignh school in Taipei country, for providing me the data in such a short notice and. y. Nat. two native speaker raters, Rowan and Maggan, for the data analysis. Without their. sit. assistance, this thesis would not be completed.. er. io. Then, my heartfelt appreciation goes to all my friends, especially Charlie,. n. al. i n C Ya-huei, Yi-hua and Zoe to company h e nmegalong c h itheUway.. v. Christine, Elisa, Jeng-hua, Jenny, Juno, Katherine, Laney, Linda, Lydia, Shin-yi, Last but not the least; I would like to express my most gratitude to my family for. their love, especially my parents. They always have faith in me and make me assured about myself. This thesis is dedicated to them.. iii.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... iii Chinese Abstract .........................................................................................................xiv English Abstract..........................................................................................................xvi Chapter 1. Introduction........................................................................................................1 Motivation .....................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study .....................................................................................4. 政治大 Organization of the Study..............................................................................6 立 Significance of the Study ..............................................................................5. 2. Literature Review...............................................................................................8. ‧ 國. 學. Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching ........................................8 Concept of Communicative Language Teaching ...................................9. ‧. The Role of Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching ...........10. y. Nat. Adverbial Clauses........................................................................................11. sit. The Concept of Coordination and Subordination ..............................11. er. io. Syntactic Aspect of Adverbial Clauses ................................................13. al. v i n C hof Adverbial Clauses...............................................25 Pragmatic Aspect engchi U n. Semantic Aspect of Adverbial Clauses ..............................................16 Adverbial Clauses in ESL/EFL Writing......................................................26 Writing Maturity ..................................................................................26. Previous Studies on ESL/EFL Learners’ Use of Adverbial Clauses ...27 Error Analysis..............................................................................................30 Concept of Error Analysis....................................................................30 The Role of Error Analysis in Grammar Instruction ...........................31 Sources of Errors..................................................................................32 Textbook Evaluation and Grammar Instruction ..........................................33 The Evaluation Criteria for Textbook Grammar Presentation.............34 3. Methodology ....................................................................................................36 Participants ..................................................................................................37 iv.

(5) Data ..............................................................................................................37 Data Collection Procedures..........................................................................39 Data Analysis Procedures... .........................................................................40 The Frequency of the Use of Adverbial Clauses..................................41 Error Types of Adverbial Clauses........................................................42 Textbook Evaluation............................................................................47 4. Results and Discussions ..................................................................................49 Overall Frequency of Adverbial Clauses ....................................................49 Finite Adverbial Clauses Use ..............................................................52 Non-finite Adverbial Clauses Use.......................................................59 Error Types of Adverbial Clauses ...............................................................63. 治政大 Sentence Fragment .......................................................................67 立 Illogical Subordinate Conjunction .................................................70. Error Types in Finite Clauses...............................................................67. ‧ 國. 學. Double Marking .............................................................................75 Null Subject....................................................................................77. ‧. Error Types in Non-finite Clauses .......................................................78 Summary of the Error Types................................................................79. Nat. sit. y. Adverbial Clauses in EFL Learners’ Textbooks .........................................80. er. io. Presentation of Adverbial Clauses in Textbooks and Teachers’ Manuals................................................................................................80. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Presentation of Adverbial Clauses in Writing......................................86. engchi. 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................90 Summary of the Major Findings .................................................................90 Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................92 Limitations of the Present Study and Suggestion for Future Studies ........97 References....................................................................................................................99 Appendixes Appendix A: Writing Assignment: Picture Description....................................111. v.

(6) LIST OF TABLES. Table 2.1 Types of Subordinators .................................................................................14 3.1 Classifications of Adverbial Clauses Errors .................................................46 4.1 Frequency of Types of Adverbial Clauses in Students’ Compositions…….50 4.2 Frequency and Subtypes of Adverbial Clauses…………………………….52 4.3 Frequency of Temporal Subordinators .........................................................53. 政治大 4.5 Number of Errors and Frequency of Adverbial Clauses................................64 立 4.4 Frequency and Types of Non-finite Adverbial Clauses................................60. 4.6 Types of Learners Errors, Number and Percentage ......................................65. ‧ 國. 學. 4.7 Types of Errors, Number and Percentage in Finite and Non-finite Clauses………………………… ..................................................................66. ‧. 4.8 Incorrect Types, Subtypes Frequency and Percentage of Subordinate. y. Nat. Conjunctions .................................................................................................71. n. al. er. io. sit. 4.9 Introduction of Adverbial Clauses in Writing ............................................87. Ch. engchi. vi. i n U. v.

(7) 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文提要. 論文名稱：台灣高中生副詞子句使用指導教授：尤雪瑛博士研究生：余佳玟. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 論文提要內容：本研究旨在探討台灣高中生副詞子句的使用，並且探究台灣高中生在副詞子句使用上所產生的錯誤。此外，為更進一步了解台灣高中生對於副詞子句的認. ‧. 知，本研究亦檢視了目前國內高中生普遍所使用的英語教科書，以了解英語副詞. sit. Nat. 研究工具為學生高二上學期三篇指定英文作文寫作。. y. 子句的呈現方式以及內容的編排。本研究受試者為兩班高二學生，一共 43 位。. er. io. 研究結果顯示，副詞子句為一高中生作文中常出現之句型結構。受試者能夠. al. v i n Ch 子句當中，時間副詞子句出現頻率最高。限定副詞子句(finite adverbial clauses) engchi U n. 使用不同語意種類的副詞子句來補充說明主要子句的訊息。在各式不同種類副詞. 使用的頻率遠多於非限定副詞子句(non-finite adverbial clauses)。限定副詞子句使用當中，時間副詞子句、因果副詞子句、條件副詞子句、目的副詞子句以及讓步副詞子句，依序為最常使用的副詞子句；非限定副詞子句使用當中，目的副詞子句以及時間副詞子句為使用頻率最高的副詞子句。雖然副詞子句是基本句型，但經錯誤分析的結果顯示，學生對於副詞子句沒有完整的了解，仍有不正確的使用。整體而言，句子不完整( sentence fragment) 以及使用錯誤（不恰當）副詞連接詞使用(illogical subordinate conjunction)為最常發生的錯誤。在限定副詞子句使用上，最常犯的錯誤為不完整句子、錯誤或不恰當的副詞連接詞使用、重複連接詞標記(double marking)以及無主語(null subject)。在非限定副詞子句使用上，不連結修飾語(dangling modifier)為最常出現 xiv.

(8) 之錯誤。這些錯誤很可能是因為中文以及英文之間的差異以及對副詞子句沒有充分的理解所導致。而教科書當中對副詞子句的介紹，也可以解釋學生學習使用副詞子句所犯的錯誤及遭遇的問題。從檢視教科書以及教師手冊當中的句型以及寫作兩個單元發現，在句型呈現上，副詞子句的介紹以及呈現主要著重在單句句型結構以及語意相近的句型結構替換。副詞子句的篇章功能以及副詞連接詞的使用則較被忽略。句型練習中，也較少有情境式的真實語言呈現。在寫作單元上，副詞子句也多半. 政治大. 侷限於其句型結構上，而忽略了其詳細語用以及篇章功能概念。綜合研究結果，. 立. 本研究提出較完善的教學建議，以幫助教學工作者以及學習者對副詞子句在教學. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 上及學習上有更進一步的了解。. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. xv. i n U. v.

