A Corpus-based Study of Semantic prosody in Learner and Native Corpora with Implication for Language Teaching. Ali. Darabi. Doctoral student in TEFEL Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Code post: 681699464 Tel: 09166631982 E-mail: [email protected]alidarabi 1350 @gmail.com Background: Ali. Darabi is a doctoral student in TEFEL at Shiraz University, English Department. His research interests include: Argument based validity.Critical Pedagogy, Critical Language Testing, Collocation, Colligation, Semantic prosody, Semantic Preference. He has published some articles on critical pedagogy, semantic prosody and collocation. Ali.drabi Abstract Semantic prosody is the most abstract and elusive concept among Sinclair’s classification of the extended lexical units. This term is defined here as the collocational meaning arising from the interaction between a given node word and its colocates. For example, the verb ‘cause’ is associated with unpleasant things— problems, death, and the like. In this paper, I try to compare two groups of near synonyms( CAUSE vs.BRING ABOUT & RESULT IN vs LEAD TO) in a Learner (DMLC) and native (BNC) corpora in terms of their semantic prosody. By near synonyms, I mean lexical pairs that have very similar cognitive or denotational meanings but which may differ in prosodic behavior. Word Smith 6.0 and Xiara Software were applied to extract the prosodic and collocational patterns of near synonyms in two corpora. The results showed that EFL learners like native speakers use semantic prosody in their writing samples. However, there are great differences between two corpora in terms of semantic prosody, showing that EFL learners violate the conditions of semantic prosody to a great extent. Hopefully, the findings will create a cross-linguistic awareness of semantic prosody, contributing, mostly, to vocabulary teaching and learning. Keywords: semantic prosody; collocation; colligation; irony. [ 1. Introduction 1
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A Corpus-based Study of Semantic prosody in Learner and Native Corpora with Implication for Language Teaching.
Nelson, 2006), and evaluative meaning (Morley and Partington, 2009) was
first used in print and introduced to the public by Louw (1993) who
credited Sinclair (1988) with its coinage “Personal communication”.
This term has been widely used by post Firthian corpus-linguists such as
Sinclair (1991), Louw (1993), Stubbs (1995), Partington (1998), and
Hunston (2002).
For example, in their corpus-based study, Stubbs (1995, 2001), and
McEnery & Xiao (2006) have provided and tested out some examples (cause
vs. bring about, completely vs. perfectly, among many others) to show that each
single word has a different connotation compared with its near synonym.
Thus, based on the above studies, it can be said that cause and completely2
have negative semantic prosodies, while bring about and perfectly, as their
near synonyms, have positive semantic prosodies, respectively (cause death
vs. bring about happiness, completely failed vs. perfectly amiable). A working definition
of semantic prosody is presented by Louw (1993) as following:
semantic prosody refers to a form of meaning which is established through the proximity of consistent series of
collocates often charactrizable as positive or negative and whose primary function is the expression of theattitude of its speaker or writer toward some pragmatic situation (p.8).
The most recent and major studies related to the present study are Fang
(2010) and Zhang (2010). They both compared Native corpora and Learner
corpora in terms of semantic prosody. Zhang (2010), in her study, used
the main corpus CLEC and the reference corpus BROWN to explore the
semantic prosody of COMMIT in Chinese EFL. The results indicated that
Chinese EFL learners exhibit similar semantic prosody as compared with
those of native speakers. Fang’s similar study made a contrastive
analysis of the collocational features of cause and lead to in SWECCL
(Spoken and Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners) and BNC by using
methods of corpus linguistics. The data showed that English-major
learners demonstrated similar semantic preferences with the native
speakers, but that there were still great differences in their
underlying collocational patterns.
Although literature is replete with research on different corpus-based
studies, comparative research on Native and learner corpora is scant. In
Iran, there is still no study comparing these two corpora in terms of
semantic prosody. By filling this gap, this study is possibly breaking
new ground in Iran, hoping to have some implications for EFL teaching
and learning.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Definition of Semantic Prosody
3
Semantic prosody has been defined variously (Sinclair 1991, Louw 1993,
Stubbs 1995, Hoey 2000). For example, Ping-Fang and Jing-Chun define
semantic prosody as "the associative meaning resulting from its
collocates and is partially recorded in English Learners'
Dictionaries"(2009: 20). They further add that the term prosody,
traditionally, refers to "phonological coloring" which goes beyond
segmental boundaries (p, 20). Sinclair also finds that "many uses of
words and phrases show a tendency to occur in a certain semantic
environment" (1991: 112), which means that there does exist "some kind
of spreading of connotational coloring beyond single word boundaries,
which is called semantic prosody" (Partington, 1998: 68). Furthermore,
Ping-fang and Jing-chun (2009) argue that semantic prosody, as a kind of
semantic overflow, happening in the syntactic combination is considered
as one specific part of restricted selections. Sardinha (2000) relates
semantic prosody to the connotation of lexical items in a semantic
field. Zhang and Ooi similar to Partington's view, define semantic
prosody as an "abstract attitudinal, nuanced meaning" or prosody which,
in the sequence of the words colors the selection of the forms (2008:
2).Thus, it is inferred from the literature that semantic prosody
expresses the function of the lexical item (Sinclair, 1991; Stubbs, 2001).
Followed from the above, we can say that researches on semantic prosody
can be classified into two groups. The first focuses on the semantic
prosody at "textual level, exploring the perlocutionary effect caused by
semantic prosodic clash" (Ping-fang & Jing-chun 2009: 20). The second
group, however, focuses on the semantic prosody occurring at the
"syntactic level by analyzing the favorable and unfavorable connotation
of the node words" (Partington, 1998: 71). All in all, it can be
inferred that semantic prosody is closely related to discourse; plays a
great role in language teaching, and sometimes shed some light on irony,
each will be discussed below.
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2.2 Semantic Prosody and Discourse
It is to some extent apparent that context plays an unavoidable role in
determining the evaluative meaning or semantic prosody of an individual
item or a multi-word unit. Put it another way, we can say that semantic
prosody is strongly collocational in that it operates beyond the meaning
of the individual words (Xiao & McEnery, 2006). Good examples, as
presented by Xiao & McEnery are personal and price which are quite neutral
individually, but when personal is used with price, it most frequently
refers to something undesirable, evaluated as negative semantic prosody.
Sinclair’s study of set in (1991:73– 74), Stubbs on cause (1995) and Louw on
utterly (1993:160), among many others, are other examples. In each of the
examples mentioned, the word or phrase co-occurs frequently with a wide
range of items that have in common a particular attitudinal meaning and
do not truly belong to a semantic set, (Partington, 2004). For example,
based on Stubbs corpus-based study, the verb CAUSE is observed to co-
occur with some unpleasant things like: confusion, problem, anger, death, extra
work, injury and so on. It is sometimes said, then, that CAUSE ‘has a
negative (or unfavourable) semantic prosody’, suggesting that an
association with evaluative negative things is a property of the verb
(Hunston, 2007).
However, we are not always safe to say that the attitudinal meaning
ascribed to some words is mostly fixed across different contexts.
Rather, they vary from context to context. The following examples
presented by Hunston (2007:252-253) show some instances of CAUSE (each
taken from the journal New Scientist) where the particular attitude to be
discerned was to some extent neutral:
1. These proteins cause a smell to become less strong if we continue to sniff at it
2. Any AC signal flowing beneath the probe causes a displacement current to flow through this capacitor
3. If signals are seen, how will we be certain that they are caused by dark matter particles?
5
For Hunston (2007: 266) the ‘transfer’ of attitudinal meaning from one
context to another is a kind of “genuine dilemma”. One line of argument
which is mainly strong is that meaning does not exist except in context
(Teubert 2003). Thus, it seems to Hunston that it is not logical to say
that a word or phrase can carry its meaning across from one context to
another (see Whitsitt, 2005 for further arguments in support of this
view). This, according to Hunston, frees us from the need to find
reasons for non-attitudinal uses of cause (p. 266). Therefore, all we
need to say is that CAUSE often occurs in the context of undesirable
situations, but not always, and that to the point of, as another example, is
usually followed by a noun phrase indicating something undesirable, but
not always (Hunston, 2007: 266).
On the other hand, as Hunston argues, while meaning may not be
transferable from one text to another, it is difficult to deny
“resonances of intertextuality” (2007: 266). He adds that interpreting
cause a fire differently from light a fire on the part of us is due to knowledge
of intertextuality. The dilemma, then, is that the notion of
‘transferring’ attitudinal meaning from the majority of instances to an
individual instance is sometimes useful in justifying interpretations of
that single instance.
Emphasizing on the meaning of individual lexemes has been focused on by
traditional lexical semantics. In line with Sinclair (1996) the
existence of extended units of meaning go beyond the lexeme. In recent
years, other corpus linguists including Stubbs (2001) have convincingly
shown that meaning is mostly a phraseological phenomenon. Put it another
way, we can say that the term semantic prosody as the most abstract
feature of Sinclair’s model, refers to the ‘discourse function’ of a
unit of meaning (Sinclair, 1991, 2004, Stubbs, 2001). Potentially, this
concept has been the subject of disagreement among scholars,
outstanding among whom are two proponents: Sinclair (2004) and6
Partington (2004). Both pinpoint that meaning belongs to a unit that
is larger than the word, though they take as their starting point the
individual word (e.g. budge or brook for Sinclair, happen or sheer for
Partington, (Hunston, 2007)).
In the same line, Morley and Partington (2009) pinpoint that the
evaluative intent of the speaker (the attitude s/he has to his/her
topic) is very crucial in the process of text interpretation and this
intent is not different from semantic prosody. It can, therefore, be
said that the choice of the overall semantic prosody can control the
lower, less abstract choices of phraseology and lexis (Morley &
Partington, 2009). Thus, as Hunston explains, semantic prosody is
ascribed to the discourse function of a sequence rather than being
attributed to a property of a word:
……In other words, an examination of the word budge in a corpus leads tonot one but two observations. One is that the (overwhelmingly) mostfrequent phraseology around the word involves a negative, anindication of unwillingness or inability, and a subject that is otherthan a first person pronoun. The second is that where that phraseologyis found, the discourse function of the sequence is to expressfrustration in the face of difficulty. If the phraseology changes, thesemantic prosody is also different. This is not particularlysurprising, but it serves as a useful reminder that, in Sinclair’sexamples at least, semantic prosody is a discourse function of asequence rather than a property of a word (2007: 258).
