A Corpus Study of Evaluative that-clauses in E(G)AP Learners’ Argumentative Essays

This study investigates the use of evaluative that-clauses in L1 and L2 students’ argumentative essays, adopting a corpus-based approach. The analysis focuses on how learner proficiency influences the choice of controlling verbs, nouns, and adjectives, and how these linguistic patterns reflect sensitivity to academic register. Three comparable corpora were examined: essays by low-proficiency (A2) and high-proficiency (B2) Korean E(G)AP learners, and those by native English-speaking students. Quantitative results revealed significant differences among the groups in the frequency and distribution of evaluative that-clauses, suggesting a developmental trend in the control and diversity of these structures. While L2 learners overall employed a narrower range of controlling words, higher-proficiency learners demonstrated greater lexical variation and more nuanced stance expression. Qualitative analysis further showed that advanced learners’ use of that-clauses aligned more closely with academic conventions. These findings indicate that the acquisition of evaluative language is closely tied to learners’ growing awareness of academic discourse. Pedagogically, the study underscores the need to raise students’ awareness of stance-taking resources and their rhetorical functions in academic writing.