(9) Abstract The purpose of the present study is to investigate how adverbial clauses are used in Taiwanese senior high school students’ written production and what kinds of difficulties students encounter in employing the structure. In addition, to understand how Taiwanese EFL learners construct their knowledge of adverbial clauses, senior high school students’ English textbooks and teachers’ manuals are also examined to. 治政 from two different classes in their second year participated 大 in the research. Three assigned compositions 立 in one semester were collected for data analysis.. find out the presentation of adverbial clauses. Forty-three senior high school students. ‧ 國. 學. The result showed that adverbial clauses are commonly utilized to express various types of circumstantial meanings in the learners’ writing. Temporal adverbial. ‧. clauses are of the most use among different kinds of adverbial clauses. Adverbial clauses are further categorized into two types: finite and non-finite adverbial clauses.. Nat. sit. y. The use of finite adverbial clauses is far more frequent than the use of non-finite. io. er. adverbial clauses. This may attribute to the amount of exposure to the finite adverbial clauses and syntactic complexities of non-finite clauses. In finite clauses, temporal. n. al. i n U. v. adverbial clauses are the most frequently used, followed by causal, conditional,. Ch. engchi. purpose and concessive adverbial clauses respectively. In non-finite adverbial clauses, adverbial clauses of purpose are the most used, then clauses of time. To identify Taiwanese senior high school students’ difficulties in using adverbial clauses, an error analysis was conducted. It was found that adverbial clauses are problematic to the learners. Overall, sentence fragment and illogical subordinate conjunction are the two main error types. Most of the errors occur in finite clauses, including sentence fragment, illogical subordinate conjunction, double marking and null subject. In non-finite clauses, error type is exclusively dangling modifier. The reasons for the errors may be due to learners’ incomprehensive understanding toward the use of adverbial clauses and the differences between Chinese and English. In addition, learners’ textbooks were evaluated to see how adverbial clauses were generally introduced and presented. An examination of grammar (sentence patterns) xvi.

(10) and writing sections revealed that in grammar section, the emphasis is mainly on the introduction of various linguistic forms of adverbial clauses and syntactic structures that bear similar semantic meanings. Moreover, they are presented mostly in isolation without meaningful and contextual presentations. The functional aspect of adverbial clauses and the contextual presentation of subordinate conjunctions are quite neglected. Likewise, in writing section, the focus is mostly limited to the introduction of various types of adverbial clauses and subordinate conjunctions. Clearer explanations of the conjunctions and the functional role of adverbial clauses. 政治大 suggested that more explicit 立 and contextual presentations are needed to help learners. in writing are relatively overlooked. Concluding from the previous findings, it is. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. to develop a more complete understanding of the use of adverbial clauses.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. xvii. i n U. v.

(11) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION. Motivation Whether in a spoken or written communication context, layers of information need to be integrated and organized for listeners or readers to follow. The. 政治大. employment of subordination allows the distinctness of importance of information in. 立. a discourse (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). The construction of adverbial clauses is. ‧ 國. 學. one of subordinate clauses to signal such relation (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990; Tyler, 1994). With the use of adverbial clauses, a variety of supplementary. ‧. circumstantial meanings are provided to the main clauses. However, it seems that. sit. y. Nat. the structure does not get much attention. Based on Parrott’ (2000) observation, ESL. n. al. er. io. learners tend to overuse coordinate clauses while adverbial clauses are needed and. v. more appropriate for the combination of information. Consider the following. Ch. example from a learner’s work:. engchi. i n U. (1)We went to Charing Cross Pier at the correct time but the boat didn’t come so we waited but it still didn’t come and we went to the station and we caught a train. We arrived in Greenwich and then we learned that the museum closed at 5.00 and we had ten minutes in the exhibition and we had some drinks by the river and we took the train back train back to Charing Cross Station. (Parrott, 2000, p. 338) In the example, the paragraph is composed of exclusively coordinate clauses. From the perspective of syntax, the paragraph is grammatically correct. However, when 1.

(12) 2. the overall meanings and information flow are taken into consideration, the messages are presented in a non-differentiated discourse structure, which would increase the readers’ reading and memory load since there is no differentiation of importance of information. With the use of adverbial clauses for the integration of clauses, intended meanings would be more organized and clearly delivered. For instance, “We arrived in Greenwich and then we learned that the museum closed at 5.00…” could be modified into “By the time we arrived in Greenwich, we learned that the museum closed at 5.00…”. With the use of a temporal adverbial clause, the. 政治大. sequences of events and focus of information are more explicitly expressed.. 立. Moreover, it is suggested that the utilization of adverbial clauses for information. ‧ 國. 學. prominence is considered a sign for reaching more native-like and advanced writing. cannot be underestimated. Attention needs to be called for.. Nat. y. ‧. (Hinkel, 2003, 2004; Tyler, 1994). Therefore, the importance of adverbial clauses. io. sit. Adverbial clauses are typically introduced by different types of adverbial. n. al. er. conjunctions. These conjunctions are to establish the connection between the. Ch. i n U. v. meaning in a main clause and that in an adverbial clause (Greenbaum and Quirk,. engchi. 1990; Kortmann, 1996). With the use of adverbial conjunctions, the information in the main clauses could be further supported by the information in the adverbial clauses. However, the diversity of adverbial conjunctions in each semantic type may be confusing and somehow difficult to learners (Chang and Chang, 2009; Hinkel, 2004; Izzo, 1995; Lorenz, 1999). Some adverbial conjunctions bear inherited syntactic complexities or “polyfunctionality” (Kortmann, 1996, p. 89). As the following two examples illustrate:.

(13) 3. (2). It would probably last until the evening. He wasn’t even a suspect until you got that note. (Jackson, 1991, p. 52 and 201). (3). Since we moved to Florida, we’ve gone to the beach. Since the weather is warm here, we moved to Florida. (DeCapua, 2008, p. 293). In example (1), the parts of speech of until in the two sentences are different.. 政治大. In the first sentence, it is a preposition while it is a subordinate conjunction which. 立. specifies a time frame for its main clause in the second sentence. In example (2), it. ‧ 國. 學. shows that a subordinate conjunction could denote different semantic meanings.. ‧. Since in the first sentence conveys a temporal relation. On the other hand, since in the second sentence carries a causal meaning. Because of these inherited features of. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. and application.. sit. subordinate conjunctions, learners may find them perplexing in both comprehension. Ch. i n U. v. In Taiwan, based on their linguistic complexities, adverbial clauses have been. engchi. introduced to learners early in the process of language learning. Starting from junior high school, different syntactic forms and types of adverbial clauses are introduced to learners along the way to senior high school. In spite of its early introduction and significance in information combining, it seems that the structure hardly gain any significance in EFL grammar instruction, especially as an important syntactic structure in writing. In addition, adverbial clauses could be challenging to learners. Some errors have been identified concerning the use of adverbial clauses in ESL and EFL students’ written productions (Cowan, 2008; Hinkel, 2004; Izzo, 1995; Lorenz, 1999; Parrott, 2000; Pretorius, 2006). Since the use of adverbial clauses is an.

