About > Research & Publications

Selected Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

Su, Danjie & Goslar, Kevin. 2024. Artificial intelligence shows human-like lens capability in subjectivity: Evaluating Chinese pragmatic capability of GPT-4 via Microsoft Copilot with direct prompting. In Chapelle, C. A., Beckett, G., & Ranalli, J. (Eds.), Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Applied Linguistics. Iowa State University Digital Press.

Lu, Ai-Ling & Su, Danjie. (In press). Shadowing textbook and authentic materials in beginning L2 learners’ acquisition of Mandarin Chinese tones in spontaneous speech. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation.

Su, Danjie. 2023. Speakers’ subjective evaluation of adversity: Adversity lens constructed through bei-passive in Chinese conversation. Chinese Language and Discourse. 14(2). 328-362. https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.22002.su

Su, Danjie. 2022. Factuality lens: Choosing the unmarked passive construction in Chinese conversation. Chinese Language and Discourse 13(2). 242–274. https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.21005.su

Su, Danjie. 2022. Early evidence of the Pareto Principle in grammatical distribution: Causative situations in Chinese conversational discourse, Journal of Chinese Linguistics 50(2): 443−474. https://doi.org/10.1353/jcl.2017.011 3

Su, Danjie. 2021. The Discourse Authenticity Model (DAM) for second language teaching materials. Guoji Hanyu [Chinese Language in the World] 5. 88–114.

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2018. Teaching the Mandarin utterance-final particle le through authentic materials. Chinese as a Second Language Research 7(1). 15–45. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2018-0002

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2018. Teaching the shi…de construction with authentic materials in elementary Chinese. Chinese as a Second Language Research 7(1). 111–140. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2018-0005

Su, Danjie. 2018. Discourse-pragmatic functions of a Chinese topic-comment construction and L2 teaching strategies based on authentic media materials. Taiwan Journal of Chinese as a Second Language 16(1). 55–89.

Su, Danjie. 2017. Significance as a lens: Understanding the Mandarin ba construction through Discourse Adjacent Alternation . Journal of Pragmatics 117. 204–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.06.019

Su, Danjie. 2017. Semantics and chunking in written and conversati onal discourses: A corpus study of two near-synonymous words in Mandarin. Chinese Language and Discourse 8(1). 51–94. https://dx.doi.org/10.1075/cld.8.1.03su

Lee, Heeju, Danjie Su, & Hongyin Tao. 2017. A crosslinguistic study of some extended uses of what-based interrogative expressions in Chinese, English, and Korean. Chinese Language and Discourse 8(2). 137–173. https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.00001.lee

Su, Danjie. 2016. Grammar emerges through reuse and modification of prior utterances. Discourse Studies 18(3). 330–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445616634551

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2014. Teaching discourse pragmatics in the spoken mode: The case of Working with Spoken Chinese. In Li, Zhaolin, Chunling Xie, Weiping Wu, eds., Linguistics and CSL Teaching and Learning: Theories and Practices in the Training of Pragmatic Abilities, 144–162, Hong Kong: The Commercial Press.

Peng, Gang, Diana Deutsch, Trevor Henthorn, Danjie Su & William S-Y. Wang. 2013. Language experience influences non-linguistic pitch perception. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 41(2). 447–467.

Su, Danjie. 2012. Construction as a chain of chunks: Theoretical framework of the Construction-Chunking Approach. Yuyan Kexue [Linguistic Sciences] 58(3). 241–253.

Su, Danjie. 2012. Rethinking the jianyu sentence patterns in Mandarin: Insight from the Construction-Chunking Approach. Yuyan Yanjiu [Studies in Language and Linguistics] 32(2). 100–107.

Su, Danjie. 2011. The essence of the Construction-Chunking Approach: An empirical study on teaching the Chinese jiānyǔ sentence patterns. Yuyan Jiaoxue Yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies] 148(2). 16–22.

Su, Danjie & Jianming Lu. 2010. The Construction-Chunking Approach for syntactic analysis and second language teaching. Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue [Journal of Chinese Teaching in the World] 24(4). 557–567.

