| Author: | Ching, Nok Hang |
| Title: | Because in an intercultural corpus of spoken English |
| Advisors: | Cheng, Winnie (ENGL) |
| Degree: | M.A. |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Subject: | English language -- Spoken English -- China -- Hong Kong English language -- Intonation Intercultural communication -- China -- Hong Kong Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of English |
| Pages: | ix, 158 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Because, as one of the linguistic items which indicates causation, has received a considerable amount of attention in linguistic research. Various studies have proposed the functions of because and its phonologically reduced form cos by examining spoken discourse produced by native speakers of English. However, few studies have investigated how non-native speakers of English use because and cos in their speech. Based on a number of authentic examples from the Hong Kong Corpus of Spoken English (prosodic), the present study examines the functions of because and cos in real-life spoken intercultural interactions and the relationship between the functions of because and cos and various sociolinguistic and contextual factors. The study shows that both because and cos perform eight functions which have been proposed in previous studies. Findings from the study indicate that Hong Kong Chinese and native speakers of English and the two gender groups, male and female speakers, use because and cos quite differently in their speech. It is also found that functions of because and cos vary according to the text type in which they occur. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5069.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 1.1 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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