Correlation between Degree Modifiers and their Effect on Meaning: Iraqi EFL learners' Perception
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/eduj.Vol48.Iss1.2946Keywords:
: Degree Modefiers, Meaning, Iraqi Learners, EFL.Abstract
Abstract
The semantics of degree modification and its effect on mutating the meaning of structures they appear in have held considerable appeal for specialists in areas ranging from lexical semantics to language pedagogy. Although the general concept of degree modifiers received a lot of attention in the twentieth century studies in linguistics, it has been treated only theoretically. The pedagogical side of degree modifiers seems to be a neglected topic. This paper is an attempt at addressing this gap in the literature. The main aim of this research is to examine students' knowledge in the functions of the degree modifiers and their semantic effect. The paper investigates whether the effect of degree modifiers on meaning is distinguished to the same extent by fourth year students majoring in English. To this end, the researcher designed a multiple choice question test to determine whether students are able to find the correlation between the type of degree modifier used and the meaning of the given sentences. Data analysis was performed using a number of descriptive measures in addition to a T-test and a Chi-square test. The results show that the Iraqi English major students face severe difficulty in distinguishing differences in meaning resulting from using degree modifiers in different contexts. The results also show a gradation in difficulty across the different types of modifiers.
Downloads
References
References
• Allerton, D. J. (1987). “English Intensifiers and their Idiosyncrasies”. In Steele, R. &Threadgold, T. (Eds). Language Topics.Essays in honor of Michael Halliday. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp.15-31.
• Athanasiadou, A. (2007). “On the subjectivity of intensifiers”. Language Sciences. Vol.29, No.4, pp.554-565. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0388000107000198
• Bäcklund, U. (1973). The collocation of adverbs of degree in English. PhD. Dissertation, Sweden: Uppsala University.
• Bolinger, D. (1972). Degree Words. The Hague: Mouton.
• Borst, E. (1902). Die Gradadverbien im Englischen. Heidelberg: C. Winters̓ Universitätsbuchhandlung.
• Bradac, J.J., Bowers, J.W., & Courtright, J.A. (1979). Three language variables in communication research: intensity, immediacy, and diversity. Human Communication Research. Vol.5, No.3, pp.257-269.
• Cruse, D. A. & Togia, P. 1996. ‘Towards a Cognitive Model of Antonymy.’In Journal of Lexicology 1, 113-141.
• Cruse, D. A. (1995). ‘Polysemy and Related Phenomena from a Cognitive Linguistic Viewpoint.’In St. Dizier, P. & Viegas, E. (eds.) Computational Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 33-49.
• Dressler, W. U., & Barbaresi, L. M. (1994). Morphopragmatics: Diminutives and Intensifiers in Italian, German, and Other Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Greenbaum, S. (1996). The Oxford English grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Greenbaum, S., & Nelson, G. (2002). An Introduction to English grammar, 2nd ed. Londres: Routledge.
• Greenbaum, S., & Nelson, G. (2009). An Introduction to English grammar, 3rd ed. Londres: Routledge.
• Jacobson, S. (1964). Adverbial Positions in English. University of Stockholm, Stockholm.
• Kennedy, C., & McNally, L. (2005). Scale Structure, Degree Modification, and the Semantics of Gradabl Predicates. Language Vol.81, No.2, pp.345-381.
• Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundation of Cognitive Grammar. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Leech, G. N. (2006). A glossary of English grammar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• LovrovićL., & Pavić PintarićA. (2019). Transfer in the use of intensifiers. Journal for Foreign Languages, Vol.11, No.1, pp.103-118. https://doi.org/10.4312/vestnik.11.103-118.
• McManus, J. (2012). English Degree Modifiers: a Diachronic Corpus-based Study of the Maximizer Class. PhD. Dissertation, University of Liverpool.
• Paltridge, B., & Phakiti, A. (2015). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: A Practical Resource. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Paradis, C. (1997). Degree Modifiers of Adjectives in Spoken British English. Lund: Lund University Press.
• Paradis, C. (2003). Between epistemic modality and degree: the case of really1. In R. Facchinetti, M. Krug, & F. Palmer (Eds.), Modality in Contemporary English. Mouton de Gruyter.pp1-18.
• Paradis, C. (2008). “Configurations, construals and change: Expressions of degree”. English Language and Linguistics, Vol.12, No.2, pp.317–343, Cambridge: Cambridge University.
• Partington, A. (1993). ‘Corpus Evidence of Language Change: The Case of the Intensifier.’ In Baker, M., Francis, G. &Tognini-Bonelli, E. (Eds.) Text and Technology in Honor of John Sinclair. Philadelphia & Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 177.
• Peters, H. (1994). ‘Degree Adverbs in Early Modern English.’ In Kastovsky, D. (ed.) Studies in Early Modern English. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp.269-271.
• Peters, H. (1992). English boosters: Some synchronic and diachronic aspects. In Kellermann, G. & Morrissey, M. D. (eds.), Diachrony within synchrony: Language history and cognition, pp529–45. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
• Pyles, T., Algeo, J. (1993). The Origins and Development of the English Language, 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt.
• Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
• Ringwood, D.C. (2006). A Cognitive Linguistic Study of Categorisation and Uncertain Reasoning in the Representation of Degree Modifiers. PhD. Dissertation, Lancaster University: Lancaster Eprints.
• Sassoon, G. & Zevakhina, N. (2015). Degree modifiers: A new perspective on their semantics and the role of stress in it. Donnm semanticvm, pp.272-284.
• Stoffel, C. (1901). Intensives and Down-toners: A Study in English Adverbs. Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung.
• Tagliamonte, S., Roberts, C. (2005). So weird; so cool; so innovative: the use of intensifiers in the television series friends. American Speech, Vol.80, No.3, pp.280–300.
• Tavakoli, H. (2013). A Dictionary of Research Methodology and Statistics in Applied Linguistics. Rahnama Press.
• Taylor, J. R. (1989). Linguistic Categorization. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Zutphen, M.V. (2017). English, Dutch and Dutch EFL: the use of intensifiers in evaluative blogs. Master's Thesis, Radboud University.
Appendix (1) Degree modefiers test with correct answers.
Degree Modifires Test
Read the following sentences and try to distinguish the correct interpretation for each of them.
Adam’s idea was absolutely fascinating.
a. His idea is just fascinating.
b. His idea is kind of fascinating.
c. His idea is fascinating.
d. His idea is totally fascinating.
He is completely bald.
a. He has some hair.
b. He has no hair at all.
c. He doesn't have hair.
d. Non of the above.
He was a perfectly normal person.
a. He was just a normal person.
b. He looked like a normal person.
c. He was 100% normal person.
d. Non of the above.
A totally new situation arose.
a. The situation is new.
b. The situation occurs for the first time.
c. It’s a new total situation.
d. Non of the above.
Miss Brown had told them something entirely different.
a. She told them the truth.
b. She told them something totally different.
c. She told them part of the truth.
d. Non of the above.
On the other side of the tower, the view is utterly changed.
a. The view has totally changed.
b. The view has slightly changed.
c. The view has new change.
d. The view hasn’t changed.
John has shown him his shirts, He liked almost all of them.
a. He liked a number of the shirts, but not all of them.
b. He liked the whole collection of shirts.
c. He liked most of them except a number of shirts.
d. Non of the above.
In his research, he used the very latest techniques.
a. He used the most modern technique.
b. He used the latest technique.
c. He used modern technique.
d. Non of the above.
It's terribly important for parents to be consistent.
a. It's not necessary for parents to be consistent.
b. Parents consistency is very important.
c. It's terrible when parents become consistent.
d. Non of the above.
Earthquirks are extremely difficult to predict.
a. It's difficult to predict earthquakes.
b. It's kind of difficult to predict earthquakes.
c. It's very difficult to predict earthquakes.
d. All of the above.
Most research in this field has been carried by the Russian
a. The greatest part of the research carried by the Russian.
b. All the research carried by the Russian.
c. Part of the research carried by the Russian.
d. Research about most carried by the Russian.
It's awfully cold in here.
a. It's just cold in here.
b. It's very cold in here.
c. Its beautifully cold in here.
d. Non of the above.
They provided a jolly good service.
a. Their service was bad.
b. Their service was good.
c. Their service was very good.
d. Jolly has received a good service.
The documentary is highly critical of these politicians.
a. The documentary critical the politicians severely.
b. The documentary critical the politicians slightly.
c. The documentary criticizes the high politicians.
d. Non of the above.
He said he was frightfully sorry about the delay.
a. He was very sorry about the delay.
b. He was sorry about the delay.
c. He was not sorry about the delay.
d. He was fruitful and sorry about the delay.
The food was quite bad.
a. The food was very bad no one could eat it.
b. The food was bad, but they ate it.
c. The food was not bad.
d. The food was good.
Ali said that the novel was rather long.
a. The novel is too long for Ali to read.
b. The novel is not long.
c. The novel is long to a certain extent that Ali can read.
d. The novel is long enough so Ali can't read it.
After the accident, she got hurt pretty badly.
a. Her injury was serious.
b. Her injury was bad to some extent.
c. Her injury was minor.
d. Non of the above.
The design that he showed to us was fairly old.
a. The design was very old.
b. The design was not old.
c. The design was kind of old.
d. The design was fair.
January's sales were slightly better than average.
a. January's sales were the best comparing the average.
b. January's sales were better to a small degree.
c. January's sales were completely better than the average.
d. All of the above.
She was a little disappointed at his request.
a. His request made her disappointed.
b. His request made her very disappointed.
c. His request made her disappointed to a certain degree.
d. All of the above.
The price of the car is somewhat higher than He expected
a. The price is more expensive than he thought.
b. The car is cheep he can buy it easily.
c. The car is affordable.
d. Non of the above.
..……………………………………………………
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Wafa'a Hussain Jabur Al-Temeemey
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