Lu, Jianming & Danjie Su. 2010. Teaching Chinese characters, sound system, lexicon, and grammar to second language learners online. In Pu Zhang, Jihua Song, and Juan Xu, eds., Technology-Based Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language Practice and Reflection, 12–20. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.

Su, Danjie. 2010. On the Construction-Chunking Approach: An experimental study on teaching Chinese existential sentence patterns. Hanyu Xuexi [Chinese Language Learning] 176(2). 83–90.

Su, Danjie. 2010. Web resources for teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. In Pu Zhang, Jihua Song, and Juan Xu, eds., Technology-Based Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language Practice and Reflection, 195-202. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.

BOOK REVIEWS:

Su, Danjie. 2017. Book review: The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Linguistics, edited by Wang, William S-Y. and Chaofen Sun, Studies in Language 41(4). 1029–1038. doi 10.1075/sl.16053.su

Su, Danjie. 2014. Book review: Request Strategies: A Comparative Study in Mandarin Chinese and Korean, by Rue & Zhang. Language and Linguistics 15(4). 597–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/1606822X14532054

Su, Danjie. 2011. Book review: An International Dictionary of Chinese Neologisms, by Benjamin K. Tsou and Rujie You. Chinese Language and Discourse 2(2). 301–306.

Su, Danjie. 2009. Book review: Using Chinese Synonyms, by Grace Qiao Zhang. Geolinguistics (Journal of the American Society of Geolinguistics) 35. 124–128.

Dissertation

Su, Danjie. 2017. A Discourse Approach to the Functions of Major Chinese Grammatical Constructions and Their Alternations in Conversation. Los Angeles: CA: University of California, Los Angeles Ph.D. dissertation.

Selected Invited Talks

Su, Danjie. The role of lens in structural priming and the emergence of grammatical constructions. CCLS Lecture Series, Cologne Center of Language Sciences (CCLS), University of Cologne. Cologne, Germany, April 19, 2021.

Su, Danjie. Discourse choice-making in SLA: The case of the Chinese ba-construction acquisition. Department of Modern Languages. Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, January 2019.

Su, Danjie. Linguistic choice-making and implications for language teaching:

The case of the Chinese ba-sentence. Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, University of Arkansas. Fayetteville, Feb. 2018.

Su, Danjie. Linguistic choice-making and implications for language teaching:

The case of the Chinese ba-sentence. Department of Modern Languages & Literatures, Loyola Marymount University. Los Angeles, Jan. 2018.

Su, Danjie. Discourse-based language teaching focusing on authentic materials and interaction. Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures. University of Kentucky. Lexington, Jan. 2017.

Su, Danjie. Same event, different perspectives: Functions of Chinese grammatical structures and implications for language teaching. Department of Asian Languages & Literature, University of Washington. Seattle, Feb. 2016.

Su, Danjie. A new approach to teaching Chinese sentence grammar to second language learners. School of Chinese as a Second Language, Sun Yat-sen University. Guangzhou, June 2011.

(Keynote) Lu, Jianming and Danjie Su. Teaching Chinese characters, sound system, lexicon, and grammar to second language learners online. 7th International Conference on New Technologies in Teaching and Learning Chinese. Ludong University. Yantai, China, July 20-22, 2010.

(Keynote) Su, Danjie and Jianming Lu. Two thoughts on researching and teaching Chinese grammar. 6th International Conference on Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second Language. Hangzhou, China, Oct. 24-26, 2009.

Selected Conference Presentations

Su, Danjie and Kevin Goslar. Evaluating Chinese pragmatic competence of Artificial Intelligence GPT-4 with the Lens concept. 2024 Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Houston, Texas. March 16-19, 2024.

Su, Danjie and Kevin Goslar. Evaluating GPT-4’s pragmatic competence in expressing speaker subjectivity in the lens domain. 20th Technology for Second Language Learning (TSLL) Conference, Iowa State University. October 19-21, 2023.

Lu, Ai-Ling and Danjie Su. Effects of authentic videos vs. textbook audios on beginner L2 learners’ acquisition of Mandarin Chinese tones in spontaneous speech. Annual Conference of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), Washington D.C., March 31-April 2, 2023.

Su, Danjie. Teaching grammatical choice making with the Lens concept: The case of teaching the Chinese ba construction. 2021 Annual Convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), virtual. Nov. 19-21, 2021.

