Contrast and Concession: The Use of However, Nevertheless, Yet and Still in Native and Non-Native Student Writing

Abstract: Previous comparative studies of usage of contrast markers have found that Swedish non-native speakers of English underuse and overuse different individual items compared to native speakers. This paper compares the use of the contrast markers however, nevertheless/nonetheless, yet and still in essays in linguistics to determine how and why they might be used differently. Essays are taken from the Stockholm University Student English Corpus and are equally represented by examples from King’s College and Stockholm University. Random samples are analyzed for type of contrast signalled and repeated collocational patterns. The findings show that the Swedish students underuse however and overuse nevertheless/nonetheless, yet and still in signalling concessive relationships. The research suggests that the Swedish students have a weaker grasp of prototypical frequency of usage than native speakers, which may result from native language transfer. It is argued that it would be beneficial for Swedish learners of English, and by extension other L2 learners, to improve awareness of constructing effective contrastive relationships.