2.4 Semantic Prosody and Second Language Teaching
With the help of computerized corpora, much research has examined the
linguistic phenomenon of semantic prosody from different perspectives
(Zhang, 2009). Along with this line of research, researchers also have
recognized the potential of semantic prosody in ESL/EFL (English as a
second/foreign language) vocabulary learning and teaching (Hoey, 2000;
Partington, 1998; Zethsen, 2006).
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On the importance of SP in language communication, Partington (1998)
stated that having knowledge of semantic prosody is “essential for non-
native speakers to understand not only what is grammatically possible in
their language production but … also what is appropriate and what
actually happens” (p. 8). Awareness of a lexical item’s spelling,
meanings, and grammatical features, as well as its semantic prosody is
of utmost importance in vocabulary teaching. Without a command of its
semantic prosody, learners may have difficulty using a given lexical
item for effective communication (Xiao & McEnery, 2006).
One important factor which is very crucial in understanding the
appropriate use of semantic prosody in language teaching is how to deal
with near synonyms. In dealing with two cases of fairly & rather as near
synonyms, Wen (2007), in her corpus-based study, found that in the adv +adj/adv colligation, rather tended to collocate with negative words like
superfluous, dismal, squalid, ugly, sad, sordid, and disappointing, while fairly co-
occurred with positive words like typical, safe, rapid, accurate, clearly, good,
wide and so on.
Determining different features or conditions of semantic prosody in
different studies is of paramount importance for language teachers and
learners. By so doing, they will understand that learning a word means
learning it both syntagmatically and paradigmatically. It means that to
be lexically competent, learners should learn both the denotational
meaning (e.g., synonyms) and their collocational behavior and semantic
prosody. In language teaching, consciousness-raising activities are very
influential in developing learners’ lexical competence. Some instances
of these activities are presented below:
1. Look at the following boldfaced words and determine if the two words in bold face can be usedinterchangeably? If not, why? Then try to suggest more pairs like the ones presented?
A. a. His (her) eyes sparkled with amusement (merriment, good importance humour, high spirits,happiness).
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b. His (her) eyes glittered with anger (rage, hatred, malice).B. a. Look at that lovely little girl. b. Look at that tiny girl.
Answer: -The verbs sparkle and glitter are close synonyms but they cannot be usedinterchangeably. They are different in terms of affective connotations. In theabove two sentences (part B), both adjectives (little and tiny) describe thesmallness of the girl. However, little suggests ‘attractiveness’ and ‘pleasantness’while tiny implies the abnormal growth of the child. Therefore, little isappreciative while tiny is derogatory.
- Slim and skinnyFamous and notoriousProud and arrogantConfident and conceited
2. Look at the following explanation in the box and try to determine whether thewords cause and provide are used appropriately in the following sentences.
Cause is often used with words with a negative feature, that is, something unpleasant, such as problem, damage, danger, chaos. Provide is often used with words with a positive feature, or something useful, for example, food accommodation, necessities, comfortable conditions
A) The bad weather is causing problems for many farmers. (Yes)B) The hospital has a commitment to provide the best possible medical care. (Yes)
Research has also shown that L2 learners can benefit from the
contrastive analysis of collocation and semantic prosody (Xiao &
McEnery, 2006). This can be done by comparing collocational behavior and
semantic prosody of near synonyms in L1 and their close translations
equivalence in L2. Thus, teachers should be aware of these tinges of
difference in terms of semantic prosody and collocational behavior when
dealing with near synonyms. KWIC (keyword-in-centre) concordances is the
learning tool best suited for providing the learners with observable
repeated patterns and meanings in context helping learners to become
aware of collocation and semantic prosody. This call for a practical
usage of semantic prosody was answered by Tribble (1998 in Zhang,
2009 ), who argued that it can play an important role in the teaching of
written genres (Zhang, 2009).
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2.5 Studies on Semantic Prosody
Based on the literature, some studies have been carried out, the sketch
of which is reviewed here. The most thorough of these is McEnery and
Xiao’s (2006) comparative study of three groups of near synonyms in
English with their Chinese equivalents to determine their collocational
behavior and semantic prosody, drawing upon data from English and
Chinese corpora. Using the statistical test of MI (Mutual Information)
to measure collocational strength, they concluded that semantic prosody
and semantic preference are as observable in Chinese as they are in
English. It was also revealed that the collocational behavior and
semantic prosodies of near synonyms are quite similar in the two
languages. More considerably, this observation echoes the findings which
have so far been reported for related language pairs, e.g. English vs.
Portuguese (Sardinha, 2000), English vs. German (Dodd, 2000) and English
vs. Italian (Tognini-Bonelli, 2001), (all in McEnery & Xiao 2006: 16).
In another cross-linguistic, semantic study, Zhang and Ooi (2008)
compared the concept emotion/feeling with its Chinese equivalent quing. They
used two monolingual corpora (Chinese Internet Corpus of 280 million
words and the Bank of English comprising 450 million words) for the
analysis of instances of use, and applied Sinclair’s lexical model. This
model suggests a typical sequence of units of meaning that relates to a
Accordingly, the speaker or writer first selects an abstract
attitudinal, nuanced meaning or “prosody” which “colors’ the choice of
the forms in the sequence; semantic preference refers to the meaning of
a group of words that share similar semantic features and “controls”
both the colligational and collocational patterns. Colligation has to do
with co-occurrence of grammatical choices. It is “one step more than
10
collocation” (Zang and Ooi, 2008: 2). The authors, then, concluded that
the Chinese quing terms ganqing/gingan differ from their English near-
equivalents feeling/emotion in terms of colligation, collocation, semantic
preference and semantic prosody. This model provides a feasible and
clear way to accurately grasp the exact meaning of and finer
distinctions between the lexical items compared.
In their study, Wang and Wang (2005) examined the semantic prosody of
cause. The study showed that great differences exist in the semantic
prosody of CAUSE between Chinese learners of English and English native
speakers. Chinese learners of English underused the typical negative
semantic prosody and at the same time overused the atypical positive
semantic prosody. However, the study is confined to the semantic prosody
of CAUSE without adequate attention to its collocation patterns. In the
same line, Sinclair (1991) showed that the phrasal verb SET IN occurs
primarily with subjects that refer to unpleasant states of affairs, such
as rot, decay, malaise, despair, ill-will and decadence. Sinclair (1991: 112) also noted
that the Lemma HAPPEN “is associated with unpleasant things, accidents,
and the like”. However, Stubbs (1995: 25) argues that “although negative
prosodies are probably more common, positive prosodies also exist”. He
provides the example causing work which usually means bad news, whereas
providing work is usually a good thing. The results of Zhang's (2009)
corpus-based study on the word COMMIT showed learners have insufficient
knowledge of semantic prosody.
Two major studies that comparatively studied native and learner corpora
are Fang (2010) and Zhang (2010). They both compared the data from these
two corpora in terms of semantic prosody. Zhang (2010), in her study,
used the main corpus CLEC and the reference corpus BROWN to explore the
semantic prosody of COMMIT in Chinese EFL. The result indicated that
Chinese EFL learners exhibit similar semantic prosody as compared with
those of native speakers. Fang’s similar study made a contrastive
11
analysis of the collocational features of cause and lead to in SWECCL
(Spoken and Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners) and BNC by using
the collocational study methods of corpus linguistics. The data showed
that English-major learners demonstrated similar semantic preferences
with the native speakers, but that there were still great differences in
their underlying collocational patterns
All the studies mentioned above were corpus-based. However, Ahmadian,
Yazdani , and Darabi’s(2011) constructed, validated and used a test of
semantic prosody to experimentally measure EFL learners’ knowledge of
semantic prosody. The results showed that EFL learners have little or no
knowledge of prosodic features. In the same line, the results of
Ahmadian and Darabi’s (2011) study on the relationship between receptive
and productive semantic prosody showed that EFL learners have problems
both in terms of their receptive and productive prosodic knowledge. The
implication of these studies was that information on semantic prosody
should be included in the curriculum so that EFL learners take benefit
of and be familiar with this concept.
3. Objectives and Questions
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the extent to which
EFL learners exhibit knowledge of semantic prosodic features. This study
also attempts to analyze the possible similarities or differences of
semantic prosody in two groups of near synonyms between a learner
(DMLC) corpus and a native (BNC) corpus. Based on this purpose the
following research questions are raised:
1. Do EFL learners use semantic prosody in their writing samples?
2. To what extent EFL learners’ use of semantic prosody is similar to or different from that of
native speakers?
4. Method
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The data for the present study were extracted from two corpora: a native
corpus known as British National Corpus (BNC) and a learner corpus
formulated as Doctral and Master Learner Corpus (DMLC). The British
National Corpus (BNC), built between 1991 and 1994, is a 100 million-
word collection of samples of written and spoken language from a wide
range of sources, designed to represent a wide cross-section of British
English from the later part of the 20th century. The spoken component of
the BNC constitutes approximately 10 percent (10 million words) of the
total and the written component 90 percent (90 million words). There are
nine written domains in the corpus: applied science, arts, belief and
thought, commerce and finance, imaginative, leisure, natural and pure
science, social science, and world affairs. DMLC is a written sample of
about 34 Iranian Doctral and Master Theses and Dissertations in TEFL,
defended at Isfahan University. Various topics in TEFL are researched in
these theses and dissertations. The processes of search from both
corpora occurred through three stages. In the first stage, the prosodic
features of the first group of near synonyms (CAUSE & BRING ABOUT) were
analyzed in both corpora. Put another way, first near synonyms were
analyzed in BNC corpora and then these near synonyms were investigated
in DMLC so that I can compare the prosodic conditions of CAUSE & BRING
ABOUT in both corpora. The result of a search in two corpora was
displayed as a list of up to 50 randomly selected instances headed by a
note of the total frequency of the search string (see appendix A & B)
Then, to fulfill the requirement of data triangulation , the second
group of near synonyms (RESULT IN & LEAD TO) were analyzed in both
corpora. The second investigation went through the same process as the
first. In searching process two types of soft wares, namely Xiara and
Word Smith(version 6.0) were applied for the analyses. Capital letters
are deliberately used here to refer to a lemma, which stands for all the
word-forms of the verb. That means, CAUSE stands for cause, caused, causes,
causing.