(14) 4. indication for higher level of writing and learners have difficulty utilizing the structure, it is our intention to find out whether Taiwanese EFL senior high school students employ adverbial clauses for message integration in their writing. More importantly, we would like to find out their difficulties in employing the structure. In an EFL context such as Taiwan, textbooks are undoubtedly one of the major resources for learners’ input and teachers’ instruction. With the inception of communicative language teaching, the view of teaching and learning of grammar structure has taken on a different role. It is suggested that the presentation of. 政治大. grammar structures in textbooks should be contextual and meaningful for learners to. 立. fully understand the form, meaning and appropriate use of a linguistic form. ‧ 國. 學. (Celce-Murica, 1991, 2002; Larsen-Freeman, 1991; Savignon, 2001, 2002).. ‧. Therefore, the exploration into the introduction and presentation of adverbial clauses in textbooks is essential to see how the concept of adverbial clauses is formed in the. y. Nat. er. io. al. sit. process of English learning.. n. v i n C hstructure, adverbialUclauses have been discussed in As a fundamental syntactic engchi Purpose of the Study. several aspects. A number of research has tackled on the grounding function of. adverbial clauses in both L1 and L2 context across different genres (Berman and Slobin, 1994; Chafe, 1984; Chan, 1998; Diessel, 2001, 2005; Ford, 1993; Givon, 1979; Khalil, 2000, 2005; Mathiesen and Thompson, 1988; Ramsey, 1987; Shih, 2002; Thomposn, 1987; Yu, 2001). Among them, only few have focused on EFL Taiwanese senior high school students’ use of adverbial clauses (Chan, 1998; Shih, 2002; Yu, 2001). In terms of the application of adverbial clauses in writing in ESL and EFL.

(15) 5. contexts, numbers of studies have observed learners’ preference to use certain types of adverbial clauses (Field and Yip, 1992; Granger and Rayson, 1996; Milton and Tsang, 1993; Tan, 2008). Particularly, some studies investigated the use of some specific types of adverbial clauses or subordinate conjunctions (Chang and Chang, 2009; Lorenz, 1999). It is our aim to find out if Taiwanese senior high school students perform in the similar way. As mentioned in the foregoing part, in Taiwan, adverbial clauses have been introduced to learners since junior high school 1 . In senior high school, these. 政治大. linguistic forms are further expanded. Variations of syntactic structures are presented. 立. to show their different use in different contexts. In this period, development of the. ‧ 國. 學. writing skill is a requisite to achieve a higher level of English learning. Therefore,. ‧. we would like to investigate how adverbial clauses are used in senior high students’ compositions. The aim of the current study is to address the following research. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. questions:. i n U. v. 1. Do EFL Taiwanese senior high school students employ adverbial clauses in. Ch. engchi. their writing? What types of adverbial clauses are frequently used? How are these adverbial clauses generally used? What types of errors are made? 2. How are adverbial clauses presented and instructed in students’ textbooks and teachers’ teaching manuals?. Significance of the Study It is hoped that with the investigation, teachers could have a more. 1. According to an elementary English teacher and a quick review of elementary school English textbooks, adverbial clauses are hardly the focus in the elementary teaching curriculum; they are only mentioned sporadically in textbook contents..

(16) 6. comprehensive understanding toward learners’ use of adverbial clauses. Possible explanations of the errors will be provided as well as pedagogical implications. With the information, teachers could offer more proper teaching and learning materials or remediation for the difficulties learners encounter; learners would be able to utilize adverbial clauses more accurately and appropriately in their writing to create more coherent texts. In addition, an exploration into learners’ textbooks and teachers’ manuals could provide more insight into the presentation of adverbial clauses and help teachers make good use of or make modifications of the materials for class. 政治大. instruction. The results of the examination would also provide some suggestions for. 立. future textbook compilations.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. Organization of the Thesis. In chapter one, motivation, purpose and significance of the current research is. y. Nat. io. sit. introduced. In the following chapter, the researcher will define how the linguistic. n. al. er. structure—adverbial clauses should be introduced and presented in the era of. Ch. i n U. v. communicative language teaching. Several relevant areas are reviewed in chapter two.. engchi. To start with, the principles of communicative language teaching and the role of grammar are discussed. Then, the syntactic, semantic and functional aspects of adverbial clauses are elaborated; the role of adverbial clauses in writing and previous research regarding the use of adverbial clauses is reported. Next, the concept of error analysis and its role in grammar instruction are discussed. Finally, the importance of textbooks in ESL/EFL context and the criteria for textbook grammar presentation are suggested. In chapter three, the background of the participants, source of data, data collection procedures, data analysis procedures, these methodological procedures are expatiated. Chapter four makes a detailed report on the results and discussion derived.

(17) 7. from the findings. The last chapter summarizes the findings of the current research and provides pedagogical implications and suggestions in hopes shedding some light on the teaching and learning of the construction of adverbial clauses. Additionally, limitations of the present research and suggestions for further research are offered.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(18) CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. This chapter reviews the construction of adverbial clauses and other relevant areas. We would like to define how adverbial clauses should be presented and instructed in the communicative language teaching approach. Section one introduces. 政治大. the concept of communicative language teaching and the role of grammar in. 立. communicative language teaching. Section two discusses two important syntactic. ‧ 國. 學. structures to achieve coherent discourse: coordination and subordination. The study focuses on one of the subordination—adverbial clauses from different perspectives.. ‧. Section three presents the significance of adverbial clauses in writing and reviews. y. Nat. sit. studies related to the use of adverbial clauses in ESL/EFL context. In section four,. n. al. er. io. we talk about error analysis, which is generally conducted to discover students’. i n U. v. interlanguage in learning a second or foreign language. In addition, the role of error. Ch. engchi. analysis in grammar instruction and sources of errors are elaborated. In the last section, we look at the role of textbooks in ESL/EFL context and the evaluation criteria for textbook grammar presentation.. Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching Communicative language teaching, which is one of the currently practiced teaching methods or approaches in language classrooms, has made primary modifications concerning the nature of language learning and teaching (Brown, 2000; Canale and Swain, 1980; Hymes, 1972; Littlewood, 1984; Savignon, 1997, 8.

(19) 9. 2001, 2002; Widdowson, 1978). With its introduction, the traditional view of grammar, which treats grammar as pieces of linguistic structures, is disregarded. In communicative language teaching, grammar is considered essential, for it constructs the ground to achieve the attempt to interact and communicate (Brown, 2000). In the following, we will introduce the definition of communicative language teaching and the role of grammar in communicative language teaching.. Concept of Communicative Language Teaching. 政治大. Contrast to traditional teaching and learning methods, which mainly focus on. 立. the structures and forms of the target language, communicative language teaching. ‧ 國. 學. emphasizes the delivery of meanings (Brown, 2000; Hymes, 1972; Larsen-Freeman,. ‧. 1991). It is to help learners to get their intended meanings across effectively (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). The emphasis is on the learners instead of the. y. Nat. io. sit. language itself (Larsen-Freeman, 1991; Littlewood, 1984; Richards and Rodgers,. n. al. er. 1986; Savignon, 2001). The development of communicative competence (Hymes,. Ch. i n U. v. 1972) is the main goal of communicative language teaching. Communicative. engchi. competence involves four aspects: grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic competence (Canale and Swan, 1980; Hymes, 1972). According to Savignon (2001), grammatical competence concerns the application of a syntactic rule for the communication of meaning; sociolinguistic competence involves the appropriateness of the use of a syntactic form; discourse competence is the interaction among sentences rather than isolated sentences; and the last, strategic competence, involves the employment of all kinds of strategies to reach understandable and effective communication. With the development of communicative competence, learners are able to use a target.

