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Yinyin Peng

Zhejiang Normal University, China

 

Ying Peng

University of Leeds, UK

 

Abstract

In the practice of teaching Chinese as a foreign language to English-speaking learners, the Chinese verb-complement structure is an important yet challenging linguistic form. As one of the basic Chinese syntactic constructions, the verb-complement structure, on the one hand, is widely used in written and spoken Mandarin Chinese; on the other hand, it is relatively complex, including different types, and has no equivalent in English. Adopting a cognitive linguistic perspective to investigate second language (L2) learners’ application of Chinese verb-complement structures, this study examines 280 extracts of Chinese journals (free writing) composed by a group of lower-intermediate level L1 English students. Through analyzing factors impacting on L2 learners’ usage of Chinese verb-complement structures, such as the type of complements, the position of complements, formal markers, this study finds that the difficulty of each category of Chinese complements varies; primarily, syntactic complexity as well as conceptual differences in event description between Chinese and English are the main causes of learners’ errors. Based on these findings, this study provides pedagogical implications for teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign/second language.

 

Keywords

Chinese verb-complement structure, cognitive linguistic perspective, error analysis

 

从认知语言学视角看汉语中低级水平学习者对中文动补结构的习得

彭银银

浙江师范大学，中国

 

彭颖

利兹大学，英国

 

摘要

动补结构作为汉语的一项基本句法结构，在汉语书面语和口语中被广泛使用，同时其类型多样，意义丰富，在英语中没有对应的结构。因而，在英语母语学生学习中文的过程当中，动补结构是一项十分重要且颇具难度的语言形式。本研究对一组以英语为母语、汉语处于中低水平的学生所撰写的 280 篇中文日志（自由写作）进行了分析，从认知语言学的角度考察二语学习者对汉语动补结构的使用。研究通过分析影响二语学习者使用中文动补结构的因素，如补语类型、补语位置、形式标记等，发现中文各类补语的习得难度存在差异。句法结构的复杂性以及中英文在事件描述上的认知差异是学习者产生错误的主要原因。基于语法、语义、语用三方面的数据分析，本研究期望为汉语作为外语 / 第二语言的教学活动提供教学启示。

 

关键词

中文动补结构，认知语言学视角，偏误分析