13
5. Results and Discussion
The analysis of semantic prosody on the near synonyms of CAUSE vs
BRING ABOUT and RESULT IN VS LEAD TO was carried out in four main steps.
First, a comparison of the distribution of semantic prosody of CAUSE vs.
BRING ABOUT was made in the native (BNC) corpora. Then, these two near
synonyms were analyzed in the learner (DMLC) corpora. Third, the second
group of near synonyms, namely RESULT IN vs. LEAD TO were compared in
BNC corpus in terms of their semanticc prosody. Finally, these two near
synonyms were investigated in DMLC corpus. Each of these processes are
elaborated upon in the following section.
4.1 Semantic Prosody of CAUSE in BNC
In BNC corpus, among the random selection of 50 instances of the word
CAUSE 36 uses were shown to have negative semantic prosody, 9 were
neutral, and 5 were positive. The negative collocates associated with
CAUSE which were randomly selected from BNC corpus are revealing: ill-fortune,
major delays, a worn, errors, tension, friction, distress, trouble, problems, unnecessary
obstruction, bleeding, misfortunes, mortality, damage, the problems, bodily harm, discontented,
considerable hardship, the disease, damage and injury, a fault, a major upset, disease and death,
lasting damage. These unfavorable collocates which accompany CAUSE typically
contribute to its negative affective meaning, hence confirming what
Stubbs(1995) in his study found that ‘cause’ has a strong negative
semantic prosody.
In line with the above arguments, neutral collocates of CAUSE, which
were also randomly selected from BNC are mostly represented in academic
or technical texts:
(1) the cause of black music.
(6) can cause rubber to perish into
14
(14)will cause the blood to constrict.
(36)………… cause to some women for
(46) the cause of freedom and
Therefore, based on the above typical examples we can argue that ‘text
type’ has a dramatic effect on the choice and condition of semantic
prosody. It means that semantic prosody is context- specific.
This finding supports what Hunston (2007) found in his study in which he
concluded that the attitudinal meaning ascribed to some words is not
mostly fixed across different contexts. Rather, they vary from context
to context. The following examples presented by Hunston (2007:252-253)
show some instances of CAUSE (each taken from the journal New Scientist)
where the particular attitude to be discerned was to some extent
neutral:
1. These proteins cause a smell to become less strong if we continue to sniff at it
2. Any AC signal flowing beneath the probe causes a displacement current to flow through this capacitor
3. If signals are seen, how will we be certain that they are caused by dark matter particles?
For Hunston (2007: 266) the ‘transfer’ of attitudinal meaning from one
context to another is a kind of “genuine dilemma”. One line of argument
which is mainly strong is that meaning does not exist except in context
(Teubert 2003). Thus, it seems to Hunston that it is not logical to say
that a word or phrase can carry its meaning across from one context to
another (see Whitsitt, 2005 for further arguments in support of this
view). Therefore, all we need to say is that CAUSE often occurs in the
context of undesirable situations, but not always (Hunston, 2007: 266).
Contrary to well-established negative prosody of CAUSE in this study
there are some instances of positive semantic prosody which are
represented in the following examples, randomly taken from BNC corpus:
(19) the cause of this extraordinary behaviour.
15
(26) the cause of competent management,
(27) a cause that would be electorally popular found it in anti-communism.
In (19) the expression this extraordinary behavior is apparently associated with
pleasant or positive semantic prosody of CAUSE, and this nominal
collocate is the object of the sentence in which ‘what’ is supposed to
be the doer of the action. However, a closer look at the context in
which this expression is represented shows that this nominal collocate
may be intentionally used to express an ironical effect. In other words,
we can say that by using ‘irony’ the addressor violates the condition of
semantic prosody to process the discourse and it is the responsibility
of addressee to process the meaning. In this regard we are safe to say
that semantic prosody is closely related to discourse.
In (27), the positive semantic prosody of ‘cause’ is represented through
the adjectival phrase electorally popular. In the above example ‘anti-
communism is associated with the possible CAUSE of the popular election.
This typical occurrence of ‘cause’ shows that sometimes, though in rare
cases, ‘cause’ has a positive semantic prosody.
This finding again corroborates the claim made by Stubbs (1995). He
argues that “although such negative prosodies are probably more common,
positive prosodies also exist (1995: 25). He provides the example causing
work which usually means bad news, where as providing work is usually a
good thing:
(1) when you over draft your account, you cause extra work for the bank staff.
(2) this will provide work; it will raise the standard of living.
By and large, we can say that based on random selection of 50 instances
of CAUSE this word has a negative semantic prosody, and if it associates
with positive affective meaning, it is mostly ironical.
4.2 Semantic Prosody of BRING ABOUT in BNC
16
Although ‘bring about’ and ‘cause’ are near synonyms, they don’t have
similar semantic prosodies. Looking at the 50, randomly selected
examples of BRING ABOUT it can be seen that about 25 instances were
associated with positive semantic prosody: peace, the most significant changes,
positive changes, another major change, a positive re-assessment, a state of tranquility, a state of
harmony, health and wealth, a state of calm, an environment in which creativity can flourish, a
unity of effect, major evolution, a strength, the desired response, revolution, the largest increase,
significant increase, equilibrium, the effective development, a coordinated, coherent response, an
improvement, the event that was expected. Contrary to the abundance of positive
semantic prosody of bring about, only 5 instances were attributed to have
negative semantic prosody: his destruction, quick destruction of England, a loss of
associability, the extinction of endemic species, a reduction. This finding corroborates
Stubbs (1995), and McEnery & Xiao (2006). They found that BRING ABOUT is
dominantly associated with desirable or favorable semantic situations.
To our surprise, about 20 uses of BRING ABOUTwere neutral, indicating
that this phrasal verb is used more neutrally than ‘cause’ while the
degree of negativity of cause is more stronger than the rate of
positivity of ‘bring about’. Something which is more interesting is that in
about 15 out of 50 times BRING ABOUT collocates with the word ‘change’:
(3) collective action to bring about wider change.
(6) experience of plenty bring about a fundamental change
(9) and determination to bring about change.
(11) cellular forces that bring about changes in the shape of
(12) not sufficient to bring about the level of change which is required.
(20) systematically to bring about changes.
(22) lobby is likely to bring about change.
(24) December 1991 will bring about the most significant changes
(26 effort is required to bring about a fundamental change of attitude.
(28) communication can bring about positive changes in their daily lives.17
(32) september 5th may well bring about another major change or sizeable upheaval.
(37) PNP resources to bring about change here:
(39) action might bring about changes in personnel and policies.
It is worth mentioning that CAUSE is also associated to collocate with
‘change’, though the connotation of ‘change in CAUSE is more negative as
compared with that of ‘bring about’. This information shows that the meaning
or interpretation on collocates like‘change’ is context-specific or it is
better to say dependent upon the nodes like BRING ABOUT. All in all, it
can be concluded that BRING ABOUT strongly has positive semantic prosody
or at least if it is not associated with positive meaning, it rarely
expresses a negative connotational or prosodic meaning. For EFL learners
this information can be very useful to communicate appropriately in an
EFL context.
4.3 Semantic Prosody of CAUSE in DMLC
As mentioned before, Word Smith concordance (version 6.0) was applied to
draw the data from Doctoral and Master Learner Corpora (DMLC). It was
shown that14 out of 50 instances of CAUSE in terms of its semantic
prosody were negative, while 3 instances were positive and,
surprisingly, 32 were neutral. In a 4:4 window (4 words on either side
of the node) the most frequent collocates of cause were revealing as:
Learner errors, reading difficulties, difficulty, problems, negative transfer, devastation, more
problems, considerable difficulty, more confusion, make errors, air pollution, suicide, momentary
dissociation. These unfavorable instances, compared to negative semantic
prosody of CAUSE in BNC which amounts to 36 out of 50, is definitely a
low number. It shows that EFL learners do not dominantly know that cause
is strongly associated with negative semantic prosody (Stubbs 1995;
Sardinha 2000; McEnery &Xiao 2006). The following are some concordance
lines taken from DMLC:
1 changes, processes, actions, causes, purposes, and means ar
2 opposition to the surface and causes the reinterpretation of
18
3 high electrodermal values and causes excitation of the syste
4 e possible conditions for and causes of L-S occurrence (what
5 erstanding of what events and causes are” (Lakoff & Johnson,
6 distinct language background causes them to develop interla
7 hen he said such bisociation “causes a momentary dissociatio
8 use and proficiency are both causes and outcomes of each ot
9 r facts, events, or concepts (causes). Sharp (2002) states t
10 ed regions): He went crazy. • Causes are forces: The hit sen
11 t sometimes a deep depression causes the person to commit su
12 h potato blight had different causes. 84. Where did the fung
13 -Space Methodology to explore causes of item difficulty. Whi
14 hipergelismi ?ode v? oil fish causes worse becoming control
15 ns between propositions e.g., causes, reasons and consequenc
16 he increased air pollution it causes. 3 Further, it is very
17 he increased air pollution it causes. Further, it is very ex
18 ck of collocational knowledge causes them to make errors in
19 ering a test in two languages causes more confusion and more
20 between syntax and morphology causes divergent forms to be p
21 tern while preposition + noun causes considerable difficulty
22 easiest pattern and which one causes more problems. The resu
23 argument concerns the ways or causes of change; otherwise, t
24 be realized and also possible causes of L-S and also to see
25 gorized as LMC. 4.3. Possible Causes for L-S Behavior As men
26 sk and recalling the possible causes of certain behavior the
27 nly aimed at finding possible causes of L-S occurrence by th
28 y are fought. War preparation causes a lot of devastation. H
29 are fought. 2 War preparation causes a lot of devastation. 3
30 would shed light on the real causes of learning outcomes af
31 ysis carried out … [Pro] Some causes such as differential se
32 20. -Carrell, P. (1988). Some causes of text-boundedness and
33 n which an instructional task causes learners to notice part
19
34 being a student or a teacher, causes the learners to resort
35 that strategies are both the causes and outcomes of improve
36 age learning, to find out the causes of the learner errors a
37 will be able to find out the causes and figure out the solu
38 rough an understanding of the causes of reading difficulties
39 est tasks and items – and the causes of such difficulty. As
40 avior, then elaborates on the causes of L-S stated by the pa
41 e participants related to the causes of L-S occurrence was t
42 settings: Problems and their causes. In L. Smith. (Ed.), Re
43 ect language) and, therefore, causes Persian learners of Eng
44 urrence recognized just three causes which are based merely
45 The role of negative transfer causes the participants to pro
46 the role of negative transfer causes the learners face with
47 oes it uncover the underlying causes and mechanisms of a pos
48 ot conceptually. This is what causes the learners’ discourse
49 n appearing to happen is what causes the laughter. Though t
50 cepts is another issue, which causes problems in distinguish
Looking closely at concordance lines for CAUSE represented in DMLC
corpus, it is shown that about 32 collocates are neutral. Thus, it can
be argued that learners of English overestimate the neutral use of CAUSE
in terms of its semantic prosody. It can be said that this violation of
features and conditions of semantic prosody is not intentionally done
due to expressing ironical effect as it was the case for native
speakers. But this unintentional violation of semantic prosody, it is
claimed, can be attributed to EFL learners’ lack of appropriate
collocational and prosodic knowledge. However, as mentioned before,
there is one line of argument regarding the context-specificity of
semantic prosody. The data taken from the learner corpora investigated
in this study is mostly register- specific. This may strongly affect the
interpretation on semantic prosody. In support of this argument, the
nice example presented by Hunston (2007) is the word erupted which has a
20
positive prosody in sports reporting but a negative one in hard news
reporting.
4.4 Semantic prosody of BRING ABOUT in DMLC
Elsewhere in this paper, it was stated that BRING ABOUT and CAUSE are
near synonyms. It means that they have the same denotational meaning. It
was also argued that these words do not have the same collocational
behavior and semantic prosodies, and compared to CAUSE which has a
strongly negative semantic prosody, BRING ABOUT frequently refers to
desirable , or at least non-negative situations. Drawing upon the data
on concordance lines extracted from DMLC it was shown that of 24
occurrences of collocates associated with BRING ABOUT, 11 instances were
associated with positive prosody, while 6 were negative and about 7
occurrences were neutral. Some concordance lines Taken from PDLC are as
following:
1 n of each of these approaches bring about results that are c
2 rous instances which can both bring about fun in the class a
3 . What types of violation can bring about the most funniness
4 course of research on DMs can bring about a better recogniti
5 r all of the others. This can bring about the positive affec
6 art age of L2 acquisition can bring about any significant di
7 ge skills, and which can help bring about new power relation
8 gh a nuclear holocaust it may bring about. Letting Iran to a
9 y have in common the meaning ‘bring about death or disaster’
10 he current assessment methods bring about two dangerous prob
11 gating empirically what might bring about item level difficu
12 k (TT) itself could naturally bring about some problems. In
13 ion of a radio signal did not bring about any problem for na
14 2 instruction syllabus should bring about such a manipulatio
15 ever, on the whole, failed to bring about a significant impr
16 The goal of instruction is to bring about changes in the lea
17 earcher and subjects seems to bring about the best word choi
18 clarations (using language to bring about changes in the wor
19 ss as a punctuation marker to bring about relief. Notwithsta
20 rmance with what is taught to bring about those changes. Con
21 ss as a punctuation marker to bring about relief. However, t
22 e specifically constituted to bring about learning; it is no
23 main hindering factors which bring about non-success in L2
24 nted ELT programs which would bring about more promising res
21
Typical instances of positive semantic prosody of BRING ABOUT are: fun, the
most funniest, a better recognition, the positive affects, a significant improvement, best word
choice, relief, learning, more promising results.
Here, contrary to the use of CAUSE in DMLC, bring about at least, has been
shown to be used more appropriately. However, this data contradicts the
prosodic information taken from BNC in which a great majority of
collocates of BRING ABOUT were associated with positive semantic
prosody. This may largely be attributed to the variety of BNC data
sources and the limit of writing topics of the learner corpus, but it
also shows that learners rely heavily on a limited choices of words
with which they are familiar(Pan Fan 2010). Based on the data on DMLC,
it can be discussed that EFL learners almost, give the same value to
both negative and neutral semantic prosody of BRING ABOUT. Therefore, it
can be claimed that although EFL learners irregularly, but sometimes
appropriately, use semantic prosodic features, they are not aware of
them.
4.5 Semantic prosody of LEAD TO in BNC
Among the random selection of 50 instances of the phrase phrase LEAD TO
about 34 uses were shown to have negative semantic prosody, 10 were
positive, and 6 were neutral. This finding supports McEnery & Xiao’s
(2006) study on the near synonyms in which they found that about 49% of
the distribution of this phrase is associated with negative semantic
prosody. Some negative collocates associated with LEAD TO are revealing
in the following examples taken from BNC:
LEAD TO in BNC
ABV 205 This conclusion, I want to argue, does not lead to a rejection of the Bible or to a diminution of its claims or, necessarily, to a weakening of its authority.
ASE 1453 Winnie felt that this could lead to somewhat alarming disclosures which might be regretted by all.
B06 131 This can lead to iatrogenic disease (drug induced), a problem which may be far more wide-spread than is generally realised.
B17 1533 How might this lead to the differential treatment of whites and blacks?
CCX 689 They seldom incorporate weather stripping, and ordinary galvanised types need regular checksto ensure that any damage doesn't lead to rust.
CEP 8857 ‘Our legal adviser told us that using such a route could even lead to the club being closeddown if their investigations opened up a real can of worms.
CFB 478 He said the increase to £4.25 would affect about half the population and could lead to some hard-up patients being forced to go without certain treatments.
CG5 557 This would lead to tank overflow in the loft.
CJA 3532 Down, anywhere on Plenty, must lead to the docks.
EWG 1209 But a view of the world that divided it so sharply between good and evil could only increase tension and lead to some clumsy decisions.
FCL 632 Basing himself on authority from the United States, La Forest J. concluded that any other rule would at best be inefficient, and at worst could lead to financial chaos: see pp. 194–197.
FT0 454 Moderate weight loss seems to lead to subtle ovulation disorders and therefore to decreasingfecundity.
G0H 882 Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) played an important role in saving Yosemite, emphasizing that private selfishness would lead to destruction unless the land was controlled by the state.
G20 1278 Self help groups may also be used as an excuse for lack of government support, and a general philosophy of self help may lead to deprived people being blamed for their plight.
GV5 1410 For them, international free trade and reliance on market mechanisms for resource allocation are not conducive to global prosperity, as liberals claim, but lead to increased economicinequality.
GXG 1957 The involvement of the West Indies in the war created a profound change in the outlook of its people, that was to lead to growing criticism of the colonial government.
H9R 64 It is important to realize that not all molecular vibrations lead to oscillating dipoles.
HGV 4534 ‘Poor Woolacombe says if he's had one story thrown in his face as an example of what bad conduct may lead to, he's had fifty.
HL6 262 He predicted civil war between parties currently gathered in an "illusory coalition" againsthis administration, which would lead to "genuine dictatorship, and not the imaginary one which certain people perceive in the current constitutional regime" .
HPG 126 The Methane produced on landfill sites is very explosive and can lead to severe illness if inhaled to a great extent.
HR9 2940 as if his experience was going to lead to a campaign for the rights of corpses or something.
HXD 1045 "Original" is liberally interpreted in copyright law; however, the requirement that the topography is not commonplace is likely to lead to a much narrower interpretation (see the discussion of C & H Engineering v F Klucznik & Sons Ltd. in the previous Chapter).
J15 2081 With a very shallow L curve (as in Figure 18.3), a rise in money supply from M to M' will only lead to a small fall in the rate of interest from r 1 to r 2 .
J15 2165 A fall in interest rates will lead to an outflow of short-term capital from the country.
K5H 3144 It will be essential for the Scottish Secretary to convince the Treasury that council reform will not lead to extra costs at a time when the Government is anxious to reduce public expenditure and its borrowing debts.
KA1 757 There is also the chance of a schoolgirl falling pregnant during vital examinations which can lead to missing out on getting qualifications and eventually jobs.
These unfavorable collocates which accompany LEAD TO typically
contribute to its negative affective meaning, hence confirming what
McEnery & Xiao(2006) in their study found that LEAD TO has negative
semantic prosody. About 16 instances of use associated with LEAD TO
were shown to have positive or neutral semantic prosody. Like the
positive or neutral uses of CAUSE and BRING ABOUT in BNC, these typical
examples are mainly represented in technical or specialized language.
This finding supports the arguments made before that semantic prosody is
sometimes context-specific and the prosodic condition attributed to some
words or phrases is not fixed, rather it changes from context to
context. Put it simply, we can say that semantic prosody for a word or
phrase is, in some cases or contexts, associated with negative prosody
and in some other contexts it is rendered as positive or neutral. To
help clarify the point, we can refer to some uses of LEAD TO in which
case the conditions of semantic prosody is fluctuating. For example, in
B17 1533 How might this lead to the differential treatment of whites and blacks?
We see that LEAD TO here has a negative semantic prosody , while in
1354 About wet conditions that may be dangerous but give rise to regeneration, and scorched ones that appear daunting but may lead to growth.’
We observe that LEAD TO is represented as having positive semantic
prosody. Thus it can be said that LEAD TO has a strong negative semantic
prosody when it is used in general contexts. However when it is used in
scientific or specialized contexts, it is attributed as having positive
or neutral prosodies.
4.6 Semantic Prosody of RESULT IN in BNC
A close look at the randomly selected examples of RESULT IN extracted
from BNC shows that about 27 instances of use of this phrase are
rendered as negative semantic prosody which is attributed as strong.
Again like LEAD TO the negative prosody of this phrase is close to and
does not run counter to McEnery & Xiao’s (2006) finding for this phrse
which was about 47%. About 14 instances of RESULT IN are attributed as
having positive semantic prosody, while only 10 uses are neutral . Some
of the negative instances of RESULT IN extracted from BNC are as
following:
RESULT IN
B0X 370 If severe, this may result in the diabetic lipaemia that is particularly seen in poorly controlled or newly diagnosed diabetics (Bagdade et al, 1967).
B0X 389 The obligate activator apo-C II has been shown to result in poor activation of lipoprotein lipase in vitro when present in very low or excess amounts in VLDL.
B14 1567 Even the use of ordinary vocabulary can result in problems for patients.
C92 987 Make sure that lines do not inadvertently touch each other, or this will result in short-circuits on the finished board.
C95 2826 These may not result in typical Doitsu scalation but they can affect the body shape.
CFC 866 ‘We very much want to trace the driver of that vehicle because they might hold vital information which could result in this robbery being solved,’ added the spokesman.
