English, Dutch and Dutch EFL: the use of intensifiers in evaluative blogs.

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2017-06-15
Language
en
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Abstract
Due to globalization, online communication is often done in English as a lingua franca. This could lead to difficulties for English as a foreign language (EFL) writers, for example, with the appropriate use of intensifiers. To gain a better understanding of the difficulties EFL writers could have with intensifiers, this study compared the use of intensifiers by EFL writers to that of both English and their native language. In total, 300 blog entries from English, Dutch and Dutch EFL bloggers were analysed in terms of frequency of intensifiers and the types of intensifiers that were used. The results showed that EFL writers used fewer intensifiers than Dutch and English writers. The results also showed that, in terms of types of intensifiers used, the use of intensifiers by EFL writers was more similar to that of English than that of Dutch.
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