Spanish EFL learners' use of contrastive linking adverbials across three CEFR levels and gender influence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32714/ricl.13.02.07Keywords:
Spanish EFL learners, CEFR, Companion volume, contrastive linking adverbials, genderAbstract
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) and its Companion Volume (2020) emphasize the importance of linking expressions for pragmatic competence. Research on contrastive devices has long attracted scholarly interest; however (pseudo)longitudinal studies across different levels or whether gender may affect learners’ written production in this respect have been neglected. This study aims to address this gap by analyzing how Spanish EFL learners at different levels express contrast and whether gender impacts their use of concessive expressions. Surprisingly, lower-level (B1) users show a wide range of expressions similar to higher-level users, while those at B2 levels tend to avoid "risky" options. Interestingly, gender does not significantly influence learners' use of connectors in this corpus, contradicting earlier findings that suggested female learners use more connectors than males.
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