Understanding Chinese MA Students’ Interpersonal Stance of Anticipatory “It” Patterns
Using Corpus Results to Guide Questionnaire and Discourse-Based Interview
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16911696 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jing Chen (0000-0002-7243-0806, Hangzhou Normal University, corresponding author), Yi Jiang (0000-0001-6581-0950, Hangzhou Normal University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/21582440251313953 |
| OpenAlex | W4406956808 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 34 |
Anticipatory “it” pattern, which encodes interpersonal stance, plays a crucial role in academic writing. While previous studies have been explored the overuse and the underuse of this pattern among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and published writers, there has been limited exploration of how EFL learners use the anticipatory “it” pattern to express interpersonal stance in their academic writing. This study examines the relationship between Chinese MA students’ perceptions of interpersonal stance and their use of anticipatory “it” patterns in academic writing. Utilizing a self-compiled corpus of Chinese MA theses corpus, supplemented by a questionnaire and discourse-based interviews, this research aims to identify factors influencing students’ motivations to employ this pattern. Applying Hewings and Hewings’ functional typology of interpersonal functions of the “it” clause, the results reveal varying correlations across four categories of interpersonal functions in Chinese MA theses. These findings offer valuable insights into the nuanced relationship between students’ perceptions of interpersonal stance and their use of anticipatory “it” pattern, with implications for teaching and learning academic English writing
Interpersonal communication · Linguistics · Applied Psychology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Psychology · Social Psychology
Scale Development
Stylistics and translation
University Language
Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences
Questionnaires in Second Language Research
Talking to the Academy
Hooking the reader
The purpose of this study is to
As can be seen
Longman grammar of spoken and written English
Reflection of stance through it bundles in applied linguistics
The Multivariate Social Scientist
On the Instability of Disciplinary Style
A comparative study of introductory it in research articles across eight disciplines
Lexical teddy bears and advanced learners
Hedging and boosting in abstracts of applied linguistics articles
Authority and invisibility
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |