TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSES IN ACADEMIC DISCOURSE – NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE WRITERS COMPARED
TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSES IN ACADEMIC DISCOURSE – NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE WRITERS COMPARED
Author(s): Zuzana KozáčikováSubject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax, Semantics
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: non-finite to-infinitive clauses; nominal to-infinitive clauses; stance; research papers; native writers; non-native writers;
Summary/Abstract: The objective of the paper is to examine the use of non-finite clauses, more specifically to-infinitive clauses, in written academic discourse and the application of their syntactic and semantic properties in a selected corpus. Based on Quirk et al.’s (1985) subdivision they can be viewed as formal means of text formation and may have nominal, relative and adverbial meaning. This functional classification resembles to some extent that of subclausal units such as noun phrases and adverbs. The analysis focuses on subordinate to-infinitive clauses in selected papers found in Topics in Linguistics, an international scientific journal published by the Department of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Moreover, it tries to investigate possible differences in the application of the presented structure by native and non-native writers of English.
Journal: Discourse and Interaction
- Issue Year: 8/2015
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 53-64
- Page Count: 12
- Language: English