CMM 786 A rule that does hold good, however, concerns crossing branches and stems; these inevitably result in rubbed, chafed and damaged stems.
CNX 94 This, he reckons, has never been more true than in the Unix software arena and he reckons it likely that just one big company will seize control of the Unix world, and its subsequent dominance of the market will result in software prices going up.
EBY 116 The respiratory system is vital to life and anything which prevents it functioning can result in death.
EE0 96 Failure to comply with the terms of a Default Notice will normally result in the default being disclosed to credit reference agencies.
FAF 1197 A reduction in interest rates will result in a fall in the size of this subsidy, and the phasing in of a cash ceiling approach ought to be timed to such a favourable point in time.
FTB 216 Oncogenic mutations in this gene consistently appear to be recessive, loss of function mutations that result in an absent or non-functional protein.
FTE 155 In our hands, these precipitations result in progressively diminished yields of potential template cDNA for amplification.
G2G 7 The consequences of a major breach of security can result in an organisation being put out of business, such is the dependence of today's information society on its technology.
G2S 238 Although the structure and powers of the new committee have yet to be decided, conservationists argue that the additional bureaucracy will slow down the process of designation, cost a lot of money, reduce the power of SNH and may result in designated sites losing their status.
GWK 77 The Booksellers Association has warned that the implementation of a draft EC directive on data protection would result in ‘immeasurable’ costs to the book business.
H83 1492 It is also why the proper analysis of a work of art does not result in a sense of fragmentation but instead enriches the interweaving of its fabric.
HGX 1545 Some constant changes, particularly affecting checkConsistency and diagnostics elsewhere, can result in conditions becoming difficult or impossible to satisfy, so that the program either cannot complete the set-up operation or delivers too many diagnostics and perhaps even fails to deliver measurements.
HHV 4350 Does my right hon. Friend agree that any proposal to double the European Community structural funds will inevitably result in higher tax bills for the British taxpayer?
HJ3 4812 ‘Any such assistance would drastically distort competition and result in job losses on ships, most of which are British-crewed, on routes between the UK and Northern Ireland.’
HKT 1059 As such, this could "fan new passions" and result in violence.
HSC 1104 Fixation at this stage might result in dependence on others, talking too much, overeating, alcoholism, cynicism, or use of sarcasm.
J18 321 Seed-predators that hoard seeds may be effective as dispersal agents: in temperate regions, nutcrackers and jays (Corvidae) store large numbers of seeds and exploit them later, and death or ‘forgetfulness’ of the bird will result in successful dispersal.
J79 591 Failure to observe that enforcement notice can result in a prosecution in the local magistrates' court.
K5D 10907 But yesterday they had to accept a report by officials calling for commercial waste collection charges which could result in bills of up to £2,000 a year for some users.
The most significant collocates associated with RESULT IN are: loss, death,
problems, disease and rubbery for negative prosody and growth for positive
prosody. The neutral collocates are more scientific: regulation, shifting, test,
non-volatile product and presence. Something worthy of note here is that despite
the near synonyms CAUSE & Bring BRING ABOUT which were associated
differently in terms of their semantic prosody, here LEAD TO & RESULT IN
as close synonyms are similar with regard to their prosodic features. In
other words, we are safe to say that both these close synonyms are
almost associated with negative semantic prosody.
4.7 Semantic Prosody of LEAD TO in DMLC
As mentioned before, LEAD TO and RESULT IN are near synonyms. The
prosodic investigation of these two phrases in BNC corpus showed that
they are mostly negative in their connotations. However, looking at the
concordance lines of LEAD TO in DMLC as a learner corpus, we can see
that of 50 typical instances searched for this phrase about 45 uses are
positive, while two are negative and 3 are neutral. This finding runs
totally counter to what we found in BNC in which 34 uses were negative.
A simple comparison of LEAD TO in the native and learner corpora shows
that learners overwhelmingly deviate from the norms of native speakers.
This finding supports what we found in DMLC for CAUSE and BRING ABOUT in
which EFL learners violated the conditions of semantic prosodies in this
corpus. Thus, it can be argued that EFL learners are not aware of the
conditions of semantic prosody. Accordingly, this study is a starting
point for teachers to emphasize on this linguistic concept.
Concordance of lead to in DMLC
1 Sanders and Noordman (2000), lead to faster processing but 2 Sanders and Noordman (2000), lead to faster processing but 3 ties as Japanese or Americans lead to different linguistic a4 al statements and assessments lead to depersonalization. 2.36 eful as a written record, can lead to some confusion and mis7 patterns of lexical items can lead to generalizations at the
8 ingful use of the L2 that can lead to incidental acquisition
9 t-up is inappropriate. It can lead to on of the following ef10 ent) in the EFL curricula can lead to the enhancement of pra
11 ion against Iran.”; “ … could lead to military strike agains12 one of these processes could lead to what appear to be "maj13 it and explicit types of FonF lead to significant increase o14 nizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessme15 ty itself does not inevitably lead to humor, as opposed to c16 ing the specific purposes may lead to the strait-jacket of e
27
17 2001, p. 433) and that it may lead to overgeneralization. Ot18 (p.301). This enterprise may lead to further understanding 19 itive aspect of writing might lead to changes in writing out20 evelopment, bisociation might lead to a useful and insightfu21 however, does not necessarily lead to convergence upon the t22 oduction does not necessarily lead to meaningful learning. B23 ension-based approach may not lead to internalization of som24 ach in the classroom does not lead to radical methodological25 nM have problems, which often lead to further pendulum swing26 ng have problems, which often lead to further pendulum swing27 explicit instruction can only lead to conscious, verbalizabl28 to glance at the headline or lead to obtain a fairly accura29 triggering data can possibly lead to parametric change. Int30 , and their appearance should lead to abrupt changes in the 31 stic transformations in texts lead to corresponding transfor32 ine motivational factors that lead to variations in student 33 kinds of considerations that lead to our acceptance of the 34 ng in education can therefore lead to ambiguity and variabil35 and structure is unlikely to lead to spontaneous production36 ter situation is predicted to lead to protracted L1 influenc37 of a new method is assumed to lead to some changes in cognit38 variability of use is said to lead to parametric change, i.e39 ty of practice that, in turn, lead to the selection of relev40 ant in that it may ultimately lead to the adoption of one of41 tes explicit techniques which lead to more effects in compar42 the use of other models will lead to such a great diversity43 the concordancing lines will lead to unpredictable results.44 mined investigation that will lead to predictable results or45 anguage throughout the world, lead to concerns over intercom46 nding of Arab mediation would lead to more peaceful resoluti47 derstanding of mappings would lead to a mistaken understandi48 Guardian]; "… to do so would lead to 'consequences'."; "….
4.8 Semantic Prosody of RESULT IN in DMLC
The results on the search in learner corpora for RESULT IN showed that
EFL leaners, most of the time use this phrase neutrally so that about
30 instances of use of this phrase is associated with neutral semantic
prosody, while only 10 instances are negative and 7 are positive. This
finding again contradicts the data in BNC in which 27 instances of the
prosodic uses of this phrase are attributed as negative. Compared to
LEAD TO in DMLC corpus in which 45 out of 50 instances were positive,
RESULT IN shows only 7 positive prosodies, thus inferred that EFL
learners are more inclined to use this phrase neutrally. In other words,
based on the data on DMLC we can claim that EFL learners, in their
writing samples, violate the conditions of semantic prosody not
intentionally for the purpose of expressing irony but due to lack of
28
knowledge in this area. Thus, steps should be taken to seriously
include knowledge of semantic prosody in vocabulary pedagogy.
Concordance lines for RESULT IN in BNC
1 nvestigation. This would also result in rejecting the hypoth2 al one. Humor does not always result in laughter and laughte4 in communicative lessons can result in L2 learners incorpor5 cy for early organization can result in failure to understan6 uggested that interaction can result in feedback that focuse7 le, explicit instruction, can result in learned linguistic k8 eal to a cognitive scheme can result in a basis for a modern9 use of certain constructions result in a loss (or dramatic 10 order in both L1 and L2 could result in different degrees of11 tward appearance of DMs could result in better comprehension12 nuclear bombs would no doubt result in some fouls to “play 13 , certain subject extractions result in strong violations wh14 te, gene splicing will likely result in unanticipated outcom15 collocational competence may result in a type of verbosity 16 ncepts, the contradiction may result in confusion. So, what 17 s of knowledge and skills may result in behavior mimicking U18 e of the learner and this may result in admiration of the fo19 ee O 20. Learning English may result in lack of attention to20 en, since writing by hand may result in different composing 21 ntational power of news media result in polarized ethnic rep22 holidays that normally might result in disconnection for a 23 clusion of such factors might result in further findings in 24 while too. Such a study might result in discovering further 25 here. This is not a necessary result in that the child L2 le26 methods of assessment do not result in meaningful learning,27 . Yet, the differences do not result in different subsets. I28 egrative approaches might not result in improvements in skil29 hat learning English does not result in carelessness towards30 output …? And (b) Does output result in …? [HP] During the t31 structuring knowledge should result in learners simplifying32 sampling methods. This should result in a final sample with 33 ct form-meaning mappings that result in better intake" (VanP34 , results and discussion that result in four moves, namely, 35 pply, are generally deemed to result in less information abo36 r affects one's body so as to result in physical malfunction37 d with the domain may in turn result in learning being conce38 , i.e. gradual changes in use result in abrupt changes in gr39 ies of functional heads which result in the simultaneous eme40 ies of functional heads which result in the simultaneous eme41 ecause they believe this will result in their business prosp42 nglish practically. This will result in business prosperity.43 l of understanding. This will result in students simplifying44 . As a consequence, this will result in a new definition of 45 roperty of grammar. This will result in considering paramete46 underlying phrasal verbs will result in a better acquisition47 eck if learning English would result in lack of attention to48 s, the answers to which would result in the overall answer t
29
All in all, as it was stated before, the term ‘semantic prosody’ is the
most abstract feature of Sinclair’s model of extended lexical units,
referring to the discourse function of a unit of meaning. By this token,
it can be said that this term is not logical to be defined as simply
‘positive’ or ‘negative’. That is because semantic prosody is a
subjective, intuitive, problematic, and elusive concept and it requires
a lot of inference on the part of analyst to make an interpretation on
this concept.
