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Article published In: English Text Construction
Vol. 10:1 (2017) ► pp.132–164

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Structuring subjectivity in Asian Englishes

Multivariate approaches to mental predicates across genres and functional uses

 | New Mexico State University |
Published online: 15 June 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.10.1.07des
This study investigates the usage patterns of four near-synonymous mental predicates (believe, guess, suppose and think) across three Asian ESL (English as a Second Language) varieties as well as British and American Englishes. Using two multivariate techniques, multiple correspondence analysis and classification and regression tree analysis, the study shows the benefits of exploring cross-varietal variation through the lens of lexicalization patterns. The study also demonstrates that to make sense of semantic patterns it is crucial to account for extra-linguistic factors such as genre, as different ESL writers structure the meaning of believe, guess, suppose and think differently depending on their type of writing. Ultimately, in the broader context of the emancipation of ESL varieties, the results raise important questions about the developmental process of Asian Englishes and the place that semantic structure holds in this endeavor.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Adopting a semantic perspective on cross-varietal variation in ESL: The case of mental predicates
    • 2.1The conceptual make-up of epistemic stance expressions: Believe, guess, suppose and think
    • 2.2Variation in the use of mental predicates: What are the triggering factors?
    • 2.3Towards an exploration of semantic variation across Asian Englishes
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Corpus data and annotation
    • 3.2Statistical evaluation
      • 3.2.1(Multiple) Correspondence Analysis
      • 3.2.2Classification And Regression Tree
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Joint Multiple Correspondence Analysis
    • 4.2Classification and regression tree analysis
  • 5.Discussion and concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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