This is the first of three modules concerned with narrative and identity in English language teaching in Japan. This module makes the case for developing a pedagogical model of spoken discourse, particularly spoken narrative, to aid the teaching of English in foreign language contexts such as Japan. It is proposed that this model should take account of the learners L1, in this case Japanese. Rather than teaching the model, however, it is suggested that the model would ideally be applied using a task-based approach.

This thesis is the third of three modules, and explores narrative identity in interviews with English language teachers. It offers an analysis of how speakers used linguistic resources to construct identities for themselves during life story interviews. Both interviewer (the author) and interviewees (21 native English speakers and 21 native Japanese speakers) taught English in Japan. All interviews were conducted in the interviewee’s native language. The analysis therefore consists of a contextualised cross-linguistic description of the linguistic resources employed by speakers for expressing identity. I use this analysis to address the role of the ‘native speaker’ in English language teaching in Japan (introduced in Module 2) through a fresh analysis that includes the perspectives of ‘non-native’ teachers. In terms of theory, this module offers a response to the general question: ‘What differences are there between narratives told in Japanese and English?’ (posed in Module 1). In turn, my answers to this are used to inform pedagogic proposals (the principal focus of Module 1) on the development of a pedagogic model of narrative suitable for Japanese learners of English.

The aim of this study is to supplement existing research on phraseology in learner language by exploring the behaviours of phrasal verbs, a notorious hurdle for learners of English. This thesis compares a Chinese learner corpus (CLEC) with an English native speakers’ corpus (LOCNESS), with a reference corpus, the Bank of English (BoE), being consulted where necessary. A series of quantitative and qualitative investigations are conducted on phrasal verbs: calculation of frequency distribution and type-token ratios; identification of phraseological information, including collocation, semantic preference, semantic sequence and prosody. The results are discussed in full. Additionally, a framework utilising degrees of idiomaticity and restriction strength to group phrasal verbs is proposed and the issue of distinguishing synonymous counterparts is tackled as well. The results generally indicate that Chinese learner language tends to have more phrasal verb tokens but fewer types than written native speaker English does. Detailed case studies of phrasal verbs show, however, that the phraseological behaviours of phrasal verbs as used by learners are so individualised that the findings are mixed. Learner uses are characterised by idiosyncrasies of different phraseological units, suggesting that the links (between lexis and lexis, or lexis and concepts) in the lexicon of L2 are different from those in L1.

This thesis, drawing on insights from Appraisal Theory, Pattern Grammar and Corpus Linguistics, explores the association between grammar patterns and attitudinal meanings. Particular attention is paid to adjective complementation patterns and Judgement, i.e. the ethical evaluation of human behaviour and character. Using a corpus compiled of biographical discourse, this study addresses four research questions: 1) whether the current JUDGEMENT system is sufficiently comprehensive and systematic to deal with the Judgement resources identified in this corpus, 2) what insights a detailed scrutiny of adjective-in-pattern exemplars can offer into the description and characterisation of attitudinal resources, 3) how local grammars of evaluation can be developed with the help of grammar patterns, and 4) what local grammars of evaluation may be useful for. It is suggested that the original JUDGEMENT system should be refined so as to enable it to deal effectively with the Judgement resources found. Drawing on evidence from both personality psychology and corpus analysis, Emotivity is proposed as a new sub-type of Judgement to account for those resources which construe attitudes towards emotional types of personality traits. The examination of adjective-in-pattern exemplars in terms of Attitude shows that grammar patterns are of limited use in distinguishing types of attitudinal meanings but that grammar patterns are a very useful heuristic to investigate attitudinal resources. Further, it is demonstrated that grammar patterns are a good starting point for the construction of local grammars of evaluation, which is exemplified by the local grammar of Judgement developed in the current study. Lastly, it is argued that local grammars of evaluation, in theory, provide an alternative way to model attitudinal meanings, and in practice, offer some insights into the automation of appraisal analysis. Other related issues (e.g. local grammar analyses of some special cases, replicability of the methodology) are also discussed.

This thesis explores the interrelationship of local grammar, meaning, and translation equivalence, using a case study of the English verb CONSIDER, compared in a monolingual study with its near-synonyms BELIEVE, FEEL and THINK, and in a contrastive analysis with their German translation equivalents. The methodology fuses corpus linguistics and valency grammar, analysing and comparing monolingual and parallel corpora. Corpus investigation is found to be a reliable tool in identifying key translation equivalents and in verifying sentence patterns. Valency theory is argued to be more successful than related approaches in distinguishing between different levels of language analysis. Its flexibility regarding complement categorisation types make it possible to define categories that can be applied to both German and English appropriately in a contrastive study, in spite of the surface differences between the two languages. The findings highlight the problems of investigating the interplay of lexis and grammar in a contrastive context, and indicate that from the perspective of translation, language is much less rule-based and less phraseological than is often assumed. Applications of the research to the field of bilingual lexicography are discussed. Based on the corpus analysis and the valency analysis some sample dictionary entries are proposed.