Su, Danjie. L2 Discourse Choice-making Competence: Choosing the Chinese ba-construction. 2019 Annual Convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Washington, DC, Nov. 22-24, 2019.

Su, Danjie. L2 Discourse Choice-making Competence: Video-based analysis of the acquisition of Chinese ba-construction. 2019 Annual Conference of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), USA. Seattle, April 5-7, 2019.

Su, Danjie. Incorporating authentic conversation in second language syllabus design: A case study of an elementary Chinese course at UCLA. 2015 Annual Convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) & Annual Meeting of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA). San Diego, November 20-22, 2015.

Su, Danjie. Ba-construction, bei-passives, and unmarked passives in Mandarin conversation. 27th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-27), UCLA, Los Angeles, April 3-5, 2015.

Lee, Heeju, Danjie Su and Hongyin Tao, Non-interrogative uses of shenme in Mandarin conversation. 27th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-27), UCLA, Los Angeles, April 3-5, 2015.

Su, Danjie. Authenticity in second language assessment. 7th National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC-7). Los Angeles, May 8-10, 2014.

Lee, Heeju, Danjie Su and Hongyin Tao. A crosslinguistic study of some extended uses of what-based interrogative expressions in Chinese, English, and Korean. 2nd International Conference of the American Pragmatics Association, UCLA, Los Angeles, Oct.17-19, 2014.

Su, Danjie. Syntactic alternation in Mandarin conversation: ba-constructions, bei-passives, unmarked passives, and resultatives. 2nd International Conference of the American Pragmatics Association, UCLA, Los Angeles, Oct.17-19, 2014.

Su, Danjie. Authenticity in second language assessment. 2013 Annual Convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) & Annual Meeting of Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA). Orlando, Nov 22-24, 2013.

Su, Danjie. Re-examining the construction meaning of ba-sentences in Mandarin. 19th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-19). Nankai University, Tianjin, June 11-13, 2011.

Su, Danjie. Web resources for teaching Chinese as a second language. 7th International Conference on Digitized Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language. Ludong University, Yantai, July 19-22, 2010.

Su, Danjie. Chunks as a pivotal unit between constructions and words: The case of V qǐ NP lái patterns in Mandarin. 18th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-18) in conjunction with the 22nd North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-22). Harvard University, Boston, May 20-22, 2010.

Su, Danjie. Grammatical model of the Construction-Chunking Approach. International Symposium on Modern Chinese Grammar Studies in Contemporary Frontier Science. Peking University. Aug. 17-18, 2010

Su, Danjie. The V qǐ NP lái patterns in Mandarin: An account of Construction Grammar. 5th International Conference on Contemporary Chinese Grammar (ICCCG-5). The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2009.

Su, Danjie. Construction-Chunk Approach: A quasi-experiment on teaching the Chinese jianyu sentence. 2nd Global Forum on Chinese Language Research and Teaching. Jinan University, Guangzhou, Nov. 16-17, 2009.

Su, Danjie. Applications of the Construction-Chunck Approach in L2 teaching of Chinese grammar. 1st International Symposium on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. Tsinghua University, Beijing, Aug. 8-9, 2009.

Su, Danjie. Construction grammar and chunking. 17th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-17). The French School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), Paris, July 2-4, 2009.

Abstracts of Recent Papers and Video Links

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Su, Danjie. (In press). Speakers’ subjective evaluation of adversity: Adversity lens constructed through bei-passive in Chinese conversation. Chinese Language and Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.22002.su

Abstract: Adversative passives like Mandarin Chinese bei-passives are known to convey adversity, but what “adversity” means specifically for speakers of bei- in conversational discourse remains unknown. Whereas previous studies examine adversity within the bei- clause. Using a subjectivity coding scheme and the discourse adjacent alternation method, I analyzed 4,203 values of event valence of 1,401 bei+verb phrase that previous studies may deem “adverse” can be evaluated as “adverse” or “positive” by actual speakers. 2) The same event that a speaker evaluates as “adverse” using bei- is sometimes evaluated as “non-adverse” using non-bei structures. 3) 84.5% (1,184/1,401) of the time,

