title: Different or similar: patterns of lexical cohesion in Chinese non-narrative text and their applications in the study of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language-A corpus-based contrastive study

authors: Li, Shouji

subjects: Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language

abstract: This study identifies and investigates patterns of lexical, cohesive devices in Chinese argument texts by two groups of writers: native speakers and learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (hereafter CFL). The purposes of the research are twofold: first to inform instruction in the writing of extended Chinese texts to CFL learners and secondly to provide a basis for the further investigation of the linguistic competences that relate to the writing of such Chinese texts. To achieve such purposes, the study employs two corpora: a corpus of 50 native-speaker Chinese texts written for the National College Entrance Examination (hereafter the NCEE) and a corpus of 50 CFL texts written for the HSK (the Chinese language proficiency test). The overall framework adopted for the data analysis was Contrastive Analysis Study and the texts were analyzed using corpus-based methods. The first stage of the research involved using the NCEE Corpus of native-speaker texts as the basis for a critical review of Halliday and Hasan (1976) and Hoey (2000)’s approaches to the classification of cohesive devices in English, and through this review, adapting and extending the categories of these two theoretical approaches in order to account for salient linguistic elements used to achieve cohesion in Chinese texts. Using this modified system of classification of lexical cohesive devices that was developed for Chinese texts, the NCEE Corpus was then reanalyzed and the patterns of the use of lexical devices were identified. The same analysis was then performed on the texts from the HSK Corpus. The findings of the analyses of the two corpora were then compared to identify the different patterns of use of lexical cohesive devices by native-and non-native speaker writers of Chinese. 

The findings derived from the comparison of the analyses of the NCEE texts and the HSK texts show that there are a number of important differences in the use of lexical devices between the two corpora. The findings seem to suggest that learners of CFL are less competent in the use of a range of lexical devices, such as simple and complex paraphrase, constituent repetition, superordinate and hyponymic repetition. The comparison also reveals that learners of CFL have relatively low capacity to use lexical devices to create adequate and effective cohesive links across texts between non-adjacent sentences, and that they have difficulty in employing various types of lexical items to form repetitions appropriate to the development of argument in this type of text. 

On the basis of the findings, discussion of the pedagogical implications for the teaching of Chinese writing is provided. A further outcome of the research is that it appears to indicate the need for more in-depth investigations to inform both the teachers of Chinese writing and the developers of teaching and learning materials.

text: Different or similar: patterns of lexical cohesion in Chinese non-narrative text and their applications in the study of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language-A corpus-based contrastive study This study identifies and investigates patterns of lexical, cohesive devices in Chinese argument texts by two groups of writers: native speakers and learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (hereafter CFL). The purposes of the research are twofold: first to inform instruction in the writing of extended Chinese texts to CFL learners and secondly to provide a basis for the further investigation of the linguistic competences that relate to the writing of such Chinese texts. To achieve such purposes, the study employs two corpora: a corpus of 50 native-speaker Chinese texts written for the National College Entrance Examination (hereafter the NCEE) and a corpus of 50 CFL texts written for the HSK (the Chinese language proficiency test). The overall framework adopted for the data analysis was Contrastive Analysis Study and the texts were analyzed using corpus-based methods. The first stage of the research involved using the NCEE Corpus of native-speaker texts as the basis for a critical review of Halliday and Hasan (1976) and Hoey (2000)’s approaches to the classification of cohesive devices in English, and through this review, adapting and extending the categories of these two theoretical approaches in order to account for salient linguistic elements used to achieve cohesion in Chinese texts. Using this modified system of classification of lexical cohesive devices that was developed for Chinese texts, the NCEE Corpus was then reanalyzed and the patterns of the use of lexical devices were identified. The same analysis was then performed on the texts from the HSK Corpus. The findings of the analyses of the two corpora were then compared to identify the different patterns of use of lexical cohesive devices by native-and non-native speaker writers of Chinese. 

The findings derived from the comparison of the analyses of the NCEE texts and the HSK texts show that there are a number of important differences in the use of lexical devices between the two corpora. The findings seem to suggest that learners of CFL are less competent in the use of a range of lexical devices, such as simple and complex paraphrase, constituent repetition, superordinate and hyponymic repetition. The comparison also reveals that learners of CFL have relatively low capacity to use lexical devices to create adequate and effective cohesive links across texts between non-adjacent sentences, and that they have difficulty in employing various types of lexical items to form repetitions appropriate to the development of argument in this type of text. 