5. Conclusion and Implications
The results showed that EFL learners exhibit some traces of
semantic prosody in their writing samples. Some of learners prosodic
manifestations were similar and a great many were different from those
of native speakers. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that
although there are similarities between prosodic knowledge of near
synonyms in native and learner corpora, learners only have superficial
knowledge of semantic prosodies and do not realize the underlying
collocational patterns. Therefore, awareness of semantic prosody can be
greatly beneficial in helping language learners understand how to use
lexical patterns appropriately.
The findings of this study can have some implications too. Based
on this study, it is implied that awareness of this concept is crucial
for language teachers in that they can benefit by using concordance
lines taken from the analysis of computer corpora, or by instructing
words with close meanings but with different prosodies. Thus, semantic
prosody should be integrated into ESL/EFL vocabulary teaching to help
develop language learners’ communicative competence. In this study it
was shown that learners have insufficient or in some parts no knowledge
of semantic prosody. Lack of appropriate knowledge of prosodic features
30
represented in learner English reveals that more emphasis should be put
on the teaching of collocational behavior instead of teaching separate
words without context. Information on semantic prosody is also useful
for translators. This information will help them know that equivalent
words or near synonyms may not have the same semantic prosodies in two
languages, thus affecting their text evaluation or interpretation.
Discourse analysts can also benefit a lot from information on semantic
prosody not only in using irony but in avoiding using mixed messages in
a stretch of discourse. Finally, being aware of different conditions of
semantic prosody is also crucial for lexicographers in compiling their
bilingual or monolingual dictionaries, a condition taken into account by
Co-Build dictionary. However, with all above-mentioned understanding,
awareness, recognition, and information related to semantic prosody,
little work has been done to deeply explore this concept or to
comprehensively apply it in ESL/EFL pedagogy. Thus, further research is
urgent to practically and empirically apply semantic prosody in language
pedagogy.
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Appendix A
33
CAUSE in BNC
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 12879 found.
AB3 1484 In the early eighties there was a massive defection of Social Realist Pop to the cause of black music.
ABC 56 Around the world, many cultures believe that any harm done to a dolphin may cause ill-fortuneor sickness.
AKH 103 THE EXPLOSION at Staples Corner — one of Britain's busiest road junctions — will cause majordelays for a long time, AA Roadwatch said yesterday.
AN2 863 The most likely cause is a worn 1st/2nd syncro hub.
ANX 1432 Mistakes are made when DNA is copied during replication, and environmental mutagens such asbackground radiation also cause errors.
B06 87 In my experience, certain essential oils, cedarwood in particular, can cause rubber to perishinto a sticky mess.
B0N 756 An honest ‘airing’ may entail managers putting themselves on the line for criticism as it isclear that the inefficiency of a manager can in itself be a cause for tension in a bureau.
B24 838 That did cause a bit of friction, because the bosses used to try and find out who it was.
B32 1413 It can cause distress for other residents and relatives.
BM4 1272 Tranquilliser addiction, unlike alcohol and illegal drug addiction, is a prescribed problemwhich cause long term distress instead of the desired short term cure.
BN3 1106 But, if you ever cause any more trouble, in any way to my family, or if I ever see you nearour house, then I swear I'll kill you both.
BN7 596 The result is not only pain, but an enforced lay-off that can cause as much distress as the discomfort.
C88 1352 Some of my patients are helped by paints or tablets which cause vasodilation.
CB4 490 Ice A pack of ice applied to the site of the injury is cooling and will cause the blood to constrict.
CD9 1597 Ronnie's return was to cause all sorts of problems in Mario's championship year of 1978.
CDU 246 This was published and printed from tiny offices in the centre of Dar es Salaam by R.B. Thaker, an Asian printer and stationer who had become committed to the nationalist cause and assisted TANU with its printing work on a number of occasions.
CE2 253 It was held that when the first vehicle parked it was not done so ‘as to cause’ an unnecessary obstruction.
CEN 681 ECSTASY can cause bleeding in all the body's major organs.
CEY 629 Come, sit down and tell me what is the cause of this extraordinary behaviour.’
CLN 665 In 1779 Middlesex petitioners demanded an investigation ‘into the true cause of those misfortunes which have reduced this once powerful and flourishing empire to a state which words cannot describe’.
CMK 1386 If you are lucky enough to be fairly wealthy or if some of the points mentioned in connection with recent Budget changes give you genuine cause to wonder whether you are taking advantage of the concessions available to you, you should talk to an accountant.
CS2 1066 What he is mainly denying when he denies that there are final causes in nature is that the existence of each individual sort of thing is to be explained by its serving some cause beyond it, in particular some kind of human interest.
CSV 338 To help its cause, POSC has set up interoperability labs in Houston, Texas and London which preview the various model and technologies in use.
CU1 38 On this occasion, though, they should have no cause to doubt the judgment of the umpire.
EA2 518 In 1986 Sommer et al reported a seminal randomised trial showing a 34% reduction in the all cause mortality of preschool Indonesian children without florid signs of deficiency as a result of two 200000 IU doses of vitamin A given six months apart.
EDT 483 It is disappointing to read such an apologia in the magazine of one's own institution, whichprofesses to advance the cause of competent management, BR can hardly be counted among the best of examples.
EWG 953 Up for re-election in 1952, he was looking around for a cause that would be electorally popular, and found it in anti-communism.
FB1 650 On coming to power, Lenin and his colleagues promptly deserted the Allied cause in the FirstWorld War and repudiated the massive loans which western investors had made in good faith to the tsarist government.
FEV 426 Shorter wavelengths than this can cause damage to animal tissue and so they are not used by any life, except us.
FPR 628 The problems that this can cause, which are often unintentional and the result of a lack of knowledge about modern agriculture, are sufficient to annoy any farmer already unhappy about what heconsiders to be unwarranted interference in his legitimate farming operations by busybody environmentalists.
FRJ 1042 But, then, while Molly was at home Judith had little cause to feel discontented.
G2B 2143 Marine Insurance covering injury or damage you may cause to third parties with one of our yachts, and accidental losses or damage to the yacht itself over the amount of £320.
GW1 1413 (2) Sexual Assaults Involving Bodily Harm, Weapons or Third Parties 246.2 Every one who, incommitting a sexual assault,(a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof,(b) threatens to cause bodily harm to a person other than the complainant,(c) causes bodily harm to the complainant, or (d) is a party to the offence with any other person, is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
GXG 2206 Although still deeply committed to Marxism, in James' view the nationalist movement had ‘anautonomy and validity of its own’, and he therefore, on Williams' request, gave his services to the cause.
H0P 491 Obviously, even in a statistically developed country it is an almost insurmountable task to achieve completeness in reporting spontaneous abortions, since an early miscarriage, particularly inthe first weeks of pregnancy, can be easily mistaken as a late menses and some spontaneous abortionsmay not seem sufficient cause to some women for them to seek medical attention.
HH3 9542 No-one knew the exact cause, but many had their suspicions.
HHX 13823 That would cause considerable hardship.
HJ3 5720 One woman died despite intensive treatment and none had been exposed to radiation or other factors known to cause the disease.
HKR 3115 Speaking at an international conference in London on the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste on Oct. 4, 1989, the European Communities (EC) Environment Commissioner, Carlo Ripa Di Meana, said that proposals to make producers of toxic waste liable for the damage and injury theymight cause were being drawn up by the EC Commission.
HPF 347 However, if a system is such that an error in the software alone could cause a fault, then care must be taken to ensure that the software is to the standard required by the application.
HPH 1572 Indeed for me the conference was a great opportunity to meet so many CA staff, whose vitality and unity, in a common cause impressed me.
J3H 667 A US study has concluded that tiny airborne particles from car exhausts may cause disease and death even at levels that meet air pollution standards.
K20 1242 It will cause great problems for the old people.
K60 249 So that we have intense emotion without cause.
K67 33 In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we dedicate this memorial plaque to the glory of God and to the memory of the men of the Hundredth Bomb Group who served in the cause offreedom and through, from this airfield, may we pray.
K8U 1661 The underlying cause of the French general strike was the same as that of the other strike waves.
K93 1812 Many accents of English also differ noticeably in intonation without the difference being such as would cause a difference in meaning; some Welsh accents, for example, have a tendency for unstressed syllables to be higher in pitch than stressed syllables.
K94 2514 The first meeting is also a time when transgressions are most likely to cause lasting damage.
KN2 131 Shrewsbury by the way are a third division team, they're about eighth or ninth in the table so er a great chance for them tonight to cause a major upset.
Appendix B
Bring about in BNC
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 756 found.
AB6 699 The argument will be harsh, and if the threat of disaster is vivid enough to bring about agreement, it may be that nations will find that, in the interest of common purpose, they are littleby little surrendering the sovereignty of which Sir Ian Lloyd spoke.
AC2 1989 Bunker's early efforts to bring about a settlement had been angrily brushed aside by Clasper, who told the regional officer in no uncertain terms that his help was not needed.
AN1 213 Whereas in this much higher ratio (1:50,000), between diluent and medicinal substance, a large number of succussions of the vial filled two-thirds with wine spirit can bring about a far greater development of power .’
APH 307 Repeated presentation of a stimulus is held to bring about a decline in the size of the attentional response.
APS 1193 As has been implied, the motivation of the regionalist novelists was often extra-literary, the novel being used as a vehicle to draw a particular situation to the eyes of the world, to influence public opinion and, thereby, to bring about social change.
ARX 188 It was decided to bring about the dissolution of the greater part of this library, and the library was offered for sale by Messrs Sotheby at one of the provincial salerooms they then owned, Sotheby's Taunton.
ASK 1235 ‘Terminally ill’, I submit means that the patient has an illness which has been accurately diagnosed, and which seems certain to bring about his death within a relatively short period of time, since the illness is beyond both cure and palliation.
AYK 1288 Dr E. Tournod of the World Health Organisation has discovered that fluctuations in weather actually bring about hormonal changes.
B01 304 Legislative change would bring about a positive re-assessment of the social role of older people.
B1T 198 Secondly, it is well known that the impact of the rediscovery of poverty in the 1880s helpedto bring about a much more complex analysis of poverty and its causes, which in turn looked toward the State to begin to solve the problem.
B2G 554 Some of these are used to bring about an ‘altered state of consciousness’ in which reality can be perceived in different ways, not unlike our chaos magician who throws himself into his ‘void’.
