Beatrice Clegg (PhD student)
Thesis title: "Maybe we can have a try" Chinese English hedging devices and native English teacher attitudes in the university context
PhD Education
- Moray House School of Education and Sport
Contact details
- Email: s1325711@sms.ed.ac.uk
PhD supervisors:
Address
- Street
-
Moray House School of Education and Sport
- City
- University of Edinburgh, Holyrood Campus
- Post code
- EH8 8AQ
Background
After studying Classics, with a focus on the sociolinguistics or Latin and Ancient Greek, I moved toShenzhen China, where I now work as an English lecturer at the Southern University of Science and Technology. Working in and English-mediuk instruction environment and teaching science students who require proficiency in academic English in order to participate in international research, I have become interested in how Chinese students navigate relationships and norms of politeness in English, as well as how their English is perceived by non-Chinese speakers.
Chinese English, not to be confused with the interlanguage "Chinglish", is a developing variety of English that is yet to be widely acknowledged or understood as a legitimate World English, and while features and forms are being given increasing attention, largely by Chinese scholars, foreign attitudes to this variety have been little explored. My project is interested in exploring how Chinese English uses hedges such as "maybe", "can", and "I think", to manage face and politeness university contexts, and how these hedges are perceived by instructors unfamiliar with Chinese English norms.
Qualifications
BA Classics - University of Exeter
MA Classics - University of Exeter