(20) 10. language for meaningful, communicative purposes and then see the value of learning a second or foreign language (Breen and Candlin, 1980; Brown, 2000; Savignon, 2001).. The Role of Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching Within the realm of communicative language teaching, grammatical competence, as one of the elements in communicative competence, is required to reach effective communication. It is essential for speakers or writers to utilize all kinds of. 政治大. grammatical structures to achieve meaningful communication (Larsen-Freeman, 1991;. 立. Savignon, 2002). Under the communicative context, grammar is not presented in. ‧ 國. 學. isolated syntactic forms. Instead, three important dimensions need to be taken into. ‧. account: “form, meaning and use” of a syntactic structure (Larsen-Freeman, 1991, p. 252). To fully understand grammar use, learners need to develop knowledge of the. y. Nat. io. sit. formation, semantic meaning and appropriateness of a linguistic structure under a. n. al. er. certain context (Celce-Murcia, 1991, 2002; Larsen-Freeman, 1991).. i n U. v. “Focus on form” instruction, distinguished from “focus on forms 2 ” instruction. Ch. engchi. (Long, 1991), is a teaching method adopted in a communicative language classroom (Ellis, 2001; Long, 1991). It directs students’ attention to a specific linguistic form while the focus is still on the delivery of meaning and communication. A pre-selected target structure is explicitly presented and instructed in an authentic and communicative context (Ellis, 2001; Long, 1991; Norris and Ortega, 2000). To sum, 2. “Focus on forms” is a teaching method which emphasizes the presentation of isolated or discreet syntactic structures based on pre-planned instructional materials or sequences regardless of learners’ communicative needs in real world (Ellis, 2001; Long, 1991). Further pointed by Ellis (2001), in “Focus on forms” instruction, the language itself instead of the learners is the center of the learning process..

(21) 11. grammar is no longer pieces of discrete structures but an essential component which needs to be introduced in a meaningful, communicative-oriented context to achieve communication.. Adverbial Clauses With the previous discussion, we come to have a clearer picture as to how a linguistic form should be expressed within the scope of communicative language teaching. Now, we turn our focus to a specific syntactic structure—adverbial clauses.. 政治大. It is our aim to elaborate on how the structure should be introduced under. 立. communicative language teaching.. ‧ 國. 學. Adverbial clauses, one of the subordination structures, are ways for the. ‧. combination and integration of messages in communication (Givon, 1993; Hinkel, 2004). The construction is generally used to provide different kinds of circumstantial. y. Nat. io. sit. meanings for coherence links (Givon, 1993). In this section, we review the notion of. n. al. er. coordination and subordination and discuss adverbial clauses from different aspects. Ch. i n U. v. for a better understanding toward their form, meaning and use.. engchi. The Concept of Coordination and Subordination To make intended ideas or thoughts understood and delivered clearly, coordination and subordination are two essential syntactic structures to combine information into units in the process of communication (Greenbaum, 1991; Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990; Tyler, 1994). As Greenbaum and Quirk (1990) defined, coordination connects messages or information which share equal prominence while subordination conveys information that is considered less significant compared to that in the main clauses. Coordinate clauses present propositions which are.

(22) 12. independent from each other; they could separately stand alone as individual ideas. On the other hand, subordinate clauses are grammatically subordinated to their main clauses and dependent of their main clauses. Thus, they are not separable from their main clauses (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). The combination of a minimum subordinate clause and a main clause is called a complex sentence (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). As the two sentences show:. (4)They are my neighbors, but I don’t know them well. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 262) (5)Although I admire her reasoning, I reject her conclusion. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 283). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. In (4), the two clauses connected by the coordinator but are two main clauses.. ‧. Individually, they can stand alone as independent sentences. The information. Nat. sit. y. expressed in the two independent clauses is treated with equal importance. Sentence. n. al. er. io. (5) is a complex sentence. The main clause is preceded by a concessive adverbial. i n U. v. clause introduced by a subordinate adverbial subordinator although. The adverbial. Ch. engchi. clause functions as an adverbial and provides information which is regarded less important than that in the main clause. To encapsulate, coordination presents information of equivalent importance whereas subordination organizes information hierarchically (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990; Hinkel, 2004).The employment of the two constructions enables layers of information to be integrated effectively and differentiated explicitly (Tyler, 1994). Subordinate clauses are distinguished into four types: nominal, adverbial, relative and comparative clauses (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). Among the four types of subordinate clauses, adverbial clauses have been introduced to Taiwan EFL.

(23) 13. students early since junior high school and are considered one fundamental linguistic structure. It is suggested that the use of adverbial clauses is one feature that characterizes advanced writing (Hinkel, 2003, 2004). Nevertheless, studies exploring the use of adverbial clauses of EFL students seem to be quite limited (Chang, 2002; Chang and Chang, 2009). Further investigation in the realm of adverbial clauses is needed. Therefore, the focus of the current study is on the Taiwanese EFL students’ use of adverbial clauses. In the following section, different aspects of adverbial clauses are discussed in great detail.. 立. 政治大. Syntactic Aspect of Adverbial Clauses. ‧ 國. 學. Adverbial clauses are employed to modify verb phrases or whole sentences. ‧. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). Syntactically speaking, they are considered marginal in relation to the main clauses in structures (Hinkel, 2004). They are classified into. y. Nat. io. sit. two major categories: finite adverbial clauses and non-finite adverbial clauses. n. al. er. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). In terms of frequency, finite adverbial clauses are of. Ch. i n U. v. the most use (Hacker, 1999). They normally consist of explicit subjects, tensed verbs. engchi. and are introduced by subordinate conjunctions (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). According to Kortmann (1996), subordinators are conjunctions which denote the interclausal relationship between the meanings in the subordinate clauses and in the main clauses. As shown in example (6): (6) A glider pilot is in the hospital with a fractured rib after his aircraft crashed into an electricity pylon. (Bache and Davidsen-Nielsen, 1997, p. 266) With the introduction of subordinators, the position of adverbial clauses is.

(24) 14. syntactically reversible 3 to their main clauses (Parrott, 2000). As shown in examples (7) and (8): (7) She called him after she had finished her dinner. (8) After she had finished her dinner, she called him. (Cowan, 2008, p. 547) The adverbial clauses introduced by the subordinator after are grammatically correct and could be placed either before or after the main clause. Types of subordinators are defined (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990; Quirk, et al.,. 政治大. 1985). They are categorized into three types: simple subordinators, complex. 立. subordinators and correlative subordinators. As Table 2.1 summarizes:. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Table 2.1. Types of Subordinators. y. Nat. n. al. after, before, when, although, if, until, unless, etc.. er. io. Simple subordinators. Examples. sit. Types of subordinators. Complex subordinators. Correlative subordinators. Ch. i n U. v. as if, even though, as soon as, in order that, etc.. engchi. such…that, so…that, the more…the more, etc.. Simple subordinators are subordinators that consist of only one word such as when and because. Complex subordinators and correlative subordinators are made of more than one word. Subordinators such as as if and even though are of this type. Correlative subordinators include as…so, whether…or and so on. The difference 3. Not each type of adverbial clauses can change its position. For example, adverbial clauses led by correlative subordinators such as as…so, such…as, so…that and others are not included. Their positions with their main clauses are not convertible..

