The use of English passive voice by Taiwanese college students

• Main Author: 曾郁芬
• Other Authors: Yu, Hsueh-ying
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/20881939841561114696

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 英國語文學研究所 === 98 === The present study investigates the use of English passive voice by Taiwanese college students. The purpose is to see how Taiwanese college students use English passive voice on sentential and discourse level, and if they understand the functions of English passive voice from their performances. Twenty-seven college students participated in this study. And their uses of English passive voice were investigated with three different instruments, Single-sentence Translation, Passage Completion and English Compositions. The results of the analysis showed that Taiwanese college students do not have complete understanding on English passive voice. In Single-sentence Translation, the participants fail to recognize the correct voice in translating Chinese sentences when Chinese passive markers are removed. This finding points out that the participants do not have the knowledge of English verb types, their argument patterns, and semantic roles. Because they are unable to identify the type of English verbs in the sentences, they are not aware of the semantic roles of noun phrases accompanying the verbs in the sentences. As a result, they are unable to produce correct English passive sentences. In Passage Completion, however, the participants’ performances indicate they understand English passive voice is a useful device in facilitating the connections between the sentences and maintaining thematic progression of passages. In English Compositions, it is found that the participants demonstrated ways of using English passive voice that are not observed in the previous two research instruments. Their performances show that they know how to use this structure to facilitate the cohesion as well as coherence of their writings, and how to use English passive voice to establish the idea they want to elaborate on in the paragraph. To see how Taiwanese EFL learners build up their knowledge of English passive voice, English textbooks of junior high and senior high school are reviewed to see how this structure is presented. It is found that much emphasis is placed on the introduction of English passive voice on sentential and syntactic level, neglecting the introduction on discourse and semantic level. Based on the findings in the present study, it is suggested that the teaching of English passive voice include the introduction of this structure on discourse and semantic levels to help Taiwanese EFL learners gain a more comprehensive understanding of English passive voice.