Besides … on the other hand: Using a corpus approach to explore the influence of teaching materials on Chinese students’ use of linking adverbials

•Compared Chinese and British texts using corpus linguistic keyword analysis.•Chinese students found to make high use of particular linking adverbials.•Analyzed model texts for PRC exams and found a high number of linking adverbials.•Chinese students are “primed” (Hoey, 2005) by model texts.•L2 English tutors and materials writers need greater awareness of genres.

Studies conducted on first and second language student writing in English have pointed to the latter group's high use of features such as informal language, pronouns, and linking adverbials, yet few studies have been conducted on assessed undergraduate writing produced within an English-speaking environment. This paper reports findings from a corpus study of Chinese and British students’ writing in UK universities, confirming that a key area of difference is the Chinese students’ higher use of particular linking adverbials (e.g., besides, on the other hand). We hypothesize that one reason for this higher usage is the influence of secondary school teaching materials in mainland China prior to UK university study and examine a set of model texts from the English paper in the Chinese university entrance test, selected as these texts comprise much of the teaching material in the final year of secondary education. We argue that Chinese students are “primed” ( Hoey, 2005) to favour particular linking adverbials, to disregard issues of informality, and to prefer sentence-initial positioning. It is hoped that the reported findings will challenge English language teachers and textbook writers to consider the requirements of writing within the academy.

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