(25) 15. between complex and correlative subordinators is the level of attachment. Complex subordinators are always glued together while correlative subordinators are separated from each other (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). Another type of subordinator standing out is called marginal subordinators. They are not included in the previous three categories because of their linguistic complexities (Quirk et al., 1985). They are further divided into four types due to their complexities: “habitual combination of a subordinator with an adverb”, “temporal noun phrases”, “prepositional phrases” and “participle forms” (Greenbaum and Quirk,. 政治大. 1990, p. 290). “Habitual combination of a subordinator with an adverb” refers to a. 立. subordinator which combines with one adverb. Subordinators such as even if, if only. ‧ 國. 學. and others are of this kind. Although both the habitual subordinators and complex. ‧. subordinators are comprised of more than one word, the meaning of the subordinators alters with the presence of the adverbs in habitual subordinators. Take if only for. y. Nat. io. sit. example. If denotes conditional semantic meaning; however, the combination with the. n. al. er. adverb only changes it into a temporal or conditional clause. “Temporal noun. Ch. i n U. v. phrases” include the minute (that) and the instant (that), etc. According to Quirk et al.. engchi. (1985), they could be viewed as noun phrases that are modified by restrictive clauses. “Prepositional phrases” are propositional phrases with the combination with “that” to introduce clauses. Examples include because of the fact that, in spite of the fact that, due to the fact that and so on (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 1002). Participle forms accompanying with “that” such as supposing that and provided that (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 1003) are subordinators to provide hypothetical conditions. The overall four types of subordinators are used as a criterion for the recognition and identification of subordinators in the present study. In most cases, a finite adverbial clause could be converted into a non-finite.

(26) 16. clause, which presents a more compact version of a finite clause. Non-finite clauses are generally presented with the absence of explicit subjects for the subjects could be understood from the context. The unstated subjects are generally identical with the subjects in their matrix clauses 4 (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). Finite adverbial clauses may be condensed into different subtypes of non-finite adverbial clauses, which include to-infinitive, -ing participle, -ed participle, bare infinitive, verbless clauses and participial clauses (Bache and Davidsen-Nielsen, 1997). Examples from (9) to (14) respectively present subtypes of non-finite adverbial clauses:. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. (9) The family enrolled in courses to attain enlightenment. (to-infinitive) (Bache and Davidsen-Nielsen, 1997, p. 266) (10) I happened to catch your radio programme while driving home. (Non-finite clauses) (Parrott, 2000, p. 336) (11) The soldiers lounging at the entrance were impassive unless challenged by the passengers. (-ed participle) (12) Rather than call her, you should invite her over for lunch. (bare infinitive) (13) Although invariable considerate, she strikes as somewhat cold. (verbless clause) (14) Keeping a nervous eye on the passing traffic, many wondered out loud which of them would be next. (participial clauses) (Bache and Davidsen-Nielsen, 1997, p. 266). n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Semantic Aspect of Adverbial Clauses Adverbial clauses are crucial for the delivery of a variety of types of. 4. It is commonly agreed that when the subject in a non-finite clause is omitted, it is normally assumed to be identical to the referent in the main clause (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). However, it is not always the case. Consider the following examples: (a) Putting it mildly, you have caused us some inconvenience. (b) I will help you if necessary. (c) When dining in the restaurant, a jacket and a tie are required. (d) Being Christmas, the government offices were closed. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 328). Based on the different contexts, in (a), the subject of the adverbial clause is “I”; the subject in (b) is “it”; in (c), the subject is an indefinite pronoun “one”, and finally, the subject in (d) is a prop “it” (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 328). The determination of the oblique subjects in non-finite and verbless clauses depends on the contexts..

(27) 17. circumstantial meanings to their main clauses (Hinkel, 2003; Miller, 2002). They are classified into different groups according to their semantic relations with their main clauses (Cowan, 2008). As discussed before, adverbial clauses are generally introduced by subordinate conjunctions. Hence, the semantic classification of adverbial clauses is typically determined by the subordinate conjunctions that connect the adverbial clauses and their main clauses. Based on their semantic meanings, adverbial clauses are grouped into several types (Cowan, 2008; Givon, 1993; Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990; Greenbaum, 1991; Hacker, 1999; Jackson, 1990;. 政治大. Kortmann, 1996; Quintero, 2002; Thompson and Longacre, 1985). As diverse as. 立. these categorizations, most of the categories are overlapping. We incorporate the. ‧ 國. 學. classifications of Greenbaum (1991), Greenbaum and Quirk (1990) and Givon (1993). ‧. for an overall analysis of the semantic types of adverbial clauses.. In their classifications, adverbial clauses include different circumstantial. y. Nat. io. sit. relations such as place, time, concession, condition, alternative-condition,. n. al. er. wh-condition, reason, purpose, result, manner (proportion, similarity and. Ch. i n U. v. comparison), preference, exception, addition, comment and means. The following. engchi. section explains these adverbial clauses in detail (Givon, 1993; Greenbaum, 1991; Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). A place clause provides the location for the action, event or statement in its main clause. Commonly used place adverbial subordinators are where, in which, wherever, anywhere, etc. See the following example:. (15)And Mr. McPhee is the envy of other writers for his ability to follow wherever his fancy leads. (Greenbaum, 1991, p. 339).

(28) 18. A temporal clause denotes a time frame for the action, event or statement occurring in the main clause. A wide range of temporal links are expressed such as precedence, subsequence, simultaneity, time coincidence, time boundary (initial and terminal), and intermediacy and so on (Givon, 1993). Adverbial subordinators used for expressing these time frames include when, as soon as, as long as, before, after, by the time, by, since, once, until, while and others. Consider (16): (16) … it was supposed that a king had the right to rule only as long as he was acting in the interest. (Greenbaum, 1991, p. 339). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Conditional clauses express possible conditions and their consequences. They may be either open or hypothetical 5 . Open conditions do not make any assumption. ‧. about the occurrence of events or actions in the conditional clauses while. sit. y. Nat. hypothetical conditions guarantee the impossibilities of events or actions in the. io. er. conditional clauses. Commonly used adverbial subordinators are if, as long as, assuming that, on condition that, provided that, etc. The following sentences present. al. n. v i n conditional adverbial clausesCwith and hypothetical conditions respectively: h eopen ngchi U. (17) If you do not do this, you may have to pay more. (18) It would be pleasant if such cruel and feudal performance as tiger and rhino hunts were dropped from future royal programs. (Jackson, 1990, p. 204) In (17), the proposition “if you do not do this” is a piece of advice which may be. 5. According to Givon (1993, p. 290), there are three types of conditional clauses: (a) simple irrealis conditionals (e.g. If you finish on time, you can have this.), (b) subjective irrealis conditionals (e.g. If you did that, you would be insane.), and (c) counter-fact conditionals (e.g. If she had known, she would have done it.). In the present study, we make no distinctions among the three types since the focus is on the use of adverbial clauses in general..

