Chinese Language and Discourse - Current Issue

Abstract

Current knowledge of the functional dimensions (e.g., coherence) of L2 written performance is mainly based on expert readers’ views. Non-expert native readers’ perspectives of L2 written productions are not often examined, which prevents a comprehensive and objective understanding of how an L2 writer’s performance may be perceived and evaluated by the target discourse community. Studies to date also lack clear findings of both the types of incoherence phenomena that may exist in L2 texts and the factors that may contribute to such incoherencies. The current study investigates how expert and non-expert native readers evaluate incoherence in L2 Chinese argumentative essays, as well as how their evaluations may differ quantitatively or qualitatively. The findings reveal that although expert readers marked incoherence in L2 writing significantly more frequently than non-expert readers did, expert and non-expert readers displayed similar patterns and tendencies in their judgments pertaining to the frequency with which incoherence instances appeared in the essays and in the severity of the incoherence.

Abstract

This study examines the use of lexical grammar and gaze in three televised confession news segments discussing national identity shown on PRC state-backed media in 2016. It aims to apply discourse analysis methodologies previously used to study PRC mass media (Fang 1994, Fang 2001, Feng 2013, Feng 2016, Renwick and Cao 1999) to subject matter previously researched mainly in other disciplines (Leung 2017, Fiskesjö 2017, Sorace 2019, Dahlin 2018). Following multimodal analysis of lexical grammar and gaze patterns, social identity theory is applied to understand narrative messaging similarities across the three segments. By applying the methodologies of discourse analysis, multimodal analysis, and social identity theory to a heretofore neglected topic, the study aims to better understand this phenomenon and to determine what methodological adjustments might be necessary in its investigation.

Abstract

Memes as online graphic semiotic resources have developed into a globalized genre and a cultural form. The vernacularization of this global cultural form on Chinese social media is Biaoqing (literally, ‘facial expression’). Biaoqing is a phenomenon and a genre engendered by the development of information technology and growing accessibility to the internet. The most prominent features of Biaoqing on Chinese social media (cute, mischievous, decadent, dirty, violent) are spawned by and therefore reflect the structure of society. The ludic nature of Biaoqing enables them to serve as resources for new forms of communication, potential of reshaping existing social norms, the landscape of online culture, and culture and society at large. The results of this contribution constitute an invitation for a reimagination of the role of graphic semiotic signs and digital infrastructures in society, and a rethinking of theories for sociolinguistic research in a digital era.

Abstract

This study examines emerging cancer metaphors that are encoded as a neological construction [X-ái ‘cancer’] using corpus data retrieved from Chinese social media. The quantitative findings show that [X- ái] is a highly productive construction where the open slot X attracts a wide variety of lexical items. The qualitative findings are twofold. First, the central meaning of this construction is to express subjective feelings such as self-mockery (e.g., laziness cancer) and contempt for other people’s behaviors in gender discourse (e.g.. straight man cancer). Second, the development of this construction is caused by the exemplar-based cognitive mechanism through social labeling practices. I argue that this neological language use is employed to convey collective emotions in gender discourse and that it indexes a group style, either playful and humorous or contemptuous and disparaging, both of which construct language user identity and sociocultural ideology in the Chinese cyberspace. This study has implications for research on neological metaphors and for language use in digital culture in general.

Abstract

This paper utilizes the reconstructive nature of translation to examine how formal (neutral and honorific) and plain forms of Japanese are represented in Cantonese dubbing with the aim of exploring some common politeness features of Cantonese that the translator adopts in order to compensate for the difference between the two languages. Address terms that do not exist in the Japanese original, for example deferential terms and kinship terms, are inserted in Cantonese dubbing to represent different speech levels of Japanese. This paper further argues that such inserted address terms help to realize politeness by either recognizing the superior status of addressees or by including an addressee as an in-group member. Some cases of insertions also suggest strategic adoption of address terms in Cantonese. In addition to observing social norms and addressing each other appropriately, Cantonese speakers can also exploit address terms strategically to achieve specific pragmatic goals.

Abstract

This study explores interactional functions of the connective suoyi ‘so’ and its particular role in organizing talk and activity in Mandarin conversation. Adopting the methodologies of conversation analysis, multimodal analysis, and interactional linguistics, this study examines 14 hours of naturalistic face-to-face Mandarin conversation. An examination of the data shows that in addition to marking results and conclusions, suoyi is also used to preface an utterance as a tying device to manage suspensions, where progressivity of a course of action is halted. Specifically, suoyi-prefaced utterances can be used to return to a pre-prior course of action at the possible completion of a side sequence or frame. When performing the function of return, suoyi-prefaced utterances facilitate the development of the main course of action. This study contributes to our understanding of the interactional uses of linking adverbials from a cross-linguistic perspective.

Abstract

Many spoken Mandarin varieties allow for the oscillation of the co-verb gěi ‘give’ between the pre- and post-verbal positions. Much attention has been directed to semantic and syntactic factors that constrain its placement. However, language external factors remain under-researched. This study examines sociolinguistic including regional influences on the variable placement of the co-verb gěi in spoken Mandarin. Data is collected at both production and perception levels to investigate the regional and social distributions of the gěi-phrase. At the production level, the data suggests that substrate influences from a speaker’s home vernacular play a crucial role. Results at the perception level remain inconclusive, and more research is required to unpack the complex role of sociolinguistic factors in such variation.

This article reviews Cognitive Linguistics and the Study of Chinese

This article reviews Changing minds changing tools: From learning theory to language acquisition to language change

This article reviews Mandarin Chinese words and parts of speech: A corpus-based study