From Differentiation of the Expressive Effects to Conscious Use of Rhetorical Language

Abstract

The double predicate structures in English are examples of rhetorical use of language. The differentiation between the distinctive double predicate structure “verb + adjective” and the normal predicate structure “verb + adverb” and the subsequent choice in specific contexts is thus not only a matter of grammar rules on the surface, but, more substantively, a matter of conscious use of rhetorical language. The survey conducted among college English teachers in China into their differentiation between “verb + adjective” and “verb + adverb” showed that most respondents didn’t distinguish very well the differing expressive effects caused by the choice of the adjectives or the adjectives’ derivative adverbs in these two types of structures, and that the majority of the respondents had difficulty in making proper choices between them for specific contexts. Since the identification of a language structure is the prerequisite for its appropriate use, due attention in English teaching and learning should be paid to the delicate differences among similar language items and to their differing expressive effects to cultivate awareness and competence of conscious use of rhetorical language, enhancing overall language performance.