B2X 162 One argument given earlier was that the processor might treat a proper name as signalling the status of main character, and so bring about a relatively high proportion of singular continuations made to this character.
BLW 407 Chronic overwork can bring about depression too.
BML 94 What kinds of factors bring about this individuality of response?
C88 1212 I feel sorry for the little girl and I suggest to the writer that she consoles her daughterby telling her that the vile custom of killing wild animals for fun is on the way out, that almost all british people feel as she does, and are determined to end such cruelty, and that she can help to bring about its end by supporting the League Against Cruel Sports and talking about the work theydo to her schoolfriends.
C9B 294 What is questioned is the kind of methods that might be employed to bring about conversions.
CB9 612 It is an Aboriginal understanding that the fauna and flora of the landscape has an ‘increasecentre’— an area of high electro-magnetic energy, where the performance of correct rituals will release the life essence or Kurunba stored there and bring about the desired increase.
CJU 933 A Chief Executive of the highest calibre, who will be personally responsible to the Defence Secretary, is needed to bring about major evolution in the shape, size and culture of the Agency while preserving scientific excellence.
CLM 115 It can indeed be argued that the strict Calvinists who controlled England during this periodwere attempting by such means to bring about a cultural revolution (see Chapter 5).
CLM 934 The researches of Keith Wrightson and David Levine have revealed that Terling was socially and culturally divided between, on the one hand, a godly elite of ‘the better sort’— yeomen, substantial husbandmen, and craftsmen — who attempted to bring about a reformation of manners through their control of local offices; and on the other, an illiterate ‘multitude’ with little or no religious commitment.
CLM 948 Governmental efforts to bring about what amounted to a cultural revolution intensified in the 1650s, when England came under the control of army leaders such as Oliver Cromwell who considered the reform of the nation's morality one of their chief priorities.
CN2 659 The former are considered by the council of ICAO to be necessary to help bring about the regularity and safety of air transport while the latter are considered merely to be desirable .
CNW 139 This will bring about an increase in the number of high-capacity international links, just as domestic high-capacity links have become more common in the UK and the US.
CR8 666 The LDP's rebellious faction no longer looks like splitting off: on June 2nd one of its members said secession would achieve nothing, and that the best way to bring about reform was to work behind the scenes.
CRW 181 And Thoburn's research has shown that persistent social work can in fact bring about the return of children to natural parents who previously could not cope.
EA0 10 Both health authorities and NHS trusts have started to use their new powers to tackle longstanding weaknesses in the delivery of services and to bring about improvements for patients.
EAY 1148 Against the odds, Reagan and his staff were not overwhelmed by the demands of the office; indeed, they established sufficient mastery over the machinery of government to bring about major changes in the direction of public policy.
EDF 341 At the request of Henry of Trastamara, then seeking to wrest the succession of the kingdom of Castile from his half-brother, Peter, known as ‘the Cruel’, French troops, under du Guesclin, recently ransomed, crossed over into Spain to help bring about the defeat of Peter.
EF0 321 God is seen as one who can bring about such kairoi in history, and who has a will for humankind.
EWG 394 As businessmen proved unable to bring about industrial recovery, Hoover's administration reluctantly entered the arena.
FT2 1256 The Nianias report on European Commission proposals for older people calls on the commission to conduct investigations into discriminatory practices on the grounds of age and initiate action to bring about equal treatment for elderly people.
FYB 292 Well I think changing the time might bring about .
G0U 179 Firstly, there is the immediate cause, which is necessary to bring about the specific instance of conflict but which does not provide the sufficient conditions for conflict in general tooccur.
G2D 1451 Whether or not the talking will bring about the revolution we need for healthier food, the problems of both world trade and the CAP remain after the breakdown of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks.
GVX 446 For feminists who believe in coalition with other progressive groups and in the power of eloquence to change men's attitudes, then educational systems, like other institutions, can become the site of struggle in which concerted action might bring about changes in personnel and policies.
HC2 743 VAT must now be charged on repairs, reconditioning or any other work on a customer's goods subsequently removed to another European Community country that does not bring about any fundamentalchange in the nature of those goods.
HH2 578 In investigating the desirability of particular government policies, this approach appraisesthe effects of the changes these policies will bring about in the equilibrium situation.
HKT 2609 On Aug. 13, 1989, Richard Darman, head of the administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), publicly warned that high interest rates could bring about a recession, but such differences of opinion were played down on Oct. 13 by the Secretary of the Treasury, Nicholas Brady.
HLG 1577 Nastase on Feb. 21 rejected domestic criticism that the government was not doing enough to bring about the reunion of Romania and Moldova (divided when Moldova was annexed by the Soviet Unionin 1940).
HRE 1167 It now urged immediate action to bring about a price increase by abandoning the production ceiling increases programmed for the rest of that year.
HWU 732 In a model of spontaneous anti-tetanus toxoid antibody production after vaccination, PBL secreting specific antibody do not bring about an increase in the serum antibody concentration.
HXH 931 When he later produced a series of outstanding tragic works, what he managed to do, in effect, was to bring about the transition from crude medieval drama towards the more sustained literary achievement of the Renaissance.
HXT 461 Traditional assumptions about professional boundaries and working practices will have to be challenged to bring about a more cost-effective deployment of trained staff.
HY8 1372 Britain was subjected to formidable American economic pressure to bring about its withdrawal from the Suez canal.
JNG 402 It must for example, ensure an independent judiciary, provide health and education services,basic infrastructure and maintenance and it must bring about the economic environment that allows the private sector to create jobs and growth.
JSH 311 Mada Madam Speaker my honourable friend knows well that the purpose er of what has been saidand what is being considered about air strikes er is to is is to bring about er the er cessation of the sort of bombardment that we have seen in Sarajevo and I think everybody will want to see that effort successfully er completed.
K97 8308 RSPCA wildlife officer Colin Booty said: ‘The legislation should bring about responsible breeding and release of birds, with more thought given to their welfare after release.’
K9L 276 People also need to learn the practical skills which bring about improvement the problem solving techniques and diagnostic tools for finding the way through seemingly impassable barriers.
KM0 647 But, we always thought then that it was going to bring about the end of all these things andresult in a future where
KS5 10 Now, our visual arts policy could be summed up as follows: It's our main concern to bring about a social financial climate more conducive to the health of the visual arts than that which we find ourselves in at present.
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 5197 found.
A2V 472 Most economists believe that the tighter squeeze on the economy would now lead to a more rapid deceleration in inflation in the first half of next year than had been expected before yesterday's base rate increase.
A60 398 An open policy to trade may be maintained if the nation is doing well economically, but a less successful economic position may lead to swift and much more extreme action to erect trade barriers and bring in other sanctions.
A6G 263 The conditions laid down were therefore designed to differentiate the National Government from the Lloyd George coalition, and to make it clear that the National Government was not intended, as the Lloyd George coalition had been, to lead to a permanent realignment of the party system.
ABV 205 This conclusion, I want to argue, does not lead to a rejection of the Bible or to a diminution of its claims or, necessarily, to a weakening of its authority.
AEA 1354 About wet conditions that may be dangerous but give rise to regeneration, and scorched ones that appear daunting but may lead to growth.’
AM8 483 They lead to the creation of world-class companies.
AMG 1213 In a 1972 paper I suggested that during the evolution of terrestrial open-country monkeys, two main selection pressures operated on the individuals whose collective strategies lead to the interactions and relationships that are responsible for the social structure (see also Fig. 4.1).
ASB 1154 So far as the Commissioner is concerned there was a fear that the Prime Minister's power of censorship could lead to an ‘extremely thin’ annual report being laid before Parliament, with little opportunity for informed debate.
ASE 1453 Winnie felt that this could lead to somewhat alarming disclosures which might be regretted by all.
B06 131 This can lead to iatrogenic disease (drug induced), a problem which may be far more wide-spread than is generally realised.
B17 1533 How might this lead to the differential treatment of whites and blacks?
B2T 1443 Success in education has come largely through a process of social indoctrination; if the young person has been brought up in a supportive home which was valued education and encouraged the youngster to stick at the work in order to pass through the hoops which lead to higher education and the professional occupations, the young person has very often done well at school.
CCX 689 They seldom incorporate weatherstripping, and ordinary galvanised types need regular checks to ensure that any damage doesn't lead to rust.
CEK 3424 But it was always feared that a Clinton victory in an American Presidential election might lead to a shift in US policy with regard to the Northern Ireland problem.
CEP 8857 ‘Our legal adviser told us that using such a route could even lead to the club being closed down if their investigations opened up a real can of worms.
CFB 478 He said the increase to £4.25 would affect about half the population and could lead to some hard-up patients being forced to go without certain treatments.
CG5 557 This would lead to tank overflow in the loft.
CGX 808 There are eight options on the colour pattern menu and, as with the shaping section, selecting any of these will usually lead to a sub menu.
CJA 3532 Down, anywhere on Plenty, must lead to the docks.
CMA 313 It might be expected that where such clonal growth is possible, the struggle forexistence over long periods of stable management would lead to the local dominance of single clones — those that had succeeded in a struggle for existence with others.
CPC 130 The service is claimed to use voice techniques that are significantly less compressed than those of competing offerings, which should lead to enhanced transmissionquality.
ECB 648 Failure to provide this care will not lead to imprisonment unless there is evidence of criminal neglect, but may well reduce or remove their claim to maintenance on their husbands.
EVY 689 This can lead to duties being allocated without due regard for the needs of patients.
EWG 1209 But a view of the world that divided it so sharply between good and evil could only increase tension and lead to some clumsy decisions.
F9P 359 In 1969 NATO had agreed that progress in Germany should lead to a conference on European security which Moscow had wanted since the 1950s.
FAM 1165 it has more explanatory power because it involves direct observation and can hence lead to remedies.
FCL 632 Basing himself on authority from the United States, La Forest J. concluded that any other rule would at best be inefficient, and at worst could lead to financial chaos:see pp. 194–197.
FT0 454 Moderate weight loss seems to lead to subtle ovulation disorders and therefore to decreasing fecundity.
G0H 882 Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) played an important role in saving Yosemite, emphasizing that private selfishness would lead to destruction unless the land was controlled by the state.
G20 1278 Self help groups may also be used as an excuse for lack of government support, and a general philosophy of self help may lead to deprived people being blamed for theirplight.
