Abstract
In linguistic literature, learner language has been extensively analysed from various perspectives. A number of studies have reported on the differences between non-native and native learner English. The former has been repeatedly characterised as showing the overuse of the features associated with spoken English (Gilquin and Paquot 2007, 2008; Russell 2014; Yoon 2015). Though in linguistic analysis, due to its polyfunctional nature, ‘then’ has been addressed under a number of various labels, from the quantitative perspective it is reported to be characteristic of spoken English (Biber et al. 1999). The present study, limited to the analysis of non-native language data, aims at determining the roles of language mode and text genre on the use of ‘then’ in the Lithuanian learners’ English. Using quantitative and qualitative approaches three corpora representing the spoken (LINDSEI-LIT) and written (LICLE-VU-LIT and CALE-LIT) English produced by the Lithuanian students were analysed. While the results indicate a direct correlation between language mode and the use of ‘then’, the role of genre proved to be less unequivocal.
Highlights
Learner language has been extensively analysed from various perspectives
While the results indicate a direct correlation between language mode and the use of ‘’, the role of genre proved to be less unequivocal
The aim of the current study was to determine the role of language mode and text genre variables for the use of in the Lithuanian learners’ spoken and written production
Summary
Has been extensively analysed in linguistic literature under numerous different labels: a discourse marker (Bellés-Fortuño 2016, Biezma 2014, Fraser 1999, Haselow 2011, Schiffrin 1987, Urgelles-Coll 1987), a linking adverbial (Makauskaitė 2016), a time adverb (Yilmaz and Dikilitaş 2017), a time adverbial (Crawford 2008), a temporal adverbial (Makauskaitė 2016, Povolná 1998), a circumastance adverbial (Lenker 2010), a modal particle (Haselow 2011), etc. In Old English, (‘þa’) could have had such diverse functions as a circumstance adverb of time or space, an adverbial connector expressing transition, a discourse marker ‘what’s more’, or a subordinating conjunction indicating a temporal relation (Lenker 2010). For example, Deborah Schiffrin (1987), in her study of discourse markers, distinguishes the functions of in relation to the three temporal concepts, namely, reference, event, and discourse time. Crawford (2008), functions as a time adverb and two types of linking adverbials: having the meaning of ‘’ and marking results or conclusions. The latter classification serves as the basis for the present study, where the following three functions are distinguished: SPRENDIMALI.
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