Will or Be Going To? Uncovering Formulaic Patterns of Future Marking in L2 Academic English

Öz

This study examines how learners from different first language backgrounds express future time in academic English writing, focusing on will and be going to constructions. Drawing on a corpus of academic texts from 25 language backgrounds, the research investigates patterns of future time expressions across linguistic groups. The findings reveal a strong preference for will (96.2%) over be going to (3.8%) across all groups. While will appears uniformly throughout texts, be going to is used more selectively, indicating distinct functional roles. The study also documents variations in the density of future expressions per text, ranging from 2.30 to 4.85, and systematic differences in how future markers combine with different parts of speech. These results suggest that will has developed into a formulaic element in academic writing and contribute to the understanding of formulaic language in second language acquisition.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• future time expression
• learner English
• cross-linguistic influence
• formulaic language
• temporal reference

Will ya da Be Going To? Yabancı Dil Olarak Akademik İngilizcede Gelecek Zaman İşaretleyicilerinin Kalıplaşmış Dil Örüntülerinin Ortaya Çıkarılması

Öz

Bu çalışma, farklı anadil geçmişlerine sahip öğrencilerin akademik İngilizce yazımında gelecek zamanı nasıl ifade ettiklerini, özellikle will ve be going to yapılarına odaklanarak incelemektedir. 25 farklı dil grubundan oluşan akademik metinler derlemi üzerinden, dil grupları arasındaki gelecek zaman ifadelerinin örüntüleri araştırılmıştır. Bulgular, tüm gruplarda will (%96.2) yapısının be going to (%3.8) yapısına göre belirgin şekilde tercih edildiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Will yapısı metinlerde düzenli olarak görülürken, be going to yapısının daha seçici kullanımı, farklı işlevsel rollere işaret etmektedir. Çalışma ayrıca, metin başına düşen gelecek zaman ifadelerinin yoğunluğunun 2.30 ile 4.85 arasında değiştiğini ve gelecek zaman işaretleyicilerinin farklı sözcük türleriyle sistematik birleşim farklılıklarını belgelemektedir. Bu sonuçlar, will yapısının akademik yazımda kalıplaşmış bir öge haline geldiğini göstermekte ve ikinci dil ediniminde kalıp dilin anlaşılmasına katkı sağlamaktadır

Anahtar Kelimeler

• gelecek zaman ifadeleri
• öğrenici İngilizcesi
• Dillerarası etki
• Kalıplaşmış dil
• Zamansal gönderim

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