A valency-based corpus analysis of TAKE and GIVE in Learner Englishes and New Englishes
(2025)
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- Authors
- Supervisors
- Gilquin, Gaëtanelle
- Abstract
- The overarching aim of this dissertation is to bridge the paradigm gap between Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and World Englishes (WEs) research by comparing Learner Englishes (LEs) and New Englishes (NEs) using corpora and valency theory. The relationship between LEs and NEs remains an ongoing debate, with three competing perspectives emerging from the existing comparative corpus studies: a dichotomy, a continuum, and intermingling clustering. These divergent perspectives are often shaped by the linguistic phenomena investigated and the statistical approaches used. Against this background, this dissertation re-evaluates the LEs-NEs relationship by considering both language-internal factors (i.e., mode, lexical items, and linguistic levels) and statistical approaches, using comparable written and spoken corpora. To this end, this dissertation provides a multi-level analysis of valence, valency patterns, and senses of TAKE and GIVE across two LEs (Mainland Chinese English (MCE) and Belgian French‐speaking English (BFE)) and two NEs (Singapore English (SgE) and Hong Kong English (HKE)). This is followed by a multifactorial analysis of light verb constructions with TAKE and GIVE (e.g., take a walk) to explore how grammatical contexts (e.g., voice) constrain their usage, employing both Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Random Forests with Global Surrogate Model techniques. Qualitative analyses of non-standard features and their potential motivations further complement the quantitative results. Across all analytical dimensions, the findings show that LEs and NEs are neither two distinct categories nor a simple linear continuum. Instead, they constitute a dynamic spectrum, with varieties occupying dynamic positioning, depending on the language-internal factors investigated. This reconceptualization helps bridge the paradigm gap between SLA and WEs research and underscores the need for multidimensional analyses in future comparative English variety research.
- Affiliations
Citations
Tao, Y. (2025). A valency-based corpus analysis of TAKE and GIVE in Learner Englishes and New Englishes. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/266674