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Lexical Chunk Use in Chinese College EFL Writing: A Corpus-Assisted Developmental Study

Author(s)

Xugui Gui

Affiliation(s)

Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Shaoxing, China

Abstract

This study investigates the characteristics and influencing factors of chunk usage in English writing among Chinese college students, based on a learner corpus compiled from College English Test (CET) writing tasks. By comparing student essays with a reference corpus of model writings from CET Band-4 or Band-6 exams, the research examines chunk usage in terms of word class or parts of speech (POS), frequency, accuracy, and diversity. The analysis reveals that students tend to rely heavily on high-frequency chunks and demonstrate limited flexibility in applying chunks in more complex contexts. Cross-linguistic interference is particularly prominent in the research result. Furthermore, factors such as English language proficiency, negative transfer from their mother tongue (Chinese language), and the instructional environment significantly affect chunk acquisition. The findings offer targeted pedagogical implications and underscore the importance of optimising chunk-based teaching strategies in EFL writing instruction.

Keywords

Corpus-Assisted; College English; Writing; Lexical Chunks; Writing Pedagogy

References

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