Abstract: This study is the first report on the Pareto distribution (the 80/20 rule) of grammatical constructions in conversation. Unlike the extensive research on Zipfian word distribution, this study focuses on grammatical distribution. I use spontaneous talk show conversations and a data-driven approach to investigate which grammatical constructions Chinese speakers choose for causative situations. The Pareto distribution is found—about 20% of the types of grammatical constructions account for about 80% of the uses in conversation. Specifically, 1) the distribution of all the 22 constructions for causative situations constitutes a Pareto ABC diagram. The A-class with the most frequent constructions (ba-; unmarked passive; rang-; bei-; resultative; gei-), containing 27.3% of the types, accounts for 88.8% of all the 1,497 uses. 2) Most uses of a grammatical construction come from certain subtypes: The full ba- accounts for 87.9% of all ba- uses; the reduced bei- accounts for 86.8%; 37.5% of rang- subtypes account for 84.2%. These patterns can be explained by the Lens concept. I conclude that a few constructions account for most L1 Chinese speakers’ grammatical choices in conversation. Understanding such skewed grammatical distributions in natural discourse can improve the efficiency and efficacy of Language teaching and Natural Language Processing (NLP). I outline some implications for language teaching.

Su, Danjie. (In press). Factuality lens: Choosing the unmarked passive construction in Chinese conversation, Chinese Language and Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.21005.su

Abstract: Why do speakers choose the Mandarin Chinese unmarked passive construction (UP) in conversation when they have other grammatical alternatives with roughly the same semantic meaning? From the perspective of subjectivity, this study identifies the Factuality lens, a lens through which a situation is presented as a “fact” or a “truth” regardless of reality. My analysis of a video corpus of spontaneous talk show conversations using the discourse adjacent alternation method reveals that speakers tend to choose UP over other constructions to present a transitive event through the Factuality lens by emphasizing the factuality of a fact or making a non-fact appear as a fact—either deceivingly or openly in a fictitious narrative or a joke. The findings reveal that grammatical constructions can linguistically recreate a situation different from reality. The conclusion that Factuality lens is a factor that could influence speakers’ grammatical choice casts light on pragmatic consequence of grammatical choice and subjectivity in language use.

Su, Danjie. 2021. The Discourse Authenticity Model (DAM) for second language teaching materials, Guoji Hanyu [Chinese Language in the World] 5. 88–114.

Abstract: This study introduces the first model to measure the authenticity of second language teaching materials in spoken and written discourses—the Discourse Authenticity Model (DAM). Eight discourse-based criteria were developed: Shape L1, Not-for-L2 Language Teaching, Not-for-L1/L2 Language Teaching, Natural Dialogue, Spontaneous, Non-Fictional, Communicative Meaning, and Specific Context. DAM ranks authenticity in teaching materials into a continuum of five levels: 1) Very Low (rated 0 to 0.5); 2) Low (rated 1 to 2.5); 3) Medium (rated 3 to 4.5); 4) High (rated 5 to 6.5); 5) Very High (rated 7 to 8). The sample materials rated include: Artificial L2 textbook dialogues (rated 0); for-L2-learner scripted plays, role-plays, cartoons, video games, and acting out videos of artificial L2 textbook dialogues (rating range 0~1); for-L2-learner virtual reality (rating range 0~5); for-L2-learner graded readers (rating range 1~2); for-L2-learner interviews with L1 speakers (rating range 2~6); children’s graded readers (rated 3); video games (rating range 3~4); virtual reality (rating range 3~8); songs (rated 4); advertisements (rating range 4~5); children’s books (not including graded readers or early language books) (rating range 4~6); robot language (rating range 4~7); scripted fictional language such as movies (rated 5); largely spontaneous media language (rating range 5~8); scripted non-fictional language (rated 6); single voice messages on social media and phone (rating range 6~7); social media text posts and phone message exchanges (rating range 6~8); spontaneous&non-fictional media language (rating range 7~8); recorded spontaneous real-life language (rated 8). DAM is expected to be useful for teaching materials development, selection, use, and evaluation.