GUW 627 During the inter-war period what trade union support there was for family allowances (generally it was feared that allowances would lead to a wholesale reduction in wages and reduce the bargaining power of male workers), was based on the hope that they would lead to a withdrawal of married women from the workforce.
GV5 1410 For them, international free trade and reliance on market mechanisms for resource allocation are not conducive to global prosperity, as liberals claim, but lead to increased economic inequality.
GXG 1957 The involvement of the West Indies in the war created a profound change in the outlook of its people, that was to lead to growing criticism of the colonial government.
GXG 2083 If the American presence during the war period was looked upon ambivalently by the local population, its continued presence at Chaguaramas, following the cessation of hostilities, would lead to a protracted dispute between the foreign powers and the government of Trinidad and Tobago, a government led by that most unambivalent of men, Dr.Eric Williams.
H88 439 This lead to valuable work on the way the number system works and on ‘tens and units’.
H9R 64 It is important to realize that not all molecular vibrations lead to oscillating dipoles.
HGV 4534 ‘Poor Woolacombe says if he's had one story thrown in his face as an example ofwhat bad conduct may lead to, he's had fifty.
HKV 1466 In an address to the Arab League summit on May 27, Hussein referred to "an exchange of letters" between the two countries, which he hoped would lead to "direct anddeep dialogue which would result in a comprehensive peace" .
HL6 262 He predicted civil war between parties currently gathered in an "illusory coalition" against his administration, which would lead to "genuine dictatorship, and not the imaginary one which certain people perceive in the current constitutional regime" .
HPG 126 The Methane produced on landfill sites is very explosive and can lead to severe illness if inhaled to a great extent.
HR9 2940 as if his experience was going to lead to a campaign for the rights of corpses or something.
HX8 1589 It was felt that improved contact would lead to a greater participation in Society affairs by members, which in turn, would lead to a healthier and more informed Society.
HXD 1045 "Original" is liberally interpreted in copyright law; however, the requirement that the topography is not commonplace is likely to lead to a much narrower interpretation (see the discussion of C & H Engineering v F Klucznik & Sons Ltd. in the previous Chapter).
J15 2081 With a very shallow L curve (as in Figure 18.3), a rise in money supply from M to M' will only lead to a small fall in the rate of interest from r 1 to r 2 .
J15 2165 A fall in interest rates will lead to an outflow of short-term capital from thecountry.
J16 356 The representations of these bodies can lead to the making of conditions or the reinforcement of conditions which the planning authority wish to impose in the interestsof amenity.
J2H 13 The treatment tries to concentrate on the physical ideas and interactions involved, rather than on detailed mathematical analysis and computer results, which are available in the original sources as well as elsewhere in this book: most calculations lead to one or more of the so-called "universal" routes to chaos.
J2L 230 When used effectively, however, they lead to a greater accuracy and, without doubt, an increase in the speed with which a pavement is laid.
K5H 3144 It will be essential for the Scottish Secretary to convince the Treasury that council reform will not lead to extra costs at a time when the Government is anxious to reduce public expenditure and its borrowing debts.
KA1 757 There is also the chance of a schoolgirl falling pregnant during vital examinations which can lead to missing out on getting qualifications and eventually jobs.
Appendix D
Result in in BNC
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 2523 found.
A3C 185 It seems all the more of a waste if those long, cold hours only result in stale fish.
AN1 520 It can be seen that continued administration of the remedy once the disease disturbance has been overcome will result in the presence of an energy pattern of the remedy itself i.e. a proving.
ARJ 711 Similarly, other experts say that the peak in testosterone which happens in women around mid-cycle when they are ovulating — and the very time they are likely to get pregnant — is very slight and unlikely to result in your pursuing your mate with greater passion.
B0N 444 However, as debt work grows trust may induce better communication and result in benefits to the debtor, creditor and the CAB alike.
B0X 370 If severe, this may result in the diabetic lipaemia that is particularly seen inpoorly controlled or newly diagnosed diabetics (Bagdade et al, 1967).
B0X 389 The obligate activator apo-C II has been shown to result in poor activation of lipoprotein lipase in vitro when present in very low or excess amounts in VLDL.
B14 1567 Even the use of ordinary vocabulary can result in problems for patients.
B7K 164 People in northern climes, on the other hand, are unlikely to have been exposed to leprosy in every-day life and a positive result in the test is bound to be due to vaccination.
BMF 1280 It would result in building sites that would cover an area the size of Pfunds (the largest town).
BMK 169 Julian Driver, technical director of Vickers Laboratories, which has introduced this restriction, explained that ‘it must be used in a reaction which will result in a non-volatile product — and there are precious few of those’.
C8F 431 However, the results of the detailed evaluation of the 30 km/h approach are still awaited and may yet result in further shifting of priorities and strategies.
C92 987 Make sure that lines do not inadvertently touch each other, or this will result in short-circuits on the finished board.
C95 2826 These may not result in typical Doitsu scalation but they can affect the body shape.
CAG 86 Consider, for example, the columnist Robert Harris' reflections on the election result in this week's Sunday Times .
CBU 509 Arthur Andersen has joined up with Asahi Shinwa, Ernst & Young's Japanese affiliate and the second largest auditing firm in the country, in an arrangement that will probably result in a merger.
CBX 79 Unseemly, internecine brawls, however, will be more likely to result in some formof state regulation.
CFC 866 ‘We very much want to trace the driver of that vehicle because they might hold vital information which could result in this robbery being solved,’ added the spokesman.
CM5 715 What social processes contribute to these trends and result in these appointments?
CMM 786 A rule that does hold good, however, concerns crossing branches and stems; theseinevitably result in rubbed, chafed and damaged stems.
CNX 94 This, he reckons, has never been more true than in the Unix software arena and hereckons it likely that just one big company will seize control of the Unix world, and its subsequent dominance of the market will result in software prices going up.
EBY 116 The respiratory system is vital to life and anything which prevents it functioning can result in death.
ED6 1649 The problem is that Osborne's attempts to underline his point by the ‘subversive’ use of Mozartian instruments (horns tuned in semitonally clashing keys, Anton Stadler's clarinets performing Stravinskian arabesques) result in music which I found neither diverting nor in itself particularly thought-provoking.
EE0 96 Failure to comply with the terms of a Default Notice will normally result in the default being disclosed to credit reference agencies.
EVY 761 This can be a costly solution because it may result in the involvement of staff who must forgo their needed rest period or the employment of nurses from an inappropriate grade.
FAF 1197 A reduction in interest rates will result in a fall in the size of this subsidy, and the phasing in of a cash ceiling approach ought to be timed to such a favourable point in time.
FB3 1131 Trevor Wishart (1977), for example, stresses the abstracting, analytic properties of notation, which reduce the infinity of sound to a small number of discrete, systematically permutational elements, limit our very perception and conception of music to what can be written down and rationally described, and result in an idealist account of the relationship between the ‘real’ music in the score and the performance — an inevitably less than perfect representation.
FPC 972 This can result in a relatively rapid turnover of cultural fashions, as one project of this kind succeeds another, and this area of relatively rapid innovation — often of a minor kind — has been important in the later twentieth century, as a direct function of the expansion and increased rate of internal circulation of the market itself.
FPG 1349 The user is not directly aware of the steps shown but they will result in both ‘housekeeping’ processing time and input-output operations.
FT4 1070 Paradoxically, then, reduced citation visibility for authors could result in middle authorship continuing to be regarded as an earned (and hence valued) privilege rather than as a right, a favour, a payback, or an inconsequential bagatelle .
FTB 145 Based on results from the present investigation and those described by others (11,29–32) it appears that alternative splicing of tenascin mRNA may result in the expression of at least 8 variants of tenascin (Fig. 7).
FTB 216 Oncogenic mutations in this gene consistently appear to be recessive, loss of function mutations that result in an absent or non-functional protein.
FTE 155 In our hands, these precipitations result in progressively diminished yields of potential template cDNA for amplification.
G2G 7 The consequences of a major breach of security can result in an organisation beingput out of business, such is the dependence of today's information society on its technology.
G2S 238 Although the structure and powers of the new committee have yet to be decided, conservationists argue that the additional bureaucracy will slow down the process of designation, cost a lot of money, reduce the power of SNH and may result in designated sites losing their status.
GVJ 56 This can result in a number of different formal patterns, such as ABACADA, or ABACABA, where A represents the recurring material and B, C, and D periods of change.
GWK 77 The Booksellers Association has warned that the implementation of a draft EC directive on data protection would result in ‘immeasurable’ costs to the book business.
H83 1492 It is also why the proper analysis of a work of art does not result in a sense of fragmentation but instead enriches the interweaving of its fabric.
HAC 1428 The method to be used is to copy the highlighted block to another file specially reserved for the purpose, then count the words and display the result in a simple message box.
HGX 1545 Some constant changes, particularly affecting checkConsistency and diagnostics elsewhere, can result in conditions becoming difficult or impossible to satisfy, so thatthe program either cannot complete the set-up operation or delivers too many diagnosticsand perhaps even fails to deliver measurements.
HHV 4350 Does my right hon. Friend agree that any proposal to double the European Community structural funds will inevitably result in higher tax bills for the British taxpayer?
HJ3 4812 ‘Any such assistance would drastically distort competition and result in job losses on ships, most of which are British-crewed, on routes between the UK and NorthernIreland.’
HKT 1059 As such, this could "fan new passions" and result in violence.
HRN 793 But it did result in a 20% saving on commercial pig feed and also served to recover much of the lost nutrients in the ditches and to reduce eutrophication problems downstream.
HSC 1104 Fixation at this stage might result in dependence on others, talking too much, overeating, alcoholism, cynicism, or use of sarcasm.
HWF 1214 This may result in the offlined modules being stored on a single, immediately available, large optical disk and ten magnetic disks.
HXN 445 Greater coordination between member states to develop industrial policies which are effective and do not result in protectionist programmes to sustain "sunset industries" .
J18 321 Seed-predators that hoard seeds may be effective as dispersal agents: in temperate regions, nutcrackers and jays (Corvidae) store large numbers of seeds and exploit them later, and death or ‘forgetfulness’ of the bird will result in successful dispersal.
J35 628 The city council will be debating the result in April, but says the limited response has reduced pressure to ban cars immediately.
J79 591 Failure to observe that enforcement notice can result in a prosecution in the local magistrates' court.
K5D 10907 But yesterday they had to accept a report by officials calling for commercial waste collection charges which could result in bills of up to £2,000 a year for some users.