On the basis of the findings, discussion of the pedagogical implications for the teaching of Chinese writing is provided. A further outcome of the research is that it appears to indicate the need for more in-depth investigations to inform both the teachers of Chinese writing and the developers of teaching and learning materials.

year: 2012

title: Information seeking retrieval, reading and storing behaviour of library users

authors: Turner, Kristine

subjects: computer science

abstract: In the interest of digital libraries, it is advisable that designers be aware of the potential behaviour of the users of such a system. There are two distinct parts under investigation, the interaction between traditional libraries involving the seeking and retrieval of relevant material, and the reading and storage behaviours ensuing. Through this analysis, the findings could be incorporated into digital library facilities. There has been copious amounts of research on information seeking leading to the development of behavioural models to describe the process. Often research on the information seeking practices of individuals is based on the task and field of study. The information seeking model, presented by Ellis et al. (1993), characterises the format of this study where it is used to compare various research on the information seeking practices of groups of people (from academics to professionals). It is found that, although researchers do make use of library facilities, they tend to rely heavily on their own collections and primarily use the library as a source for previously identified information, browsing and interloan. It was found that there are significant differences in user behaviour between the groups analysed. When looking at the reading and storage of material it was hard to draw conclusions, due to the lack of substantial research and information on the topic. However, through the use of reading strategies, a general idea on how readers behave can be developed. Designers of digital libraries can benefit from the guidelines presented here to better understand their audience.

text: Information seeking retrieval, reading and storing behaviour of library users In the interest of digital libraries, it is advisable that designers be aware of the potential behaviour of the users of such a system. There are two distinct parts under investigation, the interaction between traditional libraries involving the seeking and retrieval of relevant material, and the reading and storage behaviours ensuing. Through this analysis, the findings could be incorporated into digital library facilities. There has been copious amounts of research on information seeking leading to the development of behavioural models to describe the process. Often research on the information seeking practices of individuals is based on the task and field of study. The information seeking model, presented by Ellis et al. (1993), characterises the format of this study where it is used to compare various research on the information seeking practices of groups of people (from academics to professionals). It is found that, although researchers do make use of library facilities, they tend to rely heavily on their own collections and primarily use the library as a source for previously identified information, browsing and interloan. It was found that there are significant differences in user behaviour between the groups analysed. When looking at the reading and storage of material it was hard to draw conclusions, due to the lack of substantial research and information on the topic. However, through the use of reading strategies, a general idea on how readers behave can be developed. Designers of digital libraries can benefit from the guidelines presented here to better understand their audience.

year: 1997-06

title: Two-step human−environmental impact history for northern New Zealand linked to late-Holocene climate change

authors: Newnham, Rewi M.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Following resolution of a long-standing debate over the timing of the initial settlement of New Zealand from Polynesia (late 13th century), a prevailing paradigm has developed that invokes rapid transformation of the landscape, principally by fire, within a few decades of the first arrivals. This model has been constructed from evidence mostly from southern and eastern regions of New Zealand, but a more complicated pattern may apply in the more humid western and northern regions where forests are more resilient to burning. We present a new pollen record from Lake Pupuke, Auckland, northern New Zealand, that charts the changing vegetation cover over the last 1000 years, before and after the arrival of people. Previous results from this site concurred with the rapid transformation model, although sampling resolution, chronology and sediment disturbance make that interpretation equivocal. Our new record is dated principally by tephrochronology together with radiocarbon dating, and includes a cryptotephra deposit identified as Kaharoa tephra, a key marker for first settlement in northern New Zealand. Its discovery and stratigraphic position below two Rangitoto-derived tephras enables a clearer picture of environmental change to be drawn. The new pollen record shows an early phase (step 1) of minor, localised forest clearance around the time of Kaharoa tephra (c. 1314 AD) followed by a later, more extensive deforestation phase (step 2) commencing at around the time of deposition of the Rangitoto tephras (c. 1400‒1450 AD). This pattern, which needs to be corroborated from other well-resolved records from northern New Zealand, concurs with an emerging hypothesis that the ‘Little Ice Age’ had a significant impact on pre-European Māori with the onset of harsher conditions causing a consolidation of populations and later environmental impact in northern New Zealand.

text: Two-step human−environmental impact history for northern New Zealand linked to late-Holocene climate change Following resolution of a long-standing debate over the timing of the initial settlement of New Zealand from Polynesia (late 13th century), a prevailing paradigm has developed that invokes rapid transformation of the landscape, principally by fire, within a few decades of the first arrivals. This model has been constructed from evidence mostly from southern and eastern regions of New Zealand, but a more complicated pattern may apply in the more humid western and northern regions where forests are more resilient to burning. We present a new pollen record from Lake Pupuke, Auckland, northern New Zealand, that charts the changing vegetation cover over the last 1000 years, before and after the arrival of people. Previous results from this site concurred with the rapid transformation model, although sampling resolution, chronology and sediment disturbance make that interpretation equivocal. Our new record is dated principally by tephrochronology together with radiocarbon dating, and includes a cryptotephra deposit identified as Kaharoa tephra, a key marker for first settlement in northern New Zealand. Its discovery and stratigraphic position below two Rangitoto-derived tephras enables a clearer picture of environmental change to be drawn. The new pollen record shows an early phase (step 1) of minor, localised forest clearance around the time of Kaharoa tephra (c. 1314 AD) followed by a later, more extensive deforestation phase (step 2) commencing at around the time of deposition of the Rangitoto tephras (c. 1400‒1450 AD). This pattern, which needs to be corroborated from other well-resolved records from northern New Zealand, concurs with an emerging hypothesis that the ‘Little Ice Age’ had a significant impact on pre-European Māori with the onset of harsher conditions causing a consolidation of populations and later environmental impact in northern New Zealand.

year: 2018