This study investigates the role of discourse reflexivity in the linear structure of both grammar and discourse by proposing an integrated model combining an adaptation of Sinclair and Mauranen’s (2006) model of Linear Unit Grammar with two of Sinclair’s models for the analysis of discourse (Sinclair 1992, 1993/2004e). It is a model which can be applied both to spoken and written as well as to monologic, dialogic and polylogic discourse. In order to demonstrate the model and how it can be employed in the investigation of the role of discourse reflexivity in the linear structure of discourse, a corpus of online message board discourse of the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website is used. Within the scope of grammar, it is found that discourse reflexivity is particularly salient in initial suspensive elements in the linear unit and that these elements perform a variety of functions depending on the type of element sequence in which they occur and on their position in the linear structure. In discourse, it is found that there is large number of suspensive linear units between turns, i.e. those in which participants do not comply with expectations, coinciding with points where negative evaluation or antagonism is expressed. Discourse reflexivity is particularly salient at such points and therefore can be seen to play a central role in the linear structure and character of the discourse.

In order to succeed in Higher Education, students need to be able to argue effectively in writing. This thesis focuses on the argumentational skills of international students as manifested in short essays, similar to the written English proficiency tests for university admission. The study compared these essays to opinion pieces produced by expert academic writers. First, insights from the field of rhetoric were used to compare how the writers argued. An analytical tool was designed to deconstruct arguments into their essential parts to determine the number and distribution of these components in the texts. The results from this analysis then informed an investigation into selected types of cohesive markers and their role in managing writer-reader dialogues. The study found differences in both the argumentational and linguistic strategies used by the writers to persuade their readers, especially with regard to the integration of other voices. The thesis discusses implications for the teaching of argument in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum and beyond, and advocates a more rhetorical approach. Recommendations include the use of a new generative model of argument in the classroom and the use of the analytical tool for further research across different argumentational genres and academic disciplines.

This thesis reports a study applying stylistics in the analysis and assessment of literary translation, with specific reference to translations between English and Chinese. It focuses on how to maintain the original style in the translation – in terms of techniques or linguistic features in the literary texts and their correspondent functions – and on how to assess the style of the individual translation and translator as measured by quantitative data derived from corpus linguistic analyses. The thesis starts with an overview of the specific challenges of literary translation and the value of stylistics as an approach assisting in a better understanding of the literary texts, which shows the need for using stylistics in literary translation. It then illustrates how to apply stylistics in literary translation, taking the examples of central stylistic phenomena such as metaphor, free indirect speech, heteroglossia, repetition, and transitivity in the English translations of the celebrated Chinese novella《阿Q正传》(The True Story of Ah Q) (Lu Xun, 1921) and in the Chinese translations of the English short stories “Two Gallants” and “The Dead” (Joyce, 1914). I investigate the distinguishable “fingerprints” of the Chinese translators of the 《阿Q正传》 through scrutinizing the data uncovered by corpus tools, taking into consideration each translator’s individual style alongside any detectable motivations pertaining to their personal experiences, the publishing context, and so on. This study argues that literary texts – as distinct from non-literary texts – have a real but hard-to-define “added value”, carried by the particular way in which they exploit lexis, grammar, and pragmatics; this added value is everything to do with the text’s style. A good literary translation must reproduce something of the source text’s style; otherwise the distinguishing literariness in the original will not be conveyed in the target text. Stylistic and corpus methods can help identify important stylistic features in the original, and can help us to evaluate whether equivalent features are or are not present in one or several translations of that original.

This thesis looks at the way in which Chinese and English speakers employ (im)politeness strategies in their emails to develop intercultural understanding. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis contributes to the discussions of intercultural communication in relation to the negotiation of (im)politeness meaning. From a pedagogic perspective, the thesis reveals the potential for using email to experience culture as a process of meaning negotiation and construction and has relevance to teachers of EFL. Ethnographically-informed discourse analysis is employed to investigate discursively the negotiation of meaning in email interaction. The interplay between the computer-mediated communication, speech acts and (im)politeness are explored by using the analytical frameworks of Hymes’ ethnography of communication, Searle’s speech act theory (1969) and Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1987). This research shows that ‘(im)politeness’ is not a stable construct. Rather, it is constantly (re)negotiated by the interactants, who take into account the relevant contextualisation cues. It finds that the functions and (im)politeness meanings of speech acts can vary from situations to situations. In addition, this research finds that the computer-mediated paralanguages, such as emoticons and written out laughter, are also important in realising (im)politeness intent and developing intercultural understanding in emails.

This thesis draws on a classroom-based empirical study to explore the actual effects that Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has on students’ performance, when applied to group discussions, and the impacts that different forms of Goal-Setting and Feedback (GSF) have on their learning. In doing so, it challenges the assumptions in the research literature that TBLT will necessarily improve multiple aspects of performance within group discussions with low-level students, and reveals that applying GSF can lead to very different outcomes. A longitudinal mixed-method approach was adopted using surveys and peer-interviews with 10 teachers, and observations, surveys and peer-interviews with 132 low-level students in a Japanese university. Students used product or process GSF alongside TBLT group discussions across a semester. Findings showed improvements in fluency and accuracy, positive feelings towards learning, and larger improvements for lower performers. Furthermore, product and process goals influenced students' focus differently in terms of individual performance, collaboration and discussion outcome. These findings create a clearer picture of the impact of TBLT, when applied to group discussions, and show how students' focus within learning can be greatly influenced by task goals. Resultant recommendations for course design, student and teacher training, and implementation of TBLT and GSF are given.