Su, Danjie. 2018. Discourse-pragmatic functions of a Chinese topic-comment construction and L2 teaching strategies based on authentic media materials, Taiwan Journal of Chinese as a Second Language 16(1). 55–89.

Abstract: The seemingly optional use in discourse and rich discourse-pragmatic functions make the Mandarin topic-comment construction a challenging structure for L2 learners of Chinese. Beginning and intermediate level learners tend to display a lack of use of it (Jin 1994; Cao et al. 2006). Drawing upon linguistic and applied linguistic findings, this study discusses five discourse-pragmatic functions of the double-nominative topic-comment construction and introduces a pedagogical design using authentic media materials like film clips and TV shows to teach elementary and intermediate level learners when and how to choose this topic-comment construction in specific contexts. The study aims to explore some possibilities and methodologies of providing lower-level L2 learners an opportunity to know how a certain language structure is used in specific contexts in L1 discourse, and in so doing, teach learners how to make informed linguistic choices right from the beginning level.

Video clip #1. Chunjiao? You need to ask your husband.

Video clip #2. Which one is nicer?

Video clip #3. I’ve done what I promised you.

Video clip #4. This kid, he really likes math.

Video clip #5. Music, not everyone can do it.

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2018. Teaching the Mandarin utterance-final particle le through authentic materials, Chinese as a Second Language Research 7(1). 15–45. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2018-0002

Abstract: The Mandarin utterance-final particle le is among the most difficult and elusive grammatical features that learners of Chinese often encounter, owing to its rich interactional pragmatic functions and the lack of a counterpart in many first languages. In this article, we use media clips to illustrate a beginning-level language teaching unit for this feature. We show that authentic materials can be used to address pedagogical issues with some of the most difficult grammatical phenomena in Chinese and that this can be accomplished via material design, classroom activities, and assessment methods - all at the beginning level.

(All relevant video clips used in this article can be found here: https://clicresearch.rice.edu/caslar-authentic-spoken-language/#le)

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2018. Teaching the shi…de construction with authentic materials in elementary Chinese, Chinese as a Second Language Research 7(1). 111–140. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2018-0005

Abstract:

This study provides an L2 pedagogical design to illustrate how and why authentic materials should and can be utilized in beginning-level grammar teaching – even of those most elusive grammatical constructions. In particular, we discuss the pedagogy of the so-called shi…de grammatical construction in Mandarin Chinese, one of the most challenging grammatical constructions for L2 learners of Chinese. We use spoken language data to demonstrate how this grammatical construction is used at the discourse level, how to engage students in critical thinking about its use or non-use in context, and what motivates the choices of different grammatical constructions and the implications of such choices for L2 teaching and learning.

Shi…de has been regarded as a focus, emphasis, or highlighting device. The construction itself consists of a copular (shi) plus de, which is both a nominalization marker and an utterance-final particle. Due to the multifaceted nature of the components and the versatility of the structure, this construction has been analyzed from multiple perspectives, with controversies on its nature, function, and optionality in use.

In most elementary Chinese textbooks, shi…de is introduced as a basic grammatical feature of modern Chinese and with conflicting or vague descriptions. Most problematically, this grammatical construction is often taught in isolation and devoid of any context, leaving learners confused about when to use it.

As a result, it is not surprising to see that learners often found not to use this construction when the context calls for it – as a series of SLA studies have found. This shows that the acquisition of grammatical constructions such as the shi…de construction is not merely a structural issue. Rather, we believe that the mastery of discourse pragmatics plays an important role in the acquisition of L2 grammar. In particular, the issue of teaching grammar in context should be given primary emphasis in grammar pedagogy. This holds true regardless of the level of language proficiency. We argue that at the beginning level, it is particularly crucial to expose L2 learners to the way L1 speakers use a given grammatical construction for a matching context, and that authentic materials, which are produced for L1 speakers, should and can be utilized to serve such purposes. To this aim, we demonstrate how authentic materials can be used effectively in beginner level Mandarin Chinese to teach the subtleties of the usage of the shi…de construction.

We incorporate corpus-based studies of spoken discourse and attempt to prioritize the observed patterns with different frequencies in discourse in our pragmatically-informed pedagogy. We contend that shi…de as a complex construction has preferred components and is typically used in persuasive discourse contexts. We present a usage-based construction-based analysis of the typical patterns of shi…de and outline major learning goals according to the difficulties that learners often encounter with regard to the acquisition of shi…de.

