SYSTEM OF CLAUSE COMPLEXES IN LOCNESS AND ICLE ESSAYS: A CORPUS-BASED COMPARATIVE STUDY

Abstract

This research aims to do a comparative study of English native and Pakistani non-native argumentative writings concerning the system of clause complexes (Halliday& Matthiessen, 2004). A theoretical framework that integrates Kachru's Concentric Circles Model of English (1983) and Systemic Functional Linguistics is utilized .For this purpose, a mixed-method research approach has been utilised. The understudied data (LOCNESS and ICLE essays) are annotated with the help of the UAM corpus tool. The findings show that the ratio of hypotactic constructions is higher in non-native Pakistani writings while paratactic clauses have occurred higher in native discourse. Overall all kinds of logical semantic relations reveal the significant differences between both corpora.  It also suggests ENL and  Pakistani ESL writings reveal the variability and individuality. These findings provide valuable insights into the writing patterns of Pakistani students in argumentative essays and help to improve the ESL written discourse by doing the comparison with native discourse.