A study of yes/no questions in English and Chinese: With special reference to Chinese EFL learners’ understanding of their forms and functions

As an attempt to find out the extent to which the cross-linguistic differences in formally accountable form–function mappings influence L2 learners' interpretation of the discourse functions of yes/no questions, this study investigates how Chinese learners of English interpret three sub-types of English yes/no question, and how their interpretations affect their choice of linguistic forms when translating these questions into Chinese. A thematic and pragmatic comparison is first made between the form–function relationships of yes/no questions in English and Chinese, before discussing the implications of the observed cross-linguistic differences for Chinese learners. On the basis of the discussion, a survey questionnaire is designed and administered to 120 Chinese learners of English at three proficiency levels. The findings suggest that the participants, whatever their proficiency level, are aware of the functional differences between the yes/no questions with and without an assertive item. However, they tend to treat operator-fronted questions and statement-turned (S-T) questions as two types of questions with totally different (English) function–(Chinese) form mappings. The co-existence of these two different internal representations of knowledge appears to result in their seemingly inconsistent performance in selecting a translation. Finally, the implications of the findings for the teaching of English interrogatives in the Chinese context are discussed.