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Abstract:

Studies on Philippine English have typically focused on the different aspects of its grammar. However, subjectless nonfinite clauses as verbal complements have not been investigated yet. This paper scrutinizes subjectless non-finite clauses as monotransitive variants of verbal complements in PhilE complementation based on Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik (1985). Accordingly, this paper will focus on “to-infinitive” and “-ing participial” constructions as two frequent nonfinite clauses in examining PhilE monotransitive verbal complementation. The present study takes a corpus-based approach in analyzing a large collection of spoken and written texts of ICE-PHI corpus. Considering the three verb classes that both use the “to-infinitive” and “–ing participial” construction, the study reveals some deviations (which can be considered unique) from Quirk et.al’s description of verbal complements specifically on how Filipinos utilize retrospective verbs in both spoken and written discourse. However, the use of emotive and aspectual verbs shows adherence to Quirk et. al’s description. This paper’s grammatical investigation further discusses the pedagogical implications of such adherences and deviations in teaching English in the Philippines.

 

Keywords:  Subjectless Nonfinite Clauses, Monotransitive, Verbal Complements, Philippine English

Analysis of Language Functions in Children's Classroom Discourse

She likes to learn/learning English…On Subjectless Nonfinite Clauses as Monotransitive Variants of Verbal Complements in Philippine English

Abstract: Previous studies in the functions and development of language in classroom discourse (Cazden, 2001; Fulk-Row, 1996; Hall, 1998; Willis, 1981; Zhang, 2008) have explained further its importance as it relates to classroom talk that occurs between teachers and students. However, the premise that the mere opportunity for social interaction and discourse will not necessary lead to learning experiences, unless serious attention is paid to the purposes that the discourse serves in particular activities and the types of interactions to which it contributes to, has not been investigated yet in the Philippine context. Informed by the proposed framework of Kumupulainen & Wray (1997) on analyzing children’s classroom discourse, this study aims to identify the various functions of language among children’s discourse and how these language functions are used to negotiate meaning in a social classroom interaction. Findings on the video recorded and transcribed children’s classroom discourse reveal that there are categorized and uncategorized language functions that come into play. Accordingly,
categorized language functions (e.g. interrogative, responsive, organization, to name a few) show that children use informative language (most predominantly) in a social interaction while the uncategorized language functions (e.g. code-switching; polite expressions; expression of sarcasm; repetition/emphasis; self-correction, to name a few) co-occur with their own intentions that may contribute to the existing language functions in children’s discourse. In conclusion, results show that children’s classroom discourse when paid attention leads to learning experiences through the use of various language functions that determine children’s purpose in the negotiation of meaning in their talk.
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