A corpus-based analysis of grammatical cohesion in L2 German: Insights into the effect of learners’ native language on academic writing proficiency in a foreign language
Date:
Abstract
My research project investigates how advanced learners of German as a foreign language (L2) establish cohesion in their academic writing. The ability to write cohesive texts, that is, use grammatical and lexical devices appropriately to signal the logical structure of a text to readers, is important for academic writing. Research into L2 English has shown that L2 learners use cohesive devices differently from L1 users (e.g., Appel & Szeib; Hinkel, 2001; Lu & Ai, 2015). Therefore, it is surprising that the use of cohesive devices by learners of languages other than English has received little attention in language acquisition research to date. My research project sets out to fill this gap by proposing an analysis of grammatical cohesion in academic L2 German summary writing. The aim is threefold: (1) investigate empirically the effects of L2 German writers ́ L1 on how they use cohesive devices, (2) analyse similarities and differences in the use of cohesive devices in L1 and L2 German, focusing on specific characteristics of cohesion in writing produced by learners with L1 Dutch and (3) create the corpora necessary for this analysis. In my presentation, I give an overview of my not yet completed research project, the methodology I use as well as the two corpora I investigate: the Belgisches Deutschkorpus (Beldeko) and the German Summary Corpus (GerSumCo). Additionally, preliminary results are being presented.