Based on these observations, we design our teaching unit with movie and TV-show clips to enhance 1) the leaner’s understanding of the common discourse contexts in which shi…de can be felicitously used; and 2) the common components that go in this construction. A major part of the paper is dedicated to the actual development of instructional guidelines on implementing authentic materials in a classroom setting, from effectively utilizing videos to designing instructional activities and conducting assessments. The instructional process combines a sketch of structural properties with a semantic and discourse-pragmatic analysis, all of which are based on commonly found features in actual discourse: Step I illustrates the persuasive discourse context, Step II focuses on the use of shi…de with adjectival components, and Step III deals with the use of shi…de with verbal components. For sample assessment activities, we include materials such as language and context matching, use of language structure to convey specific meanings, and interactional use of shi…de in conversation.

In short, our discourse research-informed pedagogy provides evidence that authentic materials can be used effectively for grammar teaching at the beginner level. Based on the case of shi…de, we argue that for L2 learners, an understanding of language structures at the discourse level is crucial to a proper understanding and use of the target language.

(All relevant video clips used in this article can be found here: https://clicresearch.rice.edu/caslar-authentic-spoken-language/#de)

提要：“是…的”句是初级汉语教学常见语法格式。该句式语义语用功能较抽象，句法上也常有“可用可不用”的情况，是汉语习得难点之一。本文通过基于影视会话的“是…的”句教学设计，例示如何使用真实语料教初级汉语，尤其是语法。本文将“是…的”句最典型的表确信的构式作为教学重点，展示如何将含有目标语法格式的真实语料转化为面向初级阶段的教学材料、课堂活动设计和测试材料。本文表明，初级阶段可使用真实语料来教二语难点语法。

Su, Danjie. 2017. Significance as a lens: Understanding the Mandarin ba construction through Discourse Adjacent Alternation, Journal of Pragmatics 117. 204–230. ISSN 0378-2166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.06.019.

Download the full text in PDF

Highlights

• Lens is speakers’ subjective evaluation of reality, especially their attitudes toward an event.

• The significance lens marks an event highly consequential, challenging, or important.

• Mandarin ba-construction is a significance marker.

• Discourse adjacent alternation method can reveal functions of grammatical constructions.

• Pragmatic factors in linguistic choice-making during social interaction.

Abstract: Given alternative grammatical options, how do native speakers make the choice in a given communicative context? Drawing data from 300 videotaped conversations (100 h; one-million words), this study is the first to use a discourse adjacent alternation method to investigate how real-life speakers in a single conversation use alternative grammatical constructions to describe the same event. This study proposes the concept of LENS as a new aspect of linguistic construal. Lens refers to speakers’ subjective evaluation of reality, especially their attitudes toward an event. This study finds that SIGNIFICANCE is a lens that evaluates an event as being highly consequential, challenging, or important. The elusive ba-construction in Mandarin is a linguistic device for the construe of significance: The ba-construction prototypically marks a transitive event as a significant consequence, contribution, or action, which is highly consequential, highly challenging, or highly important. The findings raise questions as to what linguistic devices are used in other languages to construe significance and what devices are used to construe other lenses in Mandarin and in other languages. This study reveals an association of linguistic markedness with discourse-level choices among paradigmatic oppositions in social interaction and suggests that syntactic markedness and semantic complexity correlate with discourse significance. The findings shed light on the pragmatic factors in linguistic choice-making during social interaction.

Highlights

• Lens is speakers’ subjective evaluation of reality, especially their attitudes toward an event.

• The significance lens marks an event highly consequential, challenging, or important.

• Mandarin ba-construction is a significance marker.

• Discourse adjacent alternation method can reveal functions of grammatical constructions.

• Pragmatic factors in linguistic choice-making during social interaction.

Su, Danjie. 2016. Grammar emerges through reuse and modification of prior utterances. Discourse Studies 18(3). 330–353.