(29) 19. taken or not. It belongs to an open condition. On the other hand, in sentence (18), the author suggests that the condition “such cruel and feudal performance as tiger and rhino hunts were dropped from future royal programs” will not be fulfilled in reality. He or she is simply speculating on how different things would be. Clauses of concession provide a “presupposed contrast or counter-expectancy” (Givon, 1993, p. 297). Expected events, conditions or actions are shown in concessive adverbial clauses while the information in the main clauses presents unexpected or less-likely happening actions, conditions or events. A number of. 政治大. adverbial subordinators such as although, even though, though, whereas, while. 立. inasmuch, even if 6 and others are used. As example (19) and (20) demonstrate:. ‧ 國. 學. (19) Although it was raining, we took a walk.. ‧. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. (DeCapua, 2008, p. 295) (20) Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other. (DeCapua, 2008, p. 296). Ch. i n U. v. In (19), the information in the adverbial clause conveys an expected action which is a. engchi. contrast to the unexpected idea in the main clause. In (20), the subordinate clause presents an idea different from that in the host clause. Alternative-conditional clauses are employed to express two or more possible conditions. Whether is a commonly used adverbial subordinator. As the following example shows:. 6. The adverbial subordinator even if bears both “conditional” and “concessive” semantic meanings. As the following example shows: Even if you drink just a little, they will fire you (Kortmann, 1996, p. 86). In this case, the action in the main clause “they will fire you” will be executed whether the action in the subordinate clause is done or not. For this reason, adverbial clauses introduced by the subordinator even if are identified as concessive-condition clause (Kortmann, 1996). In our study, clauses of this kind are identified into the category of concession (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990)..

(30) 20. (21) When you tie a standard rose and this applies to any standard rose whether you do it yourself or whether you buy it, you really need two ties on it. (Greenbaum, 1990, p. 342). Wh-conditional clauses identify indefinite or any possible conditions for the actions, events or statements in the matrix clauses. See example (22):. (22) You really are relatively speaking in comparison with the other two very inexperienced however talented you may be. (Greenbaum, 1996, p. 342). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Clauses of reason carry explanations such as reasons or causes for what are conveyed in the main clauses. Common reason or causal adverbial subordinators are. ‧. because, since, as, whereas, inasmuch as, for, just in case, etc. As sentence (23). al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. demonstrates:. v. n. (23) The matter is mentioned because the puzzle of Mr. Wilson’s new novel is to know clearly what he is saying and where he is standing.. Ch. engchi. i n U. (Jackson, 1990, p. 209). The proposition in (23) introduced by a subordinator because expresses a motivation for the action of the main clause. A purpose clause is used to specify the purpose of an event or action in the main clause. The common adverbial subordinators are in order that, so that, so, lest, in order that not and so on. Consider the following example:. (24) Skilled ringers use their twists to advance or retard the next swing, so that.

(31) 21. one bell can swap places with another in the following change. (Greembaum, 1991, p. 345). Unlike the other types of adverbial clauses, non-finite infinitive purpose clauses are more frequent than finite purpose clauses to provide reasons or causes (Greembaum and Quirk, 1990). They are often introduced by subordinators such as in order to, so as to, and to. See example (25):. 政治大. (25) Britain was providing the cloak for Germany to blind an air force bigger than that of France. (Jackson, 1990, p. 208). 立. ‧ 國. 學. Result clauses represent the result of a situation, action or an event described in. ‧. the main clause. The common subordinator is so that. As sentence (26) shows:. y. Nat. sit. n. al. er. io. (26) … they actually said it was their fault you see so that they paid all the cost and everything else . (Grammbaum, 1990, p. 344). Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Clauses of manner are utilized to portray how events, actions or statements happen or are done in the main clauses. In this categorization, there is a semantic blend with clauses of similarity, comparison, and proposition (Jackson, 1990; Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). These clauses could be interpreted as different forms of manner. They are introduced by adverbial subordinators such as as, as if, as though, in that, just as, like, much as, as…(as), the…the… and others. As shown in the following examples:. (27) Loose tongues wag here, just as they do everywhere else..

(32) 22. (28) He sat himself down as if the whole day was before him. (Jackson, 1991, p. 211) (29) As he grew disheartened, (so) his work deteriorated. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 325) In example (27), the adverbial clause expresses not only proposition of similarity but also manner. The proposition followed by as subordinator explains how the loose tongues wag. In (28), the information in the subordinate clause is compared to the information in the main clause. In this case, the adverbial clause provides an. 政治大 adverbial clause brings out “proportionality or equivalence of tendency and degree” 立 illustration as to how the character sat down. In (29), the information in the. ‧ 國. 學. (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990, p. 325) compared to that in the main clause. Clauses of preference are employed to denote an event or action which is. ‧. expected to happen, but in reality it is not. Something else occurs and the something. sit. y. Nat. is explained in the main clause.. io. er. Clauses of preference are often presented in participle or non-finite form (Givon, 1993), with their subjects omitted. Common subordinators are rather than,. n. al. Ch. instead of, sooner than, etc. For example,. engchi. i n U. v. (30) Rather than do the dishes, he watched TV. (Givon, 1993, p. 298). A clause of exception expresses exclusion to the propositional content of the main clause. Frequently used subordinators consist of except that and but that and others. As the following example demonstrates:.

(33) 23. (31) The typewriter used is a Remington Rand, which looks like any other typewriter except that it is fitted with syllabic Eskimo letters. (Quintero, 1999, p. 99). Clauses of exception are typically expressed in non-finite form, without explicit subjects. Adverbial subordinator except for is commonly used (Quintero, 1999). See the following sentence:. (32) She was injured so far as he could see, expect for being knocked unconscious by the fall. (Quintero, 1999, p. 99). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Clauses of addition are used to offer extra information and add details to the information in the main clauses. Clauses of this kind are always presented in. ‧. non-finite structure, without the presence of explicit subjects. Adverbial. Nat. sit. n. al. er. io. example (33):. y. subordinators include in addition to, on top of, apart from and others. Consider. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. (33) In addition to having your hand stamped, you must show your ticket stub. (Givon, 1993, p. 298) Comment clauses are used to provide additional comments, and they are more frequently used in conversational contexts. Information carried in comment clauses is part of the main assertion in the main clauses. Therefore, unlike other types of adverbial clauses, which are to complete the massages in the main clauses, their main function mainly is to provide comments to the main propositions in the main clauses. Comment clauses are generally introduced by as subordinator. As the example shows:.

(34) 24. (34) As he said to me well we didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. (Greenbaum, 1991, p. 345) An adverbial clause of means is used to specify the tool, instrument or way that is utilized to accomplish an action, event or statement in the main clause. It is generally presented in non-finite -ing form. Typical subordinators include by, in, through, from, by way of and so on. See (35):. 政治大. (35) but your skill as a photograph will be tested to the full in obtaining really first-class results. (Quintero, 2002, p. 85). 立. ‧ 國. 學. To conclude, adverbial clauses are employed to provide various. ‧. circumstantial semantic relations needed for the main clauses. Different types of. sit. y. Nat. adverbial clauses are introduced by different subordinators to connect the links.. io. er. Concerning the use of subordinators, one aspect worthy noting is that some subordinators bear “polyfunctionality” (Kortmann, 1996, p. 89). A subordinator. al. n. v i n C h or value regarding carries different semantic meanings e n g c h i U its relation to the main clause (Kortmann, 1996). Compare the following examples:. (36) Since John has refused the offer, he hasn’t been to see us. (37) Since John has refused to offer, he hasn’t been to see us. (38) Since I am sick, I won’t do well in the exam. (39)*Since being sick, I won’t do well in the exam. (Greenbaum, 1973, cited in Kortmann, 1996, p. 90). Since in examples (36) and (37) could bear either causal or temporal meanings, depending on their circumstantial relations to their main clauses. In addition, the.

(35) 25. explanations of meanings are under the constraints of syntactic contexts. It is only with a temporal interpretation that it can be introduced in the non-finite syntactic form. There is a “different-meanings-in-different-syntactic-environment” (Kortmann, 1996, p. 91) interaction. The relationship between an adverbial clause structure and its semantic meaning is interwoven. Therefore, if we consider example (39) a causal meaning, it would be erroneous since the use of -ing form is not acceptable.. Pragmatic Analysis of Adverbial Clauses. 政治大. With the diversity of semantic roles, adverbial clauses serve to complete the. 立. information in the main clauses. In addition to the provision of different semantic. ‧ 國. 學. meanings, they are considered crucial for arranging importance of meanings (Hinker,. ‧. 2004). That is, they are important in marking the importance of information status (Hinkel, 2004; Quirk et al., 1985). Adverbial clauses are utilized to provide. y. Nat. io. sit. background information relevant to their main clauses. It is suggested that adverbial. n. al. er. clauses function as a grounding device to provide background information, for they. Ch. i n U. v. carry supportive, elaborative information which is typically detached from the event. engchi. line or irrelevant to the discourse development (Givon, 1979; Mathiesen and Thompson, 1988). Therefore, they contribute to the arrangement of information flow in a text. Adverbial clauses could carry old information and serve “thematic re-orientation device” (Givon, 1993, p. 315) for the re-establishment of coherence between thematic boundaries or operate at a local scope, serving to narrow or explain the meanings in the main clauses. As the examples (40) and (41) suggest:. (40) There was a story circulating about Ms. McKinley that at one luncheon given in honor of the president and his wife, the centerpiece was a large,.

(36) 26. staffed American eagle. When the guests sat down, the thing began to bob its head and move up and down in perky, life-like movements. (Diessel, 2005, p. 459) (41) The machine destroyed me in six minutes, me who learned chess at my father’s knee before I had turned eight years old. Totally unexpected, brilliant mental moves, and in 371, 9 seconds I have been checkmated by the 20th century, a familiar feeling to more than chess player. (Yu, 2001, p. 94). In example (40), the adverbial clause is related to the previous discourse as well as. 政治大 reported in the main clause and sets the episode established in the preceding 立. to the following main clause. It serves as a thematic bridge for the particular event. ‧ 國. frame for the event described in the main clause.. 學. sentence. On the other hand, the adverbial clause in (41) simply provides a time. ‧. y. sit. Nat. Adverbial Clauses in ESL/EFL Writing. io. er. In the previous section, we discuss that subordinate clauses are employed to integrate layers of messages. As one of the subordinate clauses, adverbial clauses are. al. n. v i n one important and common C device the goal. In this section, we will talk h etonachieve gchi U. about how they are used in L1 and L2 context. We center on the discussion about the role of adverbial clauses as an indication for language development and studies probing into ESL and EFL learners’ use of the construction.. Writing Maturity In communicative language teaching, English writing is identified as an interactive process for the writer and the reader to reach communication (Olshtain, 1991). It is considered an important skill for “global communication, academic.

(37) 27. survival, and professional success” (Liu, 2005, p. 91). To achieve complexity and message combination, the use of subordinate clauses is important to reach such integration and it is often regarded as an indication of maturity in language development, both in first and second language (Cooper, 1976; Hinkel, 2003; Hunt, 1965, cited in Quintero et al., 1998, 1970; O’Donnell et al., 1967; Tyler, 1994). Users of a language gradually come to use subordinate clauses for the expressions of more complex ideas. Hunt (1965 and 1970) and O’ Daonnell et al., (1967) found that as children grew more proficient in their first language written performance, a stable. 政治大. growth in the frequency use of adverbial clause was observed as well as the. 立. diversity.. ‧ 國. 學. In addition to L1 context, some research showed that the employment of. ‧. adverbial clauses was a feature of advanced writing in L2 context. For instance, Hinkel (2003) reported that advanced ESL writers employed more adverbial clauses. y. Nat. io. sit. than ESL less skillful writers. Hinkel (2004) therefore suggested that the use of. n. al. er. adverbial clauses was one of the features to achieve native-like writing. Parrott. Ch. i n U. v. (2000) also advised more guidance and encouragement is needed for the use of. engchi. adverbial clauses for ESL and EFL learners. Although the syntactic role of adverbial clauses is relatively less important compared to the main clauses (Hinkel, 2004), they contribute to the complexity and maturity in writing.. Previous Studies on ESL/EFL Learners’ Use of Adverbial Clauses Adverbial clauses have been discussed from different perspectives. They are examined as a grounding device in L1 and L2 context in different genres (Berman and Slobin. 1994; Chafe, 1984; Chan, 1998; Diessel, 2001, 2005; Evensen, 2002; Ford, 1993; Givon, 1979; Khalil, 2000, 2002; Mathiesen and Thompson, 1988;.

(38) 28. Ramsey, 1987; Shih, 2002; Thomposn, 1987; Yu, 2001). In terms of the frequency of adverbial clauses use, some studies observed learners’ preferences. Hinkel (2004) suggested that non-native speakers did not utilize adverbial clauses with a variety. Instead, they tended to use similar types of adverbial clauses such as causal clauses in their writing. Parrott (2000) pointed out that in oral and written production, learners overused coordinate structures while adverbial clauses structure was more suitable in a given context. Field and Yip (1992) found that there was a tendency for learners to overuse. 政治大. adverbial subordinators in Hong Kong learners’ production; Milton and Tsang (1993). 立. reported similar finding. Granger and Rayson (1997) explored the International. ‧ 國. 學. Corpus of Leaner English and also uncovered a tendency to underuse adverbial. ‧. clauses except for if and because clauses. Lorenz (1999) made a comparison between the corpora between native speakers of English and non-native speakers.. y. Nat. io. sit. The result claimed that native speakers were able to utilize a variety of clausal. n. al. er. subordinator such as since, as and for compared to non-native speakers’ corpora. Tan. Ch. i n U. v. (2008) also reported that with 95 second year-non-English ESL university majors,. engchi. among total production of 315 complete sentences, there were 49 complex sentences; among these complex sentences, half of the sentences were subordinate clausal adverbial clauses introduced by the subordinator because. Ventola and Mauranen (1991) noted that in Finnish learners’ production, an underuse of adverbial subordinators was found and the result was positively correlated with learners’ proficiency level. Lintermann-Rygh (1985) also reported Norwegian learners’ lack of variety regarding the adverbial subordinators use. Some research looked into learners’ difficulties and erroneous production in the use of adverbial clauses. In comprehension, Pretorius (2006) suggested that ESL.

(39) 29. learners with lower English proficiency had difficulty in understanding causal and concessive relations. In terms of use, the inappropriate selection of subordinators is common in ESL learners’ production (Chang and Chang, 2009; Cowan, 2008; Izzo, 1995; Lorenz, 1999; Parrott, 2006). Lorenz (1999) found that there was a significant non-native like use of because by comparing the native and non-native speakers’ corpora. Similarly, Izzo (1995) probed into the use of adverbial subordinators in writing on Japanese high school graduates. The research suggested that the adverbial subordinator because was often improperly used. The students tended to make. 政治大. because fragments and used a comma to separate because from its attached. 立. adverbial clauses. Chang and Chang (2009) looked into EFL Taiwanese students’. ‧ 國. 學. use of two subordinators—when and while. The study showed that learners prefer. ‧. when to while, where while was a correct or more appropriate choice. Other errors concerning the two subordinate subordinators included wrong use of tenses and. y. Nat. io. sit. incomplete forms. As these studies suggest, the use of adverbial subordinators in. n. al. er. ESL/EFL context is a distinctive feature between native speakers of non-native. Ch. speakers of English (Lorenz, 1999).. engchi. i n U. v. In spite of its early introduction, it seems that research of the structure of adverbial clauses has only touched upon the syntactic parts without further notice on other aspects in class presentation and instruction. Moreover, the importance of subordinators is comparatively underestimated. These important features in fact pose some complexities and difficulties to learners (Chang, 2002; Chang and Chang, 2009; Cowan, 2008; Hinkel, 2003, 2004; Lorenz, 1999; Tseng, 2005). To find the learners’ difficulties in utilizing the construction of adverbial clauses, error analysis was carried out in the current research. In the following, the concept of error analysis and its role in a language classroom is elaborated..

(40) 30. Error Analysis In the process of language learning, the production of interlanguage is an important indicator for learners’ progress of learning (Corder, 1974). Thus, error analysis is often implemented to examine learners’ idiosyncratic dialect and interlanguage (Corder, 1974; Richards, 1974) to have a better understanding toward their development of second or foreign language learning. The employment of error analysis is common for teachers and researchers to uncover students’ difficulties in. 政治大. learning a new language. In the current research, error analysis was performed to. 立. gain a better insight toward learners’ problems and difficulties in using adverbial. ‧ 國. 學. clauses. To have a clearer picture about error analysis, the subsequent sections. ‧. discuss the concept of error analysis, and the role of error analysis in grammar instruction and move on to sources of errors.. io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. Concept of Error Analysis. Ch. i n U. v. Error analysis aims to portray learners’ interlnaguage and provide constructive. engchi. resources and feedback in the process of language learning or acquisition. (Corder, 1967). Different from contrastive analysis, which mainly ascribes learners’ errors to the influence of learners’ first language (Gass and Slinker, 1983; Richards, 1974; Wardhaugh, 1970), error analysis regards other factors such as the target language and interlanguage as potential sources for learners’ erroneous use. (Corder, 1967; Richards, 1974; Selinker, 1972). Errors here are not considered hazardous to learners’ learning process and language acquisition. Instead, they are treated as part of “transitional competence” (Corder, 1967, p. 168)”, which represents learners’ learning system. With the identification of learners’ errors, teachers or researchers.

(41) 31. would have a better understanding toward learners’ learning development and strategies in the process of second or foreign acquisition (Corder, 1967; Gass and Selinker, 1983; Jain, 1974 ) and this could further help teachers provide remedial teaching (Corder, 1967). However, error analysis is problematic to some degree. Some criticisms have been pointed out concerning the nature of error analysis such as the invalidity of explanations of errors (Bell, 1974, cited in James, 1998), neglect of learners’ avoidance strategies (Schachter, 1974) and a failure to take learners’ psychological process into account (Candlin, 1974). In spite of these potential. 政治大. drawbacks, Brown (2000) suggested that error analysis is still conducive to observe. 立. and identify learners’ interlanguage. The information collected would provide. ‧ 國. 學. important pedagogical implications for second and foreign language teachers and. ‧. textbook compilers (Chang and Chang, 2009).. y. Nat. io. sit. The Role of Error Analysis in Grammar Instruction. n. al. er. With the recognition of learners’ errors, teachers and instructors would gain. Ch. i n U. v. invaluable insight into learners’ learning process. According to Corder (1987), errors. engchi. themselves serve as reminders to both learners and teachers what the weaknesses are, whether in teaching or learning. Erdogan (2005) further suggested that errors supply valuable and constructive feedback for teachers to examine learners’ progress and help teachers make adjustments for their teaching materials or plans. Based on learners’ errors, teachers could reflect on their teaching methods to examine their appropriateness; therefore, more proper teaching materials could be designed or modified for learners of different language proficiency. In a communication-oriented language classroom, teachers could make best use of learners’ errors to provide more precise remedial teaching with “focus on form” instruction. Communicative.

(42) 32. activities could be cooperated during instruction to help learners become aware of points they need to work on. In addition to teachers, people devoted to the language teaching or acquisition would also benefit greatly from the identified errors. For syllabus designers and textbook compilers, errors are crucial for they are important indictors for the arrangement of age and proficiency appropriate syllabus design and items that require further attention and need to be shown again and again to remind learners (Erdogan, 2005; Richards, 1974).. Sources of Errors. 立. 政治大. In contrastive analysis, the causes or sources of learners’ errors mainly attribute. ‧ 國. 學. to the interference of learners’ first language (Wardhaugh, 1970). Error analysis, on. ‧. the other hand, takes a wider range of aspects into consideration to account for learners’ erroneous production. There are different sources of errors for the. y. Nat. io. sit. occurrence of errors. (Corder, 1974; Dulay and Burt, 1974; James, 1998; Selinker,. n. al. er. 1972). Particularly, James (1998) proposed four types error sources: interlingual,. Ch. i n U. v. intralingual, communication-strategies and induced errors (James, 1998, p. 179).. engchi. First, one of the sources is the influence of learners’ first language. In the process of language acquisition or learning, it is unavoidable that learners’ first language comes into play. The similarities and dissimilarities between learners’ first and second (foreign) languages may confuse learners and hinder them from obtaining the correct or appropriate target language structures (Corder, 1971; James, 1998). Aside from L1 transfer or interference, errors resulting from learners’ incorrect assumptions of the target language or “learning strategies” (communication strategies) (James, 1998, p. 185) to achieve intended communication may result in erroneous use. James (1998) further summarized seven “learning strategy-based.

(43) 33. errors” (p.185) and two “communication strategy-based errors” (p.187). Learning strategies include false analogy (wrong assumption of the behavior of one particular structure), misanalysis (incorrect hypothesis of one syntactic structure or rule), overgeneralization (the overindulgence of a rule), incomplete rule application (intended or unintended simplification of a certain structure), redundant exploitation (unneeded use of certain structure or morphology), overlooking restrictions (ignorance of grammatical constraints) and hypercorrection (excessive scrutiny of certain rules ). Communication strategies such as holistic strategies (the. 政治大. approximation of the adoption of certain structure) and analytic strategies (indirect. 立. representation of a structure) are manifested by learners to get their intended. ‧ 國. 學. meanings across.. ‧. Other than first language interference and target language learning strategies, learning and teaching contexts could be potentially hazardous and then contribute to. y. Nat. io. sit. learners’ errors. Induced errors may stem from learners’ learning materials, teacher. n. al. er. talk, exercises in the textbooks, pedagogical priorities, look-up behaviors (James,. Ch. i n U. v. 1998). It is obvious that the input students receive can have a great impact on their. engchi. processing and learning. We now turn our focus to one of the most influential input in ESL/EFL context—textbooks.. Textbook Evaluation and Grammar Instruction For ESL and EFL learners, the role of textbooks could not be underestimated. According to Krashen and Terrell (1983), one influential feature about second or foreign language acquisition is learners’ exposure to the target language. In the L2 context, learning materials or textbooks are the primary source of input. They are a requisite in most learning and teaching contexts. They pretty much decide the.