Download the full text in PDF

Abstract: Given the growing consensus that grammar emerges as language is used in social interaction, how grammar emerges through interaction still remains much unknown. This study demonstrates that the beginnings of the emergence of constructions can be found in individual interactions. Through an investigation on videotaped English conversations and corpora using discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and corpus linguistic methodologies, I find that conversational participants have a tendency as high as 80% or more to reuse words in prior turns. I argue that reuse as the mechanism of resonance motivation, and modification as the mechanism of relevance motivation work competitively and conjointly, shaping the emergence of grammatical structures of a language. Reuses lead to formation of the fixed frame; modifications form the category for an open slot. In summary, grammar emerges through interaction among participants who are constantly reusing and modifying prior utterances to achieve current interactive goals.

Appendix

Video of dataset #1 Video of dataset #2 Video of dataset #3

Su, Danjie. 2017. Semantics and chunking in written and conversational discourses: A corpus study of two near-synonymous words in Mandarin. Chinese Language and Discourse 8(1). 50–93.

Abstract: Although much has been written about the differences between written and conversational discourses, less work has been done on how these two discourse types differ in terms of chunking patterns. This study investigates the different meanings and chunking patterns two words have in Mandarin written and conversational discourses. To overcome the problem of comparability between written and conversational corpora, instead of using a single word, I use two near-synonymous Mandarin words, zhihou and yihou, both of which mean roughly ‘after’ or ‘later,’ and compare their meaning and chunking patterns in written and spoken corpora. Our investigation regarding semantic distinctions revealed that in both writing and conversation, zhihou favors past and yihou favors future, and that in writing but not in conversation zhihou is more often used with immediate high transitivity actions and causal relations, whereas yihou is more often used with low transitivity states. Regarding chunking patterns, whereas conversation preserves different stages of chunking, written discourse mainly has the final clear-cut stage. This study demonstrates the importance of grounding grammatical investigations on discourse types and of the possible usefulness of using near-synonymous words or grammatical constructions as a way of getting round the problem of comparability.

Lee, Heeju, Danjie Su & Hongyin Tao. 2017. A crosslinguistic study of some extended uses of what-based interrogative expressions in Chinese, English, and Korean. Chinese Language and Discourse 8(2). 137–173.

Abstract: Interrogative pronouns such as what in English, shenme in Mandarin Chinese, and mwe/mwusun in Korean all have developed extended uses beyond interrogation. Such uses may include filling a gap in conversation, softening a speaker’s epistemic stance, and indicating strong emotions such as surprises or incredulity. Yet there is little research dealing with crosslinguistic patterns with large corpora of interactive discourse data. In this paper, we investigate the extended uses based on corpora of multiple telephone calls from the three languages. We show that eight categories of extended use can be identified in the corpora and that most of the extended uses tend to fall in the negative territory. We provide a pragmatic interactive account for this phenomenon and hope that the taxonomy and coding scheme developed here can serve as a starting point for future crosslinguistic and corpus-based comparative studies of what-like tokens as well as of the discourse-pragmatic uses of other interrogative forms.

Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao. 2014. Teaching discourse pragmatics in the spoken mode: The case of Working with Spoken Chinese. Linguistics and CSL Teaching and Learning: Theories and Practices in the Training of Pragmatic Abilities. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, 144–162.

Abstract: Discourse pragmatics as conceived here has to do with social, cultural, and interactive properties important for conducting interpersonal communication. While these properties have long been recognized by the research community, very little, especially in the case of Chinese, has been done to incorporate them into language teaching. This paper takes a published project- Working with Spoken Chinese- as a sample to show what discourse-pragmatic properties can be observed in natural conversation and how they can be transformed into concrete materials and activities for classroom instruction and self-study.

关于构式语法的中文论文

苏丹洁. 2012. 构式是一条语块链——构式语块分析法的理论框架. 《语言科学》总第58期，第3期，页241–253。

苏丹洁 [Su, Danjie]. 2012. 构式是一条语块链——构式语块分析法的理论框架. Goushi shi yi tiao yukuai lian: Goushi Yukuai Fenxifa de lilun kuangjia [Construction as a chain of chunks: Theoretical framework of the Construction-Chunking Approach]. 《语言科学》Yuyan Kexue [Linguistic Sciences